It's that time of year when we dig in and get our hands dirty - literally. Spring has sprung and we have begun the marathon of a growing season that will not wrap up until early December.
Despite steady 20 mph winds with even stronger sporadic gusts, the first field plantings went in the ground Friday, April 2 and included carrots, beets, turnips, sugar snap peas, and kohlrabi. That night and the next day all those seeds were watered in with a gentle but steady rain. Anyone who gardens knows it doesn't get much better than that.
Young Pea Seedlings Welcome the Morning
Brian completed our new 20 x 40 transplant hoophouse in early April as well. This new hoophouse is located here at home and is used to grow on all our vegetables starts like cabbage and broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, greens, lettuces and much more. This replaces a smaller 12 x 20 hoophouse. But, alas, nothing is wasted. The hoops from the smaller house were taken from the frame and easily installed INSIDE the new hoophouse. Plastic left over from a previous field hoophouse installation was pulled over these hoops creating a cold frame inside. It is literally a house inside a house. With temperatures still dipping into the 30's and 40's, this arrangement allows us to set up a heater and protect the young transplants from freezing.
Plastic Being Pulled Inside The New Hoophouse
Last week, 4,000 certified organic green onion sets went in the ground as well as 400 lbs of seed potatoes. This year we are growing Red Norland, Kennebec, Yukon Gold, Adirondack Blue and Adirondack Red. Last year, the potatoes were not planted until Memorial Day - in the cold rain! Another reminder of what a cool wet season we had last year.
Adirondack Blue Potatoes
