Mike covering the last potato bed... check it off the list!
Good morning! It's been a very full week here and our bodies are feeling it.
We were checking the weather forecast last week and they were predicting rain, alot of rain, for this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. We reorganized the priority list to prep and plant as much as possible so we wouldn't get locked out of the field and be unable to plant for a few days. Our short 'before the rain comes list' included plant potatoes and onions, and finish the first moveable tunnel and cover with plastic.
So... with our priorities rearranged, Mike spent the first half of the week on field prep. He turned in the cover crop, spread fertilizer, disced the fields, shaped beds, marked trenches for the potatoes, etc.
Field prep step one - terminate the cover crop
Sadie tackled some serious weeding projects on the early greens and roots outside and seeded the next succession of broccoli, cauliflower, basil and the tomatillos. More lettuces and spinach were transplanted and carrots were seeded.
Mike and Sadie pulling onion starts out of the high tunnel
We pulled the onion starts out of the high tunnel earlier in the week and transplanted into the field on Saturday and Sunday. I think we planted roughly 20,000 onions. I love onions... from the sweet yellows to the spicy reds, and especially the storage varieties that hold through the winter and are still feeding us into May! They're such a staple, I'm not sure I even know how to start making dinner without slicing or dicing an onion. We had great success with a few varieties last year, so we planted a lot of those and are trialling a couple varieties as well. We are growing two varieties, Sweet Spanish and Valencia, from Dan Hobbs with Farm Direct Organic Seed as well as Gold Princess and Karmen from Adaptive Seeds. I'm excited to see and compare how the alliums do this year, how they size up, how they taste and how they store throughout the winter.
Onions are so GORGEOUS!
Potatoes! They're in the ground. Mike and I motivated on Friday and planted around 2100 pounds. It was a sunny full day but they were in and covered before dark. Woohoo! Grow taters grow.
We planted the first round of tomatoes in the high tunnel yesterday! Planting tomatoes always feels good... it's a sign that Summer is getting close. The plants normally take a couple days to adjust but then grow like weeds the rest of the season. If all goes as planned we should be harvesting tomatoes by the end of July! Wish them luck!
The first moveable tunnel is so close! We just need to finish building the doors and set up the anchor system to hold her down, then it's time for plastic. I'm hoping we get the plastic attached this afternoon or tomorrow morning before the rain comes... but it all depends on the wind. We really need a calm 30 minutes to attach the plastic and lately the afternoons here have been very windy so we'll just see. If we're lucky and do attach the plastic in the next 24 hours... I will be able to prep beds during the rainy days and fill this house up with tomatoes and peppers in no time. Fingers crossed!
Moveable Tunnel #1... almost ready for plastic
We have to focus and get as much done as we can in the next 24 hours, thank goodness for coffee. We'll be prepping beds in front of the high tunnel, transplanting the leeks, scallions, shallots, seeding a couple things, hopefully plastic the moveable tunnel and then... enjoy the sweet sound and smell of rain and a couple days to rest.
Have a beautiful day!