Bringing in the harvest in March

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We love that our customers want to know how does our garden grow! We had a great tour of the hydroponics house and the high tunnel on March 23, along with sunny, windy weather. People had a chance to see beautiful vegetables grown with no pesticides and no herbicides.

March is fickle---Snow on March 1, rain, some super chilly mornings, whipping winds, sunshine, a teasing day or two of warm weather, more rain and more chilly weather. March has it all!  Sometimes it seems our main crop is mud.  But temperatures are creeping upwards and the sun feels stronger, and everything under cover is growing very well!

The hydro house is producing an abundance of greens, enough for the CSA shares as well as the market. Watercress, bibb lettuce, leaf lettuce, romaine, arugula, cilantro, parsley, and thousands of seedlings which are transplanted into the ground or into pots. Thousands of lettuces—very exciting for us. We are learning the growth cycles of the different plants and how to space the plants for optimum growth.

The high tunnel is producing an abundance of snap peas, scallions, kale, and chard. Thousands of scallions were planted in-between the tomato rows. The snap peas, which had looked unlikely to produce at the beginning of the month, are now producing far more than expected. The tomato plants which went in the ground on the last day of February are showing clusters of blossoms and growing very well. The chard and kale are bigger than ever. We are harvesting beautiful Chioggia and golden beets.

March brings the first harvest of perennial crops—such as sorrel and other herbs-- and vegetables that have wintered over—such as kale and cilantro from outside. No hoop house, row cover, or other protection, just great plant hardiness. Rhubarb is not quite ready for harvesting, but it is up and looking great!

For the last week of March, the tempo of everything seems to double and triple—more seedlings, more transplants, more planting, for the hydro house, the high tunnel, outside, and for you, our customers, who are ready to plant as well!  The first herbs and vegetable plants are out of the greenhouse and on display. After a few days, the plants are adjusted to the cooler temperatures and can tolerate frosty weather. I love hardy plants!

In just a few weeks, spring weather will make ALL the gardeners anxious to get out and play in the dirt. We are crossing our fingers that we get some sunshine and dry weather so that all the planting can happen close to schedule! The last weekend of March is teasing us with the promise of 70 degrees on Saturday. Bring it on—we are ready!






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