Farm School Spring Series Week Four

It was a wild and windy day at 
Farm School 
this weekend.





The time just flew by as we made our rounds
and attended to a few tasks.

The garden is at maximum capacity.
Every available inch is being used
to produce some delectable goodies.

Several of the bell peppers are starting to show some color.

A few rows down, the same variety is having some problems.

The mottled leaves show signs of distress.
Instead of trying to figure out what the problem is,
Lynn will most likely pull them out and replant another crop in the space.

For the first time, black-eyed peas are being grown.
Lynn was thrilled when every single seed germinated.

There are plans for more of this crop to be sown,
as it is tolerant of the summer heat and humidity.

The kohlrabi sold well at the market this weekend.

This is the root system from the pots where they were grown.
It was surprising to see how small it was,
considering the size of the plant.

The New Zealand spinach that was left to grow
is looking healthy and expanding.

  Successive planting keeps customers happy.
When lettuce can no longer be grown
(we're getting close to that time),
this makes a wonderful alternative in a salad.
Along with some of Lynn's Celebrity tomatoes, 
it's a dynamite combination.

Lynn decided to try to continue the lettuce crop,
as most of what he's grown has bolted.
The new crops will be grown in the shade
to give them a better chance at survival.

We transplanted about 20 seedlings.
Lynn has the most delicate touch when removing them from the cell packs.
He simply tilts it, gently pushes from the bottom,
and lets gravity do the rest.

We hope these will make it.
This is the Red Salad Bowl variety, my favorite.
There is another heat tolerant lettuce that is being tried.
We'll feature that variety soon.

We also took down 3 rows of spent sugar snap peas.

We replanted in the hopes that the shady area they are planted in 
will help them produce for a few more months.

Fortunately, there are some that are just flowering,
so we are guaranteed some juicy goodness.

The scallion sets we planted a couple of weeks ago,
are coming along.
This is another plant that usually does better in the cooler temps,
but Lynn wanted to give it a go.

Here's a pot that needed to be harvested.

Lynn takes a metal maul and taps the side of the pot.

Once the soil is loose,
Faye and Lynn work together to remove the entire plant from the pot.
The soil is collected underneath on a piece of ground cloth,
 so that it can be reused.

Scallions can just be harvested as orders come in,
or readied for the farmer's market.

Because the scallions are planted so deeply,
there is an abundance of the white section of the crop.

Faye cleans the scallions to enhance the presentation.
The outer skin is gently peeled off,

and the roots are snipped.

She divides them according to diameter size,
and then combines a few of each different size in bundles.

The beets have been wonderfully sweet,
but the season for them is almost over.

Spring is the time for blooming amaryllis.

A bushel of juicing oranges was taken home for a friend.

Several orchids are blooming as well.

There's always something good happening here.
Not the least of which is food for this gardener's soul.


You can read about how Farm School started here.