Farm School Spring Series Week Nine

Welcome to this edition of 
Farm School!
Our year-long series is winding down
along with the spring garden.
We are working on our summer crops now
and the weather is cooperating quite nicely.

We always start off taking a tour of the garden
to see what's been happening during the week.

The Sweet Millions are still going strong.
There are plans to seed a few more pots of these delicious morsels.
The surrounding containers have already been prepared
with the special amendments that Lynn uses strictly for tomatoes.

 

 The established plant is still loaded with fruit.

These should continue to do well all through the summer heat.

The lettuces have been surprisingly healthy.
This is not customarily grown here in Central Florida in the summer,
but we're keeping our fingers crossed that they continue to thrive.
There are also a couple of heat tolerant varieties being tested.

It thrilled me to no end to be able to make my lunchtime salad
with their homegrown goodies.

The eggplant seedlings will soon be transplanted,
so that this crop can get growing.
There is currently no eggplant for harvesting,
and we are looking forward to enjoying this scrumptious Epic variety again.

One of our tasks for the day was to remove the spent snap pea vines.
It's a job that leaves us feeling a bit melancholy,
as we relish each and every tidbit that comes off of this crop.
It's just too doggone hot, so we know it can't be helped.
When Mother Nature gives one lemons, a body makes lemonade.

Enter black-eyed peas.
We sowed a few more rows of these cuties in the pots where the sugar snaps were.
They are planted about 8 or 9 to a pot.

We've had excellent germination rates on this variety.

While I was busy seeding the new plants,
Lynn went to the established crops and thinned them out.
He snipped a few down to the quick
and left the remaining stalks in place.

Plenty of room to grow.
None of us have ever had fresh black-eyed peas,
and we have a feeling it'll be a new addiction.

The other major priority to be completed,
was to pull out all of the Swiss Chard that is no longer viable.

We dump the depleted plants into a tub
and remove the roots and remaining stalks.
The dirt is sifted through with this claw tool
so that it can be reused for the next planting.
Lynn is a fabulous recycler.

The roots and stems are discarded.

The tray of seedlings is ready for transplant.

We got a few rows finished before calling it a day.
By then, the sun was pretty intense
and I availed myself of a shower from the nearby hose wand.
Ahhhh, good to go!

Lynn had been checking the okra's leaf damage.
When you find holes in the leaves, there's sure to be a worm hanging around.
Sure enough, he looked underneath the leaf
and there was the varmint.

Ya gotta get up pretty early in the mornin' 
to fool this seasoned farmer.

Another day of accomplishing just a few things
that make the whole operation run a bit smoother.
It's a good feeling knowing,
that in a few months time,
the food we are nurturing will be feeding a whole lotta folks.

Farm School got started here.