Friday, July 24, 2015

Summer Update from Shaker Organic Garden


Read the latest from Co-op Organic Garden manager Stacey...
 
Hello,
A garden update for this week:
The beans are in full swing, it takes up to 2.5 hours a day to pick them all!  They should be tapering off soon.
The blood meal seems to have worked to keep the ground hog away for the time being. Japanese beetles are now the pest of the week.
I've dug new potatoes, which if I do say so myself are amazing. They are huge. I really think the combination of drip irrigation, straw hilling and side dressing with bone char was the magic combination!  While the soil test results read that our soil phosphorus levels are high, potato yields still benefit from a light side dressing of phosphorous.  They suffered severely from leaf hopper damage, however because they are an early variety it didn't' seem to affect the yield. I would love to do more next year.  Because of the leaf hopper damage, I may need to harvest the fingerlings for the September dinner early.
We've also started harvesting carrots (3 colors) and giant green bell peppers. Eggplant and tomatoes should be along soon, along with shell beans.  The tomato plants are loaded, just waiting for them to size up.  A few sungolds are ripening each day, just enough for a snack at this point.
I've seeded some experimental crops to see if we can create a really nice mix of fall greens for the harvest dinners including red stem salad turnip, baby beets, baby chard and daikon to go along (hopefully) a lot of head lettuce.
We've started cover cropping some of the fallow areas.  Luke, from Brookford Farm, will bring our tiller over next week and help me adjust the PTO shaft to fit our tractor on site.  I'll be able to till up larger sections of the field with it and get more cover crops in.
 
Best,
Stacey

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Take a Tour of the Organic Gardens

If you aren't able to make it out to Canterbury Shaker Village anytime soon to see the organic gardens, take a virtual tour with Co-op Organic Garden Manager Stacey Cooper instead! Watch the video below...



You can find fresh produce daily at the Shaker Box Lunch and Farm Stand, 288 Shaker Rd, Canterbury, NH or at the Concord location of Concord Food Co-op.

For more information about the strategic partnership between Concord Food Co-op and Canterbury Shaker Village visit... http://concordfoodcoop.coop/strategic-partners/

Friday, July 3, 2015

The Shaker Farm Stand is Open!

Co-op Organic Garden Manager Stacey and her team of amazing volunteers are harvesting their efforts in the form of fresh certified organic produce and delivering it to the Co-op and the Canterbury Shaker Village Lunch Box Farm Stand.
You can find USDA certified organic produce picked fresh that morning!


You can even take a tour of the Village which includes access to see the working organic garden. Stop and say if you see Stacey and her volunteers working!
The Shaker Box Lunch and Farm Stand is at 288 Shaker Rd, Canterbury, NH.