More broccoli's forming crowns! And nothing beats pulling up two carrots intertwined in a loving embrace.
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Plot progression! Dave and I added mulch to make a pathway between rows. Leek and kale transplants are doing well in the no-till. I weeded out some flowering weeds in the sunhemp row to prevent spreading. DAn advised I don't waste time weeding those because when we lay the sunhemp down to prep this side as no-till after we harvest the seeds, it should smother the weeds and prevent their growth. This is because the microbial growth in the soil from laying the organic matter down signals to the soil it doesn't need to grow that weed anymore....?!?!? Direct seeded plants are sprouting!!! All Star Gourmet Lettuce Mix. Includes Green Oakleaf, Red Oakleaf, Green Romaine, Red Romaine, Lollo Rossa, and Redleaf lettuces. Our planting plan turned into peppering all seeds throughout the row (F for spacing), so between the lettuce, carrots, radish, and beets, I didn't know what was what when they began sprouting (F for research). Dan advised tasting and I could tell immediately this was the lettuce! Thoya Soybeans from 9/21 did not sprout, planted about 4 more 9/28 in the sunhemp row. Sprouting/Plot Envy Radish sprouts had to be thinned. A single week old sprout tastes like a real bite of a radish! New seedlings to plant next week to fill up some spots and replace any failures. We mix potting medium with ground up coconut husks and a nitrogen additive. The ideal way to make seedlings is with soil from your own farm. Dave and I made 10 each of Laciento Kale, Cilantro, Broccoli, Tomato, and Gretel Hybrid Eggplant.
I am so jealous of Carlos starting grad school that I decided to go back to school too!!! As part of the GoFarm program I will spend Wednesday nights sitting behind a desk and scribbling down words of wisdom and notable quotes from the founders of the program that have expertise in marketing and business. Branding and marketing and knowing how to sell that is just as important as knowing how to grow/love/sing to your plants. One of my bosses, his favorite saying is "people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan". Him and I disagree about everything related to business, respect, success, professionalism, and happiness and I bet he would be surprised he would've fit right into my farm class tonight! With my biggest farm mentors listing love for people and the earth and future generations and faith and community and independence as their motivation for farming, or describing farming as cultivating healthy soil with food only as a byproduct, I have a lot to take in and learn about prioritizing profits and thinking of farming as a business! But that's a big part of what I am excited to get out of this program. Will the motto "Buying local/growing your own food is the most radical political act you can engage in" limit the marketability of LibreBird Farm??? Besides being stoked about adding additional aspects of my life to be recorded meticulously in excel workbooks, my greatest take away from tonight's class is that a community of diverse perspectives is as valuable as surrounding yourself with like-minded folks. Our lecturer tonight said he is excited about GoFarm and dedicates his time to it because he can contribute his expertise to "all these folks that want to do stuff i'm not willing to do, but I think is important". Everyone has unique and valuable attributes, ideas, passions, expertise, etc. and we are very capable of respecting and learning from and building off of people completely different from us. Starbor F1 Hybrid Kale farm begins
This is only the beginning of going down the rabbit hole with Dan as our farm coach. It looks harmless enough but Dan + seeds + plaid/camo + impressionable minds could = revolution. I don't know if this is what GoFarm had in mind. New ideas I'm trying to grasp:
Do you really need to buy fertilizers and soils? Preferable to take soil from your own farm to start seedlings in. At GoFarm we have some vermicast, turkey litter, and other fertilizers to mix in our potting soil to start some seedlings, but have to be conscious of "spoiling" the seedlings with a super nutrient rich environment and then shocking them with the soil environment when they're planted in our plots.
This sanitized environment and "don't let the seeds/package touch the ground" is quite different than the seedling making i'm use to. Now i'm self-conscious about the casualty I take to making seedlings at Ted's and surprised he lets me do this task with 4 year olds! Beginning to understand farmer's hesitation for volunteer "help" on farms. |
... To Grow and Cook Your Own Food!Libre Farm, LLC is Dave and I's effort to be the food revolution we want to see in the world! Categories
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