The 2015 Growing Season has Begun
Attending the NOFA conference for me always signifies the beginning of the growing season. While no seeds have been planted yet the conference gets me thinking about seeds, soil and our planting schedules. The conference lasts three days in Saratoga Springs and always contains a great amount of knowledge. This year I listened to different presenters discuss soil tests, soil amendments, cover crops, etc. These are all things that we currently do at East Durham Farms but I still walked away with increased knowledge such as when planting cover crops to mix legumes and grasses. The legumes such as clover naturally adds nitrogen to the soil but by adding the grasses the clover produces increased amounts of nitrogen because of the competition from the grasses.
This year there was a presentation from Jean-Martin Fortier from The Market Gardener. He farms in Canada on a small 1.5 acre plot. He intensively plants and harvests his ground without the use of a tractor. He uses a BCS walk behind tractor, similar to the tiller and is able to support his family. He uses a permanent raised bed system that I think we could use here at East Durham Farms. There is no lumber needed to contain the beds so you can work the beds easier. I am going to buy his book to better understand his system. He was adamant everything you needed to know was in the book, he seemed genuine.
So back to seeds and soil, I have put together the 1st draft of our 2015 Seed Starting Schedule. We will be growing more tomatoes and lettuce this year as well as planting more rotations of beets, spinach and kale. We are trying to provide an increased steady offering of fresh produce throughout the summer and fall. We made great strides last year but will continue to build on our improvements. If anyone has any suggestions I would be glad to hear and discuss them.
Our first round of seeds will be started February 21st this year. Artichokes are the first seeds that we begin in our rotation. In order to get a crop the first year you need to start the seeds early and then put them out in the high tunnel for a few weeks. They produce fruit in the second year but by putting them in the high tunnel when it is still cold we are able to get fruits the first year by making the plant think it went through a winter season while in the high tunnel.