Projects and Progress, from Justin

Here's a glimpse at some of what's been happening around the farm, from Justin! We're all excited for this rain to let up and for the growing season to begin.

Preparing to re-skin the hoophouse.

Smooth progress, as Gillie supervises. We got 'er done with teamwork - one of Tulsi's first farm tasks!

Here, Rudy tests out our new, flexible, low-level overhead sprinkler system.

New roll up door frame - the door is full width so we can get a tractor in, and right up to the edges for an initial pass of tillage, to break up compaction. It also allows for maximum passive ventilation - air circulation being crucial to helping reduce the incidences of fungal diseases in greenhouses, especially in our moist climate.

Corner detail. I've found that sectioning off this little area made a big difference in reducing heat escaping from that top third of the door.

Note the geared hand winders for the roll-up sides. The doors also use the same winders.

Here's Teagan unveiling our new field area (left), and the first results of our occultation experiment. The tarps germinated the weed seeds in the soil, and are currently keeping it at a good moisture for tillage. I had plowed some pasture/roadways that were to become one of our new production field areas, but the chunky clods needed to be a lot finer to allow our planned no-till raised beds to be easily formed by hand with shovels. Luckily the tarps had kept the soil at the perfect moisture for tilling. After one pass, we are looking good!

Teagan hard at work building our raised beds in our hoophouse, while i 'supervise'... ;o)

First planting of the season - thanks to a generous contribution of starts from our friend Beth at Goodfoot Farm! Teagan gets a colorful mixture of kale in the ground. Note the hi-hose, and the remaining beds, covered by landscape fabric - more occultation in action!