Monthly Summary – October 2011

Logs reviewed and summary prepared by BY September 27th, 2012

General Observations:

Rainy conditions from late summer rolled into October leaving behind saturated conditions. First week saw clear skies but that led to continued rain through the second week. Mid month saw the planting of the BGB’s with fennel, scallions, kale and beets as well as winter cover crops. Special projects included a newly built loft in the seed shed and harvesting throughout the month included tomatoes, carrots, salad mix, arugula, tot soi, scallions, peppers, tea and parsley. The month came to a close with an unprecedented snow storm that dropped about twelve inches of snow and took the power out for three days as a result of snow covered tree branches falling on power lines.

Equipment 37 hrs:

Most of these hours were dedicated to trying to fix the Kabota which was difficult to start at the beginning of the month and by the third week it wouldn’t start at all.  The crew backblew the fuel line, bled air successfully, but it still would not work.

Administration 97 hrs:

Normal payroll duties and filing of 3^rd quarter payroll tax returns. $30,000 balance in bank account seems to indicate above break even cash position and potential exists for full payment of 2011 liabilities. Crew worked on element focus for next year and created new map folder. End of month crew meeting to discuss remainder of season and markets also took place. Plan discussed regarding the coming cold weather strategy to cover beds with plastic and remay.

Infrastructure 92 hrs:

Chickens moved to new locations along with other normal chores. Identified need to find winter housing for chickens and the 2011’s are getting too big for their coop. Location still unidentified at end of month, but future logs indicate the 2011’s ended up spending the winter in the farmhouse gothic. Cleaning and stowing equipment for winter was part of normal cold weather preparation. The power went out in the farmhouse due to snow storm for two and a half days. The basement flooded and was pumped out with a gas powered water pump.

Greenhouse 16 hrs:

I assume winter production seedlings were tended to but no log entries to verify that.

Composting 12 hrs:

Cleaned piles and received horse manure and shavings from Charlie Gilbert on 10/6 and one load of piled on heavy base of woodchips. On 10/18 the crew composted garlic beds plus seven others, nine total beds composted.

Planting 69 hrs:

On 10/11 the crew weed wacked, broad forked and fertilized BGB’s in order to plant fennel, scallions, kale & beets. Planted winter cover crop-triticale rye, hairy vetch and Austrian winter pea at five times recommended rate due to late seeding and rough manner of seeding including disking to cover the seed and forecast of lots of rain. Germinated well, chickens began eating it but figured it was ok as a result of the heavy seeding. End of month saw the preparation of field beds for garlic, 3 beds planted on 10/25. The crew forked the old basil bed in corner garden, seeding with spinach to overwinter, saw good germination 30 days later.

Crop Care 102 hrs:

10 Entries for irrigation during the month, mostly Ralphs house and Farmhouse Gothic. On10/5 hoed new salad mix in the west beds and on 10/6 hand weeded the BGB’s. Cleaned up tomato fields starting mid month. Set up rebar and remay on beds in preparation for cold days ahead.

Harvesting 119 hrs:

Harvested carrots, salad mix, arugula, tot soi and scallions and parsley throughout the month. Tomatoes harvested until mid month then cleanup of tomato fields began. Tea was harvested successfully and included Hyssop, Comfrey and Nettle. On 10/12, 220 pounds of winter squash was harvested: Butternut, Acorn, Delicate and Kabotcha from one fifth acre. The assessment is this would mean a price of $18 per pound to meet $20,000 per acre requirement. Farm manager is reluctant to sell the squash and would prefer to utilize it on the farm. Recognized a need for a solid assignment of the true value in order to determine if it can be considered a “cash crop”

Handling 96 hrs:

Normal handling of salad mix, kale, chard and carrots took place. The crew came up with the “swirling bucket” technique for washing carrots, presumably to make cold weather washing more bearable.

Marketing 207 hrs:

West Windsor: 10/1- $1,588,  10/8 – $1,247,  10/15 – $1,429,  10/22 – $1,226, 10/29 – $724.25 Average sales for month=$1,243

Summit: 10/2 – $3,370,  10/9 – $2,500,  10/16 – $2,865, 10/23 – $2,780, 10/30 – $565  Average sales for month= $2,416

Hopewell: 10/5 – $616.50, 10/12 – $393, 10/19 – $240, 10/26 – $476.50 Average sales for month= $431.50

Total October 2011 Market Income: $20,020.25

NOFA NJ requested veggies for their winter conference, no word on whether any were delivered.

There was some discussion of viability of Hopewell market through November considering low customer base and high rent.

Special Projects 58 hrs:

Cutting Hay in Veg D led to getting stuck as soil was too wet to pull implement. On 10/10 39 hay bales were harvested. Lots of wood splitting for the farmhouse, and a new loft was built in the seed shed. Total cost was $560 and completed with 10 worker hours.

Weather:

Week 1: lots of rain, saturated conditions.

Week 2: Heavy rain

Week 3: Dropping temperatures but clear skies.

Week 4: First frost and a Halloween blizzard to end the month.

Monthly Summary – September 2011

Prepared by TH September 4, 2012

General Observations: Late in August hurricane Irene left conditions saturated. September brought additional rainy weather and flood watches. Days of heavy rain forced work inside, extended a crew lunch noted in the log, and cut some days short. However, work pressed on with regular harvesting, crop care, some final planting, and other weather permitting tasks. Green house production continued, and the 6th Annual Tomato Fight was held on the 4^th of the month!

Administration 61 hrs: Regular payroll, money handling, and bill paying. Organic inspection on the 7^th followed by detailed notes in the log of clarifications, questions and things to specify. Email reply to trainee applicants on the 27^th.  Kyle took a test drive with Mike to Solebury Orchards to pick up fruit as training to operate the box truck.

Infrastructure 50 hrs: All diversions and water ways were mowed at the beginning of the month, as well as on going mowing of the fence lines and field perimeters.  Chicken coops were moved in rotation of fallow field locations.

Equipment 11 hrs: Kubota blades were sharpened for use. A pin broke on the fly wheel of the hay baler due to too much hay at too fast a rate. The repair was easy and all materials were on hand, resulting in a fun experience.

Greenhouse 6 hrs: Green houses were cleaned and planted and seedlings were thinned.

Composting 8 hrs: No specific notes.

Planting 18 hrs: Big garden beds were composted, broad forked, tilled, and seeded with salad. Rain on the 21^st changed plan for direct seeding Swiss chard and scallions to transplanting. Ralphs House green house was direct seeded with beans, radish, kale, and chard. Radishes were seeded next to the existing tomatoes in the Farm House Gothic green house.

Crop Care 119 hrs: Plenty of hoeing and hand weeding in the big garden beds and field crops. Poor germination and growth was noted in the big garden beds for spinach. The two southern strawberry beds were weeded and heavily mulched. On the 28^th the green house tomatoes and the yard long bean trellis were cleaned out for replanting. Beans were set to soak over night and be inoculated just before putting in the ground.

Harvesting 238 hrs: Weekly harvests of hardy greens, salad mix, and tomatoes are noted through the month for market; in addition summer squash, scallions, peppers, green beans, egg plant, beets, tat soi, flowers, herbs and garlic were also available. On the 21^st arugula was uncovered from Remay for its first harvest and noted as looking nice with no damage from flea beetles. Butternut squash was harvested and placed in the green house to cure, and acorn squash was placed in storage in the seed shed. Unfortunately on the 24^th lemon balm harvested for tea went bad during drying. Low yields noted on Green house tomatoes and at the end of the month the yield was low on chard and kale due to fungus. Hay was cut raked and bailed during the first week of September with a decent yield.

Handling 84 hrs: hardy greens washed and salad washed and bagged for market Scallions and beets get sprayed off.

Market 117 hrs:

Hopewell– Week 1 $490, Week 2 $500, Week 3 $511, Week 4 $403

WWCFM- Week 1 $2010, Week 2 $1200, Week 3 $1900, Week 4 $1650

Summit- Week 1 $3146, Week 2 $2600, Week 3 $3047, Week 4 $3050   

Total September 2011 Market Income:

Special Projects 16 hrs: Sun hemp was tried as a cover crop with three visits from Dave Smalley from NOFA during the month noted in the log to check the crop. Coleen harvested herbs to dry for tea, and Kyle built some shelving in the Shoop for storing tools. The planting in Ralphs house is noted as a special project

Weather: Record rainfalls due to hurricane Irene

Week 1: Rainy

Week 2: Heavy showers, saturated conditions, Delaware flooding

Week 3: Some sun, followed by rain

Week 4: Sunnier, rain off and on, flood watch warnings

Monthly Summary– August 2011

Logs reviewed and summary prepared by MR, August 1, 2012

General Observations:  Reading the log I am struck by the words, Tomatoes, Rain and harvesting.  They seemed to dominate the record, like the rest of life and activity was not noteworthy.  Total rainfall exceeded 20 inches, including 7 inches during Hurricane Irene on 8/27.  So August is nose to the grindstone month, picking tomatoes, harvesting the regular mix and going to market, and weeding and mowing.  There was also a ‘Mid Season Crew Check-in’ where the staff shared their perspective and task lists.  Cash Flow doesn’t seem to be what was hoped, so manager is focused on identifying what crops can be increased without exceeding demand or losing time on something that hasn’t proven to be profitable.

Equipment 30 hrs: 11 hours of the Kabota mower on diversions and mowing the market garden lanes and field borders.  The Ford 4600 also had high hours; 13.  The JD was only in use for 5 hours.

Administration 65 hrs:  As ever, accounting and payroll.  Payroll for the month was $9,658 for 7 workers.  Cash coming in is regularly deposited and quarters and ones retrieved for the cashbox.

Infrastructure 108 hrs: Equipment repairs- JD loader, cylinder repaired, but MR struggled for a day to replace missing fitting.  Casey helped MR remove, replace and remount tires on Ford, ATV and Hay Rake.  Mowing seems to be the prime activity, including weedwacking the grass away from irrigation submains and valves and maintaining the fences.  It was not clear in the log what these hours were for.  Due to many rainy days there may have been many odd job hours assigned to Infra.

Greenhouse 20 hrs: Greenhouse actually cleared out this month with the next seedlings placed on tables outside.  Last seeding of vegetable transplants, Succession #5, was done on 8/25 of Kale, Chard and Fennel.  This was probably too late as these crops never really got established (partly due to wet conditions).  Also, on 8/16 the “Winter Succession” of veggies was started, to be planted into Ralphs House and harvested in the deep, dark of Winter.

Composting 23 hrs: No log entries for compost use but I assume there was composting done pre seeding the BGBs, just not recorded.

Planting 29 hrs:  8/25 “big push” to get BGB’s ready for fall crops.  Seeded salad, Tatsoi, Spinach, arugula and carrots.

Crop Care 235 hrs:  8 entries for irrigation, mostly the Greenhouse Tomatoes.  Bought Hay from neighboring farm for mulching Winter Squash.  Heavy hand weeding in BGB’s to confront quackgrass invasion.  Lost sections of rows of Tomatoes to Hurricane and all the flowers were blown over.  Note in log; Always Stake and String Flowers!

Harvesting 580 hrs: 8/2 excited entry in Log about “major tomato harvest”!  At beginning of month extra tomatoes being held in Walkin Cooler to build up supply for Processing.  By end of the month the log notes with dismay the severe decline in yield in tomatoes.  Otherwise good yields of beans, beets and summer squash to keep the tomatoes company.  Interesting data from greenhouse tomatoes that 320 row feet in the greenhouse had yielded almost as many pounds as 1,320 row feet in the field so far, 1420# and 1527#’s respectively.  The greenhouse tomatoes had two weeks earlier production as well.

Handling 112 hrs:  Field salad was down by a third from last month so too is there a decrease in handling hours.  Chard too was way down.  Flowers, scallions and washing beets were the bulk of time.

Marketing 197 hrs: Selling out of many core crops.  Peaches from Solebury Orchards boosting income. Hopewell– $784, $965, $712, $788, $836; Total: $4,058

WWCFM–  $2,464, $2355, $2,059, $1,830; Total: $8.708

Summit– $3,469, $2,050, $3,230, $0 – Rained out by Hurricane Irene; Total: $8,749

Total August 2011 Market Income: $21,515

Special Projects 29 hrs:  SunHemp trial visited regularly by NOFA staff, recording growth over time.  Germination was decent but the wet weather put a damper on the SunHemps vigor.  It was also clear that when cultivating the seed in, the two center shanks must have thrown the seed to the center and wheel tracks, yielding poor coverage over 2/3’s of the bed surface.  Also, Tomato Processing; 600#’s taken to Bauman Family Fruit Butters, inPennsylvania on 8/15.  The yield was approximately 150 quarts, or 4-6 #’s per quart.  At $3.70 cost per quart + $3-$6 in Tomatoes and the time involved managing it all, we came up with our cost at $7-$10 Quart, so we plan to retail at a minimum of $15/quart of ‘Heirloom Goodness’.  BlackBird Meadows also reported an estimation that ‘start up of a small vegetable operation’ (1/2 acre) should expect at least $5,000 in costs.

Weather:  Heavy Rain Storms and wet soil.

Week 1:Temperature mild, due to overcast days and rain.

Week 2: “Clear and Drying out”

Week 3: Rain, Rain and more Rain

Week 4: Regular Rain Showers, topped by 7 inches, by Hurricane Irene 8/27

Monthly Summary– June 2011

General Observations: Ahhh it’s June!  This seems to be the thought of every farmer I’ve ever met come June.  We all wonder what exactly happened to May and even April for that matter.  The weeds are going crazy, some sneaky trickster must have fed all the worst of the weeds some sort of plant steroid…or perhaps it’s just because our days are at their longest and evolution has created a mighty plant foe in the field for us to either battle relentlessly or come to a sort of equilibrium with the deemed opponent.

No matter the cause or the farmers stance on weeds, every farmer begins to look at the To-Do list grow while the Done list seems to pale in comparison.  Ah well, I suppose it’s summer…oh wait, that’s right Summer Solstice!  In the middle of the crazy heat and insanity that is June, North Slope Farm always tries to appreciate and honor the Summer Solstice.  What better excuse for a celebration than the changing of the light levels and the passing from Spring to Summer.

Equipment 88 hrs: Trackers are used for plowing, ripping, bed forming, cultivating and general use.  Also equipment, like the Kubota and weed whacker, were used for mowing down weeds and cutting hay/straw for use on North Slope Farm.  The Volvo needed work done, got a new starter motor…a lot of work has gone into the Volvo over the years which may indicate it’s on it’s way out.  General maintenance was also needed on the IH140 which needed the battery connection cleaned.

Administration 58 hrs: Pay roll, balancing check book, deposits, consolidation of invoices and general accounting management, what fun!  Organic Certification Forms had to be filled out and turned in, don’t want to lapse on your organic certification or your asking for trouble.  MR had a phone interview during the month of June.  Seed orders for seeds we ended up lacking in had to be made to complete the year and irrigation rough drafts were made. Monthly summary, as always, were written and posted and photos were updated.

Infrastructure 82 hrs: Continual mowing and weed whacking…lots of mowing and weedwhacking- perimeters of farm and fields, around buildings, greenhouses, etc. in a continual fight against the ever growing weeds (Darn those “plant steroids”).  Fields were also continually mowed down for cut straw for mulching our field beds and using in our chicken coops.  The chicken chores continued, moving coops weekly and general cleaning of coops and feeding, watering and collecting eggs always have to be done.

Greenhouse 55 hrs: Stringing tomatoes in the greenhouse; continual/constant pruning of greenhouse tomatoes became a weekly chore.  We also had to continue to seed the next succession of seedlings for the field.  There was also trellising peas in Ralph’s House greenhouse.

Composting 50 hrs: Many beds needed to be composted including beds in the 579 field for flowers, tea garden beds in the corner garden, BGBs for direct seeding salad mix and out in Veg B Mid for the next succession of transplants. Compost sifting for the greenhouse was also a continual chore.

Planting 73 hrs: Lots of planting needed to be done in June, including direct seeding flowers in the 579 field.  Also, soyo long cucumbers (yum) and yard long beans (yum yum) were direct seeded in the greenhouse.  Additionally, 1^st years were given training on direct seeding salad mix in the BGBs, including training on proper mapping and recording of work done.  Also, lots of transplanting was done in Veg B Mid, scallions, red beets, gold beets, chard, touscano kale, red Russian kale, basil and summer squash while green beans, turnips and radishes were directly seeded there.  The last of the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers were also transplanted out in the tomato field.  We cleared out space in the greenhouse of all these transplants just in time for us to fill it again with the newest seedlings for the next veggie succession in the field.

Crop Care 184 hrs: Weeding, weeding and more weeding.  There was also staking and stringing of tomatoes and mulching their beds and lots of pruning of tomatoes in the greenhouse.  The 1^st years got an introduction to the irrigation systems for directly seeding in the BGBs and how to use the moisture system to check levels in the Farmhouse Gothic for proper irrigation.  Irrigation had to be continually kept track of because the rain during the month was variable and often came all at once, quickly followed by long hot days that rapidly dried field beds.  All of which was followed up with more weeding…of peas, carrots, salad beds, strawberries, and every other field bed.  There was also cutting of hay from fields for hay/mulch.

Harvesting 170 hrs: Lettuce, spinach, turnips, chard, kale, strawberries, peas, squash, garlic scapes, parsley, beets, radishes, garlic and flowers were all being harvested in June. A hot and humid heat wave spurred longer lunches and extended work days into later evening hours when it was hopefully mildly cooler.  One afternoon/evening the crew struggled to keep going to gather and store bales of hay that had been cut.  Everyone was loosing incredible amounts of water due to sweat in heat and high humidity but finally finished a long day, getting all the hay stored safely and dryly in the seed shed only to have a storm blow in 15 minutes later, redeeming all the work done to save the hay from being soaked.  The thunderstorm also brought a more than welcome break in the heat and a needed shower for all crew members who had bits of hay sticking to every inch of skin.  Additionally, there was also a one time picking of mulberries from single mulberry tree-yielding 5 pints in one hour of picking.  But the tree also was hours of entertainment for not only children of workers of the farm but workers themselves-nothing quite like a mulberry break in the mists of a hot day.

Handling 47 hrs: As always, washing of greens and roots.  For the first time we broke up Friday washing with Thursday, hoping to reduce the pressure on Friday and maybe break up the day into doing different work in the afternoons.  An overview on washing was given by MR and washing eggs was a continual chore.  Seedlings for orders from the Whole Earth Center also had to be collected and delivered.

Marketing 149 hrs: In the middle of a month where fair or foul weather can make or break a market, Wednesday Hopewell Farmers Market experienced quite a number of rainy days or days suffocated by heat and humidity, which majorly impacted the number of customers who came out.  Also, Cherry Grove Organic started at the Hopewell farmers market in the month of June.  MR began to coordinate mushrooms and Solebury Orchard orders for market, in mid-June there were the first apricots and sour cherries.  Also, the special order with Kitchen Garden seedlings was delivered, total came to $487.  6/16 the farm stand opened for first time at NSF.

Hopewell– 6/1: $575, 6/8: $430, 6/15: $451, 6/22: $403, 6/29: $391 = $2,250

WWCFM– 6/4: $1074, 6/11: $977, 6/18: $1317, 6/25: $1301 = $4,603

Summit– 6/5: $1920, 6/12: $1950, 6/19: $1950, 6/26: $2250 = $8,070

Total June 2011 Market Income: $14,923

Special Projects 22 hrs: ST’s Black Bird Meadows continues, tracking becomes of greater importance as bed forming, staking, mulching, planting continues.  ST also experiences having to get rid of seedlings which became root bound after they did not make it into the field.  NOFA NJ came to observe sun hemp as a cover crop at NSF, taking measurements to see how sun hemp fairs under certain treatments. MD and ST take measurements of the newest field, mulch field south east, to lay out the field perimeter and began to chisel plow.  MD introduced workers to the log splitter and crew started work on clearing a stack of logs from the forest and stacking for firewood for winter use at the farmhouse.  Also, RC lead up crew lunches in the afternoon.

Weather: Week 1: Hot and Humid a heat wave sets in early but strong winds from a front gave a break for some relief before the heat returned

Week 2: The week started hot and dry, optimal time for hay cutting but by the end of the week relief from the weather came in a front bringing cooler temps and rain showers- .9” rain

Week 3: Slightly cooler week with rain storms in the forecast all week – 1.25” rain

Week 4: Humidity and heat still beats down on the crew but the promise of thunderstorms is ever looming- .5” rain but ending the month dry without any rain in the forecast for the start of July

Monthly Summary – April, 2011

Beau: Logs and records reviewed, and summary prepared 4/3/2012

General Observations: 

April of 2011 saw snow showers on April fools day and progressed to rain showers which created very wet conditions through most of the month, ending in a beautiful sunny day on the 30^th. Notable issues were the water system leak, which delayed the use of the well irrigation. The rat traps were unsuccessful, instead only catching ants with the peanut butter bait, and subsequently some seedlings were lost to an opportunistic groundhog. Market sales included Hopewell market on Wednesdays beginning the second week of April, as well as sales to Kindle Café, Nomad and seedling sales to Whole Earth.

Equipment 8 hrs:

There were few equipment issues other than vehicle repairs for Isuzu, Prius and Volvo.

Administration 47 hrs:

Tasks performed included finalizing the flowers and supplies order, ordering of fruit and nut trees. Preparing 1^st quarter payroll reports for state of NJ, and finalizing the crop plan.

Infrastructure 96 hrs:

The beginning of month saw a leak in the water system so the crew had to resort back to the farmhouse water supply. Later in the month, the crew dug up the pipe between the office and the farmhouse. Turns out the leak was coming from about 8 feet down from the nozzle, not at the elbow as was originally believed.  The fence surrounding the Madonna needed repairing due to a problem with the posts not staying in the ground.  Later in the month, irrigation of Ralphs house led to over watering and a trench had to be dug on the east side to drain it. Other duties included mowing of the market garden and Veg C, as well as the fence line and compost filtration strip.

Greenhouse 122 hrs:

Greenhouse work consisted of an introduction to daily management including venting systems, seeding and watering. Cleaning /mulching of pathways and edges of interior, reorganizing and moving the seedlings to farm stand area to harden off and moved some to the hoop house. Potting of orange blossom, Rosa Bianca and orient charm for seedling sales.  Grafting of tomatoes toward the end of the month.

Composting 66 hrs:

Composting consisted of Strawberry and Pea beds early in the month, then moved to Asparagus beds, Apple trees and other fruit trees and of course, lots of compost sifting.

Planting 83 hrs:

Potting of second succession seeding. Seeding of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, arugula, tatsoi and flowers. Very wet conditions but nevertheless planting commenced following lots of rototilling and raking. Direct seeding of lettuce on the 14^th, planting of kale and chard on the shoulder of two beds, with turnips and radishes planted in the center of the beds. Planting of spinach (half bed) and swiss chard  with beets down the center. “New Girl” tomatoes planted in farmhouse gothic and Tunnel tomatoes in greenhouse.

CropCare 166 hrs:

Weeding party on Saturday the 2^nd resulted in completion of 2/3rds of the strawberry beds and beer and shrimp were the much-deserved reward that evening. Blackberries started peeking out on the 4^th, Peas were planted on the 6^th. Mulching of strawberry beds completed on the 8^th. Uncovering of strawberries on the 14^th. The 21^st saw almost freezing temps so the crew covered the beds to protect them from frost. Beds were renovating in the tea/corner garden. Woodchip/cardboard mulch was used on the blackberries. Weeding of four garlic beds in the Madonna field finished off the month.

Harvesting 64 hrs:

Harvested Arugula, Spinach, Tatsoi, Salad Mix, Swiss Chard and Kale for Hopewell market. Harvested stinging nettle for flush tea, took 4 days to dry in solar dryer.  Harvesting of house lettuce, arugula and six nice stalks of asparagus by the 23^rd.

Handling 42 hrs:

All of the above were washed and bagged for Hopewell market and sales to Kindle Café.

Marketing 57 hrs:

Participated in Hopewell market on Wednesdays, yielding $1,192.31. Delivered spinach, salad mix and kale to Kindle Café. The first seedling order of 120 plants to Whole Earth was on the 20^th.

Special Projects 13 hrs:

Chickens were moved during a fierce and windy rainstorm. Firewood was cut and a dog pen was sited and constructed. Hired a mason to build a better walkway and steps to access the main drain valve and wetlands by greenhouse. And ultimately egg washing and packing for Hopewell market.

Monthly Summary – March 2011

Prepared 3/13/12 TNH

General Observations: From the log the weather appeared to be what one would expect, remaining cold with some rain and snow at times. Despite that it seems to have been a busy and productive start to the season.

Administration 204 hours: Lots of meeting and discussion of the season to come, establishing plans, tasks and goals. In addition there a good deal of introduction and demonstration of different farming elements for interns. Efforts to find a consistent measure for recording crop data. 

Infrastructure 112 hours: General winter repair, clean up, and organization was begun. Chicken chores were done regularly in addition to some work done on their coops. Casey’s Sandbox was shored up. Electric fence was repaired. Cut rebar for hoops to cover strawberries. Fence was extended to included market garden. Gate was built for Madonna Field, fence was tightened, and a failed post was replaced. The Hens were collected after a fence post had fallen.

Greenhouse 125 hours: Introduction and review of green house systems. Seed inventory, seeding and planting to field dates were all discussed. A few rat holes needed to be filled on either side of green house. Heat mats were turned on (3/10) for herbs and flowers. Small beds were moved out and replaced with larger ones. Attention was given to weeding, preparation, and watering of green house beds.  First group planting on the 3^rd. Parsley, chard, kale, scallions, and squash were seeded. Tomatoes for greenhouse and tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant for seedling sale were all seeded. Squash was eaten and measures were taken to prevent recurrence. Tomatoes were potted for green house and for sale.

Composting 6 hours: Sifted as needed.   

Planting 2 hours: Peas were inoculated and planted in Ralph’s House. An attempt was made to “frost seed” clover.

Crop Care 259 hours: Lots of weeding and preparation of beds in Farmhouse Gothic, Ralph’s house, tea garden and strawberries. Remay was cleared from fields and rated on reusability. Field tunnels were tightened, strawberries were covered with Remay and trenches were dug to help drain fields.  Asparagus was cut back. Demonstration and Pruning of fruit trees. Attempts to “rat proof” Ralphs house with small chicken wire tunnels and the heated green house by fixing flashing around cinderblock bed supports.

Harvesting 33 hours: Week 1:

Week 2: Lettuce, spinach, tat soi, turnips

Week 3: Salad mix, kale, tat soi, turnips           

Week4: Arugula, spinach, kale, turnips

In addition to limited harvesting we had Tomato sauce and eggs available at market. 

Handling 18 hours: Products were cleaned and preparation forHopewell market.

Market 45 hours:Hopewell 3/9 $257.25, 3/16 $248, 3/23 $210.50, 3/29 $255.50

Special Projects 30 hours: Agricultural venture called Blackbird Meadows headed by third year intern. Primary special project efforts remained focused on the chickens.

Weather: Week 1: Cold, sunny, mostly clear skies. End of the week = heavy rain / flooding 

Week 2: Freezing nights. Sunny and clear to cold and cloudy with rain

Week 3:  Overcast and cold, some rain.

Week 4: Wind, rain, cold and snow.