The Maple Hill Hop 145

Welcome to 

The Maple Hill Hop.

This is a hop for folks who love the outdoors.

Feel free to post about anything that's going on

OUTSIDE

in your neck of the woods,
no matter the season.

(Please share only outdoor posts.)

*Grab the button above to link back to Maple Hill 101.*


Today we're featuring our work at Farm School
this past weekend.
We had a variety of jobs to get done,
although I use the word "job" very loosely.
Everything we do at Faye & Lynn's 
is too much fun to call work.  

Our first task was to transplant some sage cuttings.

We had done a 10-pack a few weeks ago,

but they didn't fare so well.

This time, Lynn decided to try using rooting hormone

to give them a better chance at surviving.

The dibber is used to make the perfect sized holes in the soil.

We use the dibber to measure the correct depth

for the transplant.

This tool is also called a dibbler or dibble.

Hopefully, the hormone will make all the difference.

These were placed in an area with filtered light,

and misted by hand regularly, so they wouldn't dry out.

We also started some dill from seed.

Each pot is sprinkled generously with seeds,

the soil is gently massaged, so as to displace seeds,

until most of them have found their way underneath the soil.

dill sown a few weeks ago

In a few weeks, we should see this going on.

Some of the seeds we used in this sowing

were from 2013.

Looks like these are still viable.

Part of a 7,000 square-foot container garden.

Faye shared with me that because they had no mature dill plants growing,

she had to figure out an alternative to make her homemade tarter sauce.

She used the 2015 seed they had on hand

and it worked great!

I have to say, I don't think I would have come up with that idea!

An exciting event was the first picking of the new Malabar Spinach crop.

This is the first time Faye & Lynn are growing it,

and it's doing quite well,

despite the heat, humidity and scorching sun.

This plant is a real beauty.

The contrast between the bright green leaves

and the almost purple stems really catches the eye.

Faye & Lynn graciously offered to let me harvest some 

for my lunchtime salads.

I was happy to oblige.

The leaves are so tender,

and as mentioned in a previous post,

they almost melt in your mouth.

Seeing how happy these plants are gives one hope

that maybe something can be added to the limited crop list for summer.

We look forward to following the growth habits of this plant,
as well as hearing how it does at the farmers' market.
Lynn is always willing to try something new.
Maybe that's one of the reasons why he is such a successful farmer.
There's so much to learn at Farm School.

That's what we've been up to.
What's going on outside where you are?
HOP on!

   

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