Happy SUMMER and Happy Fathers Day!!! Saturday was the summer solstice, the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. We planted out the sweet corn and pumpkins for our Three Sisters Planting in the back garden. Once the corn is about 6" tall we'll start the climbing beans at the base so they can climb up the corn stalks. We cover the plants in a light permeable fabric called "reemay" or row cover. This helps keeps the birds from eating them and also keeps temperatures warmer and more humid to help with germination. We also use Reemay to cover most of our sensitive plantings and help keep pests from eating our greens or laying eggs that hatch and eat the roots. A few of these crops that you may see covered if you're ever at the farm include: arugula, mizuna, carrots, cabbages, and radishes.
Also pictured above is our planting of celery. We're experimenting again with planting it in trenches to increase moisture retention and keep the celery crisp. The trench is about 6" deep and the plants are spaced 6" apart. We will then add a line of drip irrigation to each trench. Upcoming plans for this week include trellising tomatoes, mowing and turning over beds for fall crops and harvesting our first round of cabbages! This week we have Napa Cabbage, an Asian variety that is crisp and delicious in salads or you can cook it into stir fry. It is also the base of a delicious Korean ferment called Kim Chi.
We'll leave you with a lovely solstice poem:
Happy Summer and warmest wishes from your farmers,
Kelly & Patrick
