Monday, March 21, 2011

April is right around the corner

And the onions are off to a solid start! They love the sunny weather we've been getting, growing sometimes a half-inch a day.
We had a really fun planting day last Friday, and got a whole bunch of broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower seeds planted in the greenhouse.
We also worked on getting a new hoophouse frame up, which will be our new tractor-parking shed. Someday when we own our own land we'll have a real barn, but until then these temporary structures will have to do. They work quite well with used billboards on top-- we buy them from the billboard company, Lamar, and they are sturdier than any tarp you can get at the hardware store.

Friday, March 4, 2011

First seeds planted!!!

Amidst all this snow and ice, the greenhouse is a protected bubble of warmth. The first seeds were started in the greenhouse yesterday: 30,000 onions! We built special trays for them, which were simply cardboard (with drainage holes drilled in) fitted into bread trays. We then put about 3 1/2" of nice organic potting soil (from Lighthouse Gardens in Honeoye Falls) in, and broadcast our seeds. We will start up our heater soon to keep the seeds warm and toasty (55 degrees at night) so they can grow into healthy starts. We'll transplant these into the field around mid-April. It sure feels good to get my hands in dirt again.
If anyone would like to stop by and lend a hand, we'll be planting the whole month of March in the greenhouse, and also doing outside projects on nice days. Get on our volunteer list for updates.