What’s Growing?

Using a wheel hoe.

In the spring we watch the weather reports closely to weigh the risk of planting too early and losing our new plants to freeze and frost.   We’re often out until it’s too dark to see our boots anymore, squeezing as much garden and farmwork into our days that we can.  All the plowing and harrowing has been done for now.  Six thousand little onions and almost six hundred broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants have been tucked into their rows, one by one. The beets, lettuces, turnips, peas, carrots, fava beans, garlic, and arugula  are all marching through Abundance, Bountiful, Paradies and Teikei Gardens. 

Each day we check to see if the potatoes have popped out a few leaves yet. With the help of a horse-drawn potato planter and a hard-working, enthusiastic farm outreach worker, four hundred pounds of seed potatoes were buried in two huge patches in Bountiful Garden.

Our early Asian greens like mizuna and several varieties of pak choi are popping out.  Winter-dormant lettuce, spinach and kale have awakened from their soggy naps to stretch new growth into the spring sunshine we’re getting these days.  In fact, they’re ready to be harvested!

In the large hoop house, or high tunnel, more carrots, beets, potatoes, mache and zucchini have a head-start on their growth and can be harvested much sooner.  The A-frame has Climbing Italian squash growing inside.

Outside in other garden patches we have rhubarb, marjoram, mint almost ready to cut.  Zinnias and other cottage flowers will be sown soon.