New Arrivals

It's March! Spring is on the way. The sun arrives noticeably earlier each day. There is a sense of urgency to get going. It's time to make sure everything is in place and all is prepared for this year's new arrivals.

We made our first planting on February 14th, carefully sowing the seeds for the 18 varieties of tomatoes and peppers that are planned for the high tunnels. A space next to a window in our farm house is reserved for the seed trays, germination mats and grow lights needed to get the plants started. Having our plant incubator set up in the house gives us the opportunity to monitor the growing conditions closely. Tomatoes usually start popping through the soil in 4 or 5 days with the peppers following a week later.

The second planting of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, earmarked for our garden plots, were planted March 1st and 2nd. Approximately 1500 to 2000 seeds of 29 varieties were sown in seven trays.

When the plants in the seed trays are about three inches high, we separate and transplant them into plant trays. For the tomatoes and eggplant, we use 32 cell inserts and 48 cell inserts for peppers. The tomatoes quickly out grow the trays and we repot them in 4" pots. It is a system that has worked well to minimize shock when the plants are transplanted to their summer home.

With limited space on the indoor germination tables, we moved the trays of young plants to our greenhouse and garden shed. The insulated garden shed houses the plants at night and on days when the temperatures in the greenhouse are below 50 degrees. It would be preferable to have the plants in the greenhouse full time, but heating is an issue. On cold days and nights, the cost of heat is expensive and power outages can happen. On warm and sunny days, the temperature can rapidly rise to over 100 degrees. Extreme temperatures can do a lot of damage to young plants. Our garden shed, equipped with grow lights and a small heater, has worked out well to maintain a moderate growing environment for the plants.

Things move quickly this time of year and the young plants grow with abandon. Lots to do... things like preparing the garden beds, ordering supplies and repairing machinery. Then there are the improvements. Ideas based on lessons learned from last year. This year's big project is re-fitting the high tunnels with new end walls and heaters.

Spreading Manure for Tomatoes

Repairing the Kubota

New High Tunnel End Walls

New Heater in High Tunnel

Each new improvement brings excitement of what we think we will be able to accomplish! Repairs, well, they are part of the process. Always something to do. And always a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with the completion of each task.