Farm Happenings at Firmly Rooted Farm
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Farm Happenings for May 28, 2020

Posted on May 22nd, 2020 by Tamara McMullen

Good afternoon veggie lovers!

We’ve arrived at the time of year where all the things can get planted.  Hurry, hurry, hurry and get in the tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, beans, potatoes… the list goes on.  We are working our way down it. 

Of course, with the heat comes the weeds, so now we must also cultivate all of the things.  And irrigate all the things. 

It’s a busy time but a delightful one as we watch the first tomatoes form, the flower buds appear on the zucchini, and the snap peas grow in a lovely tangle.  Today, I pulled one beautiful carrot that we planted in February and it’s nearly there.  I can barely believe it: future food on route!

If you are looking for seedlings, we still have a nice variety, admittedly heavy on the tomatoes, but some peppers, herbs, brussels sprouts and others.  Find them here:

https://www.localline.ca/firmly-rooted

Garden Like a Professional:

Here’s a quick weeding low down. 

1.        It’s better to start before you can see the weeds.  Use a long-handled hoe to disturb the ground along the rows, and between the plants.  This kills the weeds that are at the “white thread stage”, having just germinated but not emerged.  They are very weak and can be easily dispatched.

2.       Weed weekly.  Continue with the long-handled hoe, moving to a hand hoe or your hands when the weeds are too big to disturb easily.  If the weeds get away from you and get big, remove them from the garden all together.  It's amazing how an uprooted weed can somehow pour all of its energy into making seeds and spilling them before it heaves its final breath. 

3.       Consider mulching the larger plants that will be in the ground for much of the season.  It’s less worthwhile to mulch lettuces, and tricky to mulch beets and carrots, but very helpful to mulch tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and the like.  Straw or wood chips make great mulch. 

That’s it for now, happy eating until next time!

Tamara