Baby bok choy… grow babies grow!
And just like that spring is here! Almost as quickly as last month’s blizzard blanketed the farm in snow, it’s gone. We’ve been left looking at muddy fields, various row covers and tarps blowing about the property, and weeds starting to spring to life in the longer, warmer days.
All the field clean-up that was left pending for months while we waited for the ground to unfreeze and the snow to melt is now possible. Unfortunately, we have some more pressing priorities.
Namely, getting plants in the ground! Our first day back at the Wooster Square Farmers’ Market is April 18th - less than a month away! We’ve been busy seeding, bed prepping, and transplanting to have seedlings, food, and flowers ready for you.
Aaron leads the tunnel re-covering from above.
The first vegetable transplants were scheduled for the first week of March. Before we could plant, we needed to re-cover their high tunnel. As mentioned in January, we cut the plastic off one of our tunnels due for repairs this year. Now, it needed a roof again. It’s an all-hands-on-deck type of job to get a new 100’ x 42’ piece of plastic up, over, and secured to the structure. Luckily, we had a clear day with little wind to do so. With two people on ladders at each end of the tunnel and 4 more people on the ground holding each corner of the plastic, we slid the plastic across the top of the tunnel, pulled it taut, and fastened it down with “wiggle wire”.
Shortly thereafter, Rachel seeded beets and carrots, and we transplanted spring fennel, kohlrabi, and bok choy. Vegetables are on the way!
Ranunculus soaking up the sun
We’ve been transplanting flower seedlings for weeks now into the other high tunnels. Ranunculus and anemones are well underway. Snapdragons went into the ground last week. With the addition of two new high tunnels on the property in 2024, Elise was able to overwinter more crops this season. Flowers like fritillaria, statice, and eucalyptus were planted last November. By taking advantage of warm, sunny days late last fall and early this spring, they get a jump on the flowers planted this year. Most crops seemed to have survived the winter well, so you may see new additions in Mother’s Day bouquets this year!
The last crop demanding our attention in March is a bit different from the rest. It’s endive! We described its unique life cycle in our April 2022 blog post. They require a little extra manipulation to form their blanched heads. And now, I’ll be dreaming of endive salads for the next 3 weeks until they’re ready to harvest.
An early anemone… perfect for elevating farmer hairstyles!
As the days get longer and longer, food and flowers will be here before you know it! Our sign-ups for 2026 Market Shares are open until April 15th, and our Spring Flower Share remains open until the first week of flowers on April 25th. If you haven’t already, we’d love to have you join this year!
See you soon!
Kiersten
