Friday, June 12, 2015

A little rain and help from Volunteers at Shaker Organic Gardens

An update from the Co-op Organic Gardens Manager, Stacey Cooper at Canterbury Shaker Village...

"Crops are looking great. Some initial pest pressure is starting to ease off as the plants are sizing up and able to hold their own for now.
Intermittent rain has helped cut down on irrigation time.
Zukes have set fruits, ancho peppers have set fruit, scallions are sizing up, kale and chard are almost in full swing.
The fields are about 95% full of crops at this point with just a bit of space for lettuce and bean successions.
Next week we will have available: parsley, basil, green kale, red kale, chard, lettuce, radish, beets, beet greens, arugula, and spinach.
We have good crops of dry, shell and fresh beans germinated.  So far, no one is eating them =)  A few of the kale on the orchard end have been nibbled (deer), but nothing serious so far.
Kenn, our new volunteer helped me fix the walk behind tiller and we were able to till between the crop aisles.  The fields are looking pretty tidy at this point.
I was able to rake up the field that Ray mowed last week and then collected the hay and used it to hill the potatoes and mulch the kale and chard rows.  Very helpful for weed suppression and moisture conservation.  It would be great to grow a grain crop in the empty portion of the field next year for this purpose, grain threshing and then use stalks for mulching.
I've been using fish/ kelp emulsion on some of the plants that are getting plagued by early fungus and pest problems, it seems to be fortifying them and making them a nice dark green.
I consolidated the compost piles at the hoophouse and turned them over.  It helped to tidy up the front of the hoophouse."

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