For What It's Worth

One of the benefits (yes, benefits) of the frigid weather that we've been having, is that various bugs that cause significant damage to crops, as well as trees, will not survive. It is doubtful that any particular variety of bug will be wiped out, but the weather will put a dent in their population. An article in the New York Times, 'Celebrating Deep Freeze, Insect Experts See a Chance to Kill Off Invasive Species', provides more details about this. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/nyregion/experts-cheer-the-deep-freeze-as-a-killer-of-invasive-insects.html) While the article is about trees, the basic premise is applicable to organic and conventional farmers. Considering that organic farmers have less resources to combat pests, the extreme cold weather that this area has experienced will be helpful.

Prior to the start of farm season 2013 David received a grant to purchase a high tunnel for the field. A high tunnel is a green house without a heater. The greenhouse, see the earliest posts for pictures of its construction, is where the plants germinate in a warm and controlled environment. A field high tunnel, though not heated, does provide the plants inside to grow in a more controlled environment than they would have in the feild. When the sides are rolled down the inside of the high tunnel provides a few degrees of added warmth. The advantage of this is that certain plants can be planted earlier in the season and others can last longer at the end of the season. The following pictures provides a partial chronicle of the  building of the high tunnel. 

Building the green house required more precision, but even with the high tunnel the posts needed to be aligned and pounded into the soil to a particular depth. The posts for the green house were only a couple of feet long and we were able to use a mallet to push them into the soil. Clearly with longer posts using a mallet was not practical. This picture shows David using the front end loader to pound the posts into the ground. As everything, things did not go as smoothly as hoped- there were some rocks beneath the surface that prevented the posts from going to the desired depth. A sawzall, a toll with a reciprocating blade that cuts through metal, was needed to trim the posts to size. Prior to this step measurements were made to make sure, as best as possible, that the posts were going to be the proper distance apart. All in all, very time consuming.

Once the posts were in the ground, the 'hoops' had to be place on top of the jutting posts. If not properly spaced getting the 'hoops' in place was most difficult. Even when everything was correctly aligned, it was a challenging process. The picture below shows David clamping the 'hoop' to the cross beam. This helps to provide stability to the entire structure.

Another step in providing the high tunnel with stability was bolting the wood to the posts. There were pre-cut  holes in the posts, but we needed to cut through the wood and then push the bolt through the hole and then use a nut to secure the post to the wood. This was done on the bottom as well as along the side. While not technically difficult, the process of doing this is far more time consuming than you would imagine.

The first picture shows the inside of the high tunnel. The second shows the beds that have been made with plastic row cover. On the green house there are wooden walls on the front and back. On the high tunnel plastic is attached to the ends and can be rolled down and up as the weather dictates.

The completed high tunnel.

Beds waiting to be planted. Sadly, this was what David was unable to do as much as desired in the early part of the season due to the wet ground.

As mentioned in the first post in this current sequence, the walk-in cooler wasn't cooling. Needing to keep the harvest cool we used the coolers that are used to bring the produce to market. They are lined up this way, at a slight incline, to allow the melting water to flow out of the coolers. If the water staying in the cooler the produce would turn to mush in the water. Doing this on a daily basis was, to say the least, annoying.

The plan for farm season 2014 is to start seeding by the end of February. The list of things to do in anticipation of seeding is lengthy. Thus we need it to warm up a little bit and to stop snowing. Ah, my first complaint of the season about the weather. I would anticipate a few more before all is said and done.

Slow Food

Some variation of these pictures have been posted over the years. With that said, I think that some repetition is a good thing. While these pictures are posted long after the fact, you can look back fondly at the bounty you enjoyed from one local farmer or another this past year. And you can look forward to what is coming your way this coming season.

Pictured below is a variety of lettuce called Skyphos. It is a most delicious butterhead. It is very delicate and you are not likely to find it in a grocery store, even one that would carry more specialized types of produce. And it is gorgeous!

The bee hives at the farm continue to function. While no honey was harvested this season, the bees were busy doing their essential work of pollinating. For those not familiar with the issue, honey bees are in peril. Hives around the country have been dying in vast numbers. The cause of the die offs is not certain, but it does seem related to pesticides and herbicides. There is much information available if you want to read more about this topic. Remember, no bees, no food.

Here are various plants in their seeding trays. After seeding the plants germinate, start to grow, get moved outside (the following picture), and then get planted in the ground. As mentioned, the record rains of June, and near record rainfall in July, led to many plants staying in their seeding trays way to long. All farmers encounter problems similar to this, but small, sustainable, organic farmers are more vulnerable.

 Here's a small sampling of some of the bounty that was brought to market.

 For those who enjoy the simple joy of growing their own food, we have brought plants of various vegetables, tomatoes, basils, and herbs to market. If you are interested in growing your own we can provide you with fresh, healthy, and organic plants. If not from Z Food Farm, check with a local farmer near you. At a local farm you will have a better chance of getting a fresh, healthy plant to grow.

At ZFF the fields are covered with snow and the temperature is bitterly cold. However, the seed order is in the process of being developed and the plans are to start seeding towards the end of February. Cheers to the coming season!!

Best Buddies

One of the highlights of the year was getting Ernie. David got him at a puppy adoption. He was a rescue from a kill farm in Georgia. He has been a loving companion from the beginning. He was/is very responsive to commands. He has gone out of his way to befriend Hule and has consistently followed her around. He is very loving and playful with seemingly endless energy.  He is a great little guy and was a great addition to the Z Food Farm family.

Ernie, like all puppies, is interested in playing and has almost unlimited energy. Hule, being an older dog is not as interested in playing as is Ernie. However, there are times when Ernie's persistence pays off and Hule gets involved. Here they are playing king of the hill. In many ways Ernie is the best thing that has happened to Hule in a long time.

When Ernie first came to the farm Hule wasn't too sure about the newcomer. She ignored him and rebuffed all of his attempts to engage in play. It seemed as if Hule thought he was just visiting and was waiting for him to leave. It took a couple of weeks for Hule to realize that Ernie wasn't going away. Once she accepted that he was here to stay they have gotten along. While he can be annoying in his efforts to get her to play, Hule seems 'happy' to have him as her brother.

Given Ernie's exuberance, and Hule's laid back disposition, she will often get tired of his steady attempts to get her to play. Yet, as this picture shows, there are times of restful repose. Ernie is Hule's shadow. While he has become more independent over time, he does not stray too far from where she goes.

During each of the first three years Hule was very active in her job as pest control. She killed about 12-15 ground hogs each year. This year she only got three of them. The reason for this decrease is hard to pin down. One explanation is that Hule is getting older and may not be as vigilant as she has been in the past. Another explanation is that the ground hog population has not recovered from Hule's prior efforts. We'll see what happens next year. One of the reasons that David wanted another dog was so that Hule could pass on her knowledge about hunting. David learned farming from Matt at Cherry Grove. Hule learned hunting ground hogs from Matt's dog Abigail. David's hope is that Ernie learns hunting from Hule.

Happy days and happy dogs.

This Was The Year That Was

This Was The Year That Was

Be the ocean when it meets the sky

            “greek freighters are dumping crap somewhere right now"

 be the magic in the northern lights   

            "the ice is melting!"

 be the river as it rolls along    

            "toxic waste dumpin' from corporate farms"

be the rain you remember fallin'    

            "be the rain, be the rain"

save the planet for another day    

            "be the rain, be the rain"    

be the river as it rolls along    

            "be the rain, be the rain" (Neil Young)

When this blog was started there were two main purposes. One was to provide a general sense of what small farmers go through, especially start up farmers. The other was to create a semblance of a written history of David’s life as a farmer. This blog started in 2007 when he was the farm manager at Gravity Hill Farm. This documentation has covered David’s three years at Gravity Hill and now through four years running his own farm, Z Food Farm. For various reasons there has been a lack of consistency in staying current with events at the farm for season 4 (2013). There were a few posts early on, but then there has been silence. This post is intended to be an end of the year summary of farm season 2013. Cheers!

To borrow from Dickens, it was the best of times it was the worst of times. (Actually, the full quote is pretty amazing; take a moment and look it up.) While it is a stretch to compare the events of Dickens’ novel with a farm season, this was marked by a significant dichotomy between the start of the season and the end of the season. The beginning of the season was reflected the notion that if it could go wrong, it did go wrong. Starting late July/the beginning of August, about the time tomatoes started coming to market, circumstances took a turn for the better. From that time through the end of the season the farm continued in a positive vein. Ultimately, despite the myriad of problems during the first months, the season, as a whole can be viewed as successful. That’s the broad overview. Here then are some of the specifics to provide a synopsis of the year; for you to get a sense of the challenges that all farmers face and for David to have some documentation to look back on so that one year doesn’t fade into the next.

Heading into the season there were a couple of minor things that David decided to have repaired on the tractor. The process of this repair took about two weeks longer than anticipated. This delay prevented David from doing initial field work- mowing the fields, tilling the soil, forming beds. This delay reverberated throughout the season. While seeding started on time, the first, and most subsequent plantings was delayed. This resulted in some vegetables not getting planted and some not doing well once they were planted having spent too much time in their seeding trays.

And then, once plants were in the ground, there were the deer. Ah, the deer. Not dear deer. But those damn deer. The deer, at the beginning of the year, ate the first plantings of beets, Swiss chard, and lettuce. Thus, when markets started, those items were not available for sale. While it is hard to guesstimate the actual cost of the damage, it is safe to say that the deer had very expensive dinners at the expense of Z Food Farm. As a reminder- Z Food Farm, as do many smaller, local farms, uses an electric fence as a means of defense against the deer.  (insert picture) The charge in the wires of the fence is not enough to do any harm to the deer nor is the charge strong enough to shock the deer if they touch the wires with their body. The way the fence acts as a deterrent is to bait the fence with peanut butter, which is intended to lure the deer to the wire. The goal is for the deer to lick or sniff the peanut butter and to get a shock on their tongue or nose and thus teach them that the fence is to be avoided; an example of operant conditioning. While deer have been a problem in the past, this year was the worst. In addition to making sure the fence was baited on a regular basis throughout the season, David used row cover (which the deer tore through) and some netting that is advertised as an effective means of keeping deer from eating crops. It is hard to discern what, if anything, worked, but over the course of the season deer damage was reduced. Please notice that I did not say ended. Hungry, hungry deer. Angry, angry farmer.

Then there was the weather. All farmers are at the mercy of the weather. Too hot. Too cold. Too wet. Too dry. Frequently checking the forecast, not because there is anything that you can do about the weather itself, but hoping that there are steps that can be taken to mitigate the impact of the weather by knowing what is coming becomes a daily preoccupation. Sometimes there are steps to be taken, and sometimes the weather gets the better of you. The later of these two being the case this year. The month of June saw a record rainfall for Mercer County. July was not too far off of that month’s record. Though plants need water to survive, too much water is problematic for a number of reasons. One is that if the soil is too wet it is not healthy for the soil to do any tractor work. To be healthy, soil needs to ‘breath’. This condition requires there to be spaces within the soil. These spaces allows the earthto breath and to allow for life- insects and bugs that help maintain the arability of the soil.  Wet soil is easily compacted by the weight of a tractor. When this occurs the soil is unable to breath and the life within the soil is, for lack of a better word, squashed. Thus when the soil is wet, small, sustainable, organic farmers, farmers who have a love and respect for the land they are toiling, are unable/unwilling to do tasks that require the use of their tractor. For David this led to his being unable to form beds into which he would do his planting. By being unable to form beds, seedlings that were ready to be planted had to wait in their seeding trays until the beds were eventually formed. While there is a margin of error for how long plants remain healthy if their planting is delayed, at a certain point the delay becomes deadly. An example to illustrate this would be the winter squash. Winter squash need to be planted in June. Due to the wet soil, their planting was delayed some four to five weeks. By the time they were planted the majority had died in their trays. Many more died shortly after planting. The end result was that having had the best ever winter squash harvest last year, this year’s harvest was the worst. Winter squash was not the only crop that was impacted in this manner, but it is the most glaring.

Another specific example of the impact of rain is on the health of the plants. In general, organic plants are more vulnerable to disease than conventional crops. This is due to conventional farmers having access to a variety of substances that can be sprayed on their crops to prevent/minimize the affects of plant diseases. While the organic farmer does have some items that can be used, they are not nearly as effective. In this context wet and windy conditions help to spread a variety of diseases. Thus, even those plants that were planted on time, or only a little late, did not produce as they otherwise could have. This led to problems with cucumbers, the second planting of summer squash, and sweet peppers and eggplants. In other words, the beginning of the season (June and July) was marked by an unusual number of challenges and frustrations. The problems resulting from excessive rain impacted all of the small farmers in the area, but not being alone does not lessen the frustrations that any one farmer experiences. In the midst of all the rain, there was one additional situation that made circumstances even more problematic.

As mentioned earlier, David had some maintenance done of the tractor and that this took longer than expected. During the time of rain, the clutch on the tractor broke. While the ground was wet during part of this time, there were windows of opportunity that David was unable to take advantage of due to his not having his tractor. While David was able to borrow a tractor (thanks Matt), the damage had been done. By the time David got his tractor back there were many tasks that were backed up. The priority was on forming beds in order to plant. And despite working dawn to dusk some tasks remained on the waiting list throughout the season.

One last tale of frustration- the air conditioner for the walk-in cooler broke. Well, without a cooler it is hard to keep your produce fresh. Fortunately we already had a large number of coolers, they are what David uses to bring his produce to market. However, in order to keep the produce cool enough in the coolers we had to use ice in the coolers. Without going into the specifics, it took a couple of weeks before the walk-in was back up and running. That required a lot of ice. If you want to know the best place to purchase ice, the least expensive place, let us know and we’ll be happy to tell you.

There were various other trials and tribulations, but you get the general idea. Throughout this period there were circumstances that provided opportunity for gratitude and hopefulness. In this vein some thanks are in order. Thanks to the CSA members of the farm. Your patience, understanding, and words of support and encouragement gave David an emotional boost to keep pushing forward. Speaking for myself, as the one who does the farm market and gets to see the members on a weekly basis, I enjoyed spending some time with all of you and getting to know you within the structure of the market. Thank you so very much.

Thanks to our customers both at the farm and in Philadelphia at the Rittenhouse Square Farmers’ Market. As consumers there are many choices available as to where to purchase your produce. That you choose to do some of your shopping at Z Food Farm is not taken for granted. (This notion also is applicable for the CSA members.) The goal of David is to provide you with a high quality product. That we see so many of you on a weekly basis provides a sense of acknowledgement that we are doing at least a satisfactory job.

Thanks to Karel. Yes, we know that you appreciate David for the assistance that he provided to you for your project, but your friendship and handiness eased some of the stress. Not just the stress related to the big problems, but the stress that comes from the day in and day out factors associated with farming even in the best of times.

Thanks to Farmer Matt who through the years has continued to provide David with practical support in the form of loaning various pieces of equipment. Most importantly thanks for being a friend.

Well, this is rather lengthy. Trust me, it could be longer. As mentioned earlier, this is for the reader who has an interest in what goes into farming. While this is of value to whomever might read this, for me the value of is a documentation of what took place, a historical record.

With this in mind, some steps are being taken in preparation for the coming season. An inventory has been completed of seeds leftover from the past season. Also, David is scouring the various seed catalogs looking for new things to grow. Hopefully you enjoyed some of the new things that were offered this year, such as the purple sweet potatoes and the Jerusalem artichokes. The goal for next year is to continue with tried and true and the new and different.

Note- within the next couple of days some pictures will be posted to show some of what took place. (I promise!!)

Support local farms. Support sustainable farms. Support organic farms. To one and all, happy and healthy eating.

Down On The Farm

"If ever you think about the happiest days of your life Cast back your mind for a while And remember the time when you were a child Don't think of things that make you sad Just remember all the good times that you had"

As part of the curriculum at The Princeton Friends School the students, grades 3-5, get to participate in an out of school educational opportunity. The students self-select what activity to participate in and then go to the off school site once a month for the duration of the school year. For each of the past two years  a group of students has come to Z Food Farm. Starting the later part of farm season 2012 the students have: assisted David harvest carrots, potatoes, and turnips. In March of this season they seeded pea seeds in trays and in April they got to put the pea plants into the soil. If all goes as planned, the students should be able to get to harvest and eat the peas that they seeded and planted.

 

The students have had a great deal of fun and have displayed an interest in what they have done. They have had an opportunity to develop an awareness of how and where their food comes from, that it doesn't just magically appear on their tables.

Here are some pictures of the students in action.

The first two pictures show the students after they harvested two varieties of turnips. The red are called Scarlet Knight; the white ones are Hakurei Turnips. This activity was not a simple 'let's give the kids something to do' activity. The fact of the matter is that the turnips that they helped harvest were part of an order for a restaurant. 

 The following pictures show the students engaged in various stages of planting.

And as always, the loyal and faithful Hule is on the job keeping an eye on the proceedings. 

As always, happy and healthy eating to all. Support the right to know which foods are GMO's. Support local, organic, and sustainable farmers.

And So It Goes

"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."

And a farmer needs to seed, plant, weed, and harvest. Some things just got to be.

Seeding has continued, as it will throughout the season. To bring you up to date, here is the final segment of seeding to date.

 March 21- 25 varieties of herbs. A future post will list the various herbs that will be available at market.

March 21- Two varieties of leeks; two flats.

March 21- Black Magic Kale. This is a new variety of Tuscan kale. It has very dark, crinkled leaves which have rich flavor. Makes excellent kale chips; four flats.

March 29/30- Tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, and eggplants. As with the herbs, a future post will provide additional information about the varieties that were seeded. There were over 60 varieties of tomatoes, 15 varieties of hot peppers, 6 varieties of eggplant, and 10 varieties of sweet peppers. There are also a few varieties of specialty peppers.

April 4- Basil (Italian Large Leaf, Thai, Red Rubin, and Mrs. Burns’ Lemon).

April 4- Ficoide Glaciale. Huh? What? You read that right- Ficoide Glaciale. This plant is nearly unknown in the United States. If known, it might be familiar to some as the “ice plant”. It has fleshy, lightly acidic leaves that are covered with shimmering silvery dots, giving them a frosty appearance. The leaves are crunchy and refreshing in salads, and may also be cooked like spinach.

April 6- Peas

April 13- Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry- David has grown these the past couple of years, so they shouldn’t be a total mystery. Here is a description from Slow Food USA Ark of Taste- “This heirloom is not actually a cherry, but rather a small ground tomato. The fruits were recorded in horticultural literature as early as 1837 in Pennsylvania and are still common today at roadside stands in late summer. This outstanding Polish variety is prized for its clean flavor.  This tomato has pineapple and vanilla flavor.  Because of their high pectin count, they can be used for preserves, pies, over ice cream or in fresh fruit salads”.

Poha Berry- These will be a new offering this season. It is also known as Cape Gooseberry. The Poha Berry is a popular fruit berry in Hawaii. The berry is sweet/tart with smooth, waxy orange skin. The berries are often made in a jam. They are also a treat in salads.

Okra- David grew okra for the first time two years ago. Last year things didn’t work out, but this year okra will be back. When buying fresh okra, look for young pods free of bruised, tender but not soft,and no more than four inches long. They can be stored in the refrigerator in a paper bag or wrapped in a paper towel in a perforated plastic bag for two to three days.

Tomatillo- It is related to the cape gooseberry. Fruit should be firm and bright green. It should also be firm. A staple of Mexican cuisine.

4/14- Crosnes. Ok. First Ficoide Glaciale and now this? What is this? First, it is pronounced crones, despite the spelling. It is an Asian member of the mint family, known for its edible and unusual-shaped tubers. Described as looking like a string of mutant, spiral pearls. Usually about two inches in length, about ½ inch in diameter. They have a crunchy texture and earthy flavor. Similar to a Jerusalem artichoke in taste- Crosne offers a vague, nutty sweetness. They will be available in late fall.

4/14- Yacon (Peruvian Ground Apple). Oh boy, something else you’ve probably never heard of. And what is this? Well, it is grown for its crisp, sweet tasting tuberous roots, similar to a jicama. It has a slightly sweet resinous and floral flavor, similar to violet. While it is mainly used for its tubers, the leaves can be made into a tea.

4/14- Britton Shiso: Green leaves with red undersides. Can be used as part of a salad mix. The larger leaves can be used as sushi wraps. David has grown, and will be growing this season, both red and green shiso. Shiso has a slight lemon/mint flavoring. Apart from adding to a salad or as a sushi wrap, shiso can be used, among various ways, to make a shiso mojito, as flavoring in rice, and to make as a soup.

One of David’s pleasures in farming is to grow items that are off the beaten path. In his passion for farming, David tries to walk both roads of a diverging path- he grows traditional and nontraditional items for the joy of it.

A couple of quick notes- on 4/17 and 4/18 many plants were moved out of the greenhouse to the tables in front of the greenhouse. This will allow the plants to ‘harden’, to acclimate to being out of doors in anticipation of planting sometime late next week or early the week after.

On 4/16, 4/17, and 4/18 David spent a lot of time on the tractor using his spader to start preparing the soil for planting. Freshly turned soil is a beautiful sight.

Eat healthy. Support local farmers. Support organic farming. Support sustainable farming. Support labeling of GMO’s.

 Garlic is growing! Garlic is planted in the fall, usually Octoberish. And then it begins to show itself in early spring. This picture was taken 4/14. The garlic greens first began to show themselves a month earlier.

 

 This is some of the lettuce that was seeded on March 20. This picture was taken April 11.

These are the onions that were planted on March 15. This picture was taken April 11.

This is David using the spader to turn the soil. You can see the before and after difference in the soil.

A general picture of the greenhouse. If you compare with the pictures from the previous post you can get a perspective of how things have grown.

Baby Red Rubin basil.

Here is a picture of the spader. Imagine using a hand held spade working in your garden. Imagine eight of them working simultaneously being turned by an engine.

Here's a close up of the soil after one pass by the spader.

Baby tomatoes.

A couple of books about healthy eating and cooking: 

Mark Bittman- VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health . . . for Good. His basic premise is to follow a vegan diet before 6PM and to eat pretty much what you want in the evening.

Michael Pollan- Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.
"Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink."

Happy growing, cooking, eating, and drinking to all.

 

Keep On Seeding

'Seeding on down the line

Hey hey hey

I say keep on seeding

Seeding my blues away'

As of March 30 the weather has been more cooperative. Today would have been a wonderful day for David to be on his tractor doing some fieldwork and taking care of various other tasks requiring his tractor. The only problem with this is that David’s tractor is in the midst of being repaired. Nothing major is wrong with it, but there are a few minor problems that are being corrected. While it is somewhat frustrating that the tractor won’t be ready until mid next week, the upside is that barring some unforeseen problem arising, the tractor should be in good shape for the coming season. Losing a few days now is preferable to having the tractor break down in the middle of the season when its availability will be much more essential. Short-term annoyance for long-term gain.

While waiting to do field work, seeding has continued at a steady pace. Here is an update on what has been seeded.

March 15- Fifteen more flats of onions. Five flats of celery and three of parsley. Three flats of celeriac (celery root).

March 16- A total of fourteen flats of four different varieties of broccoli.

March 17- Sixteen flats of Swiss chard.

March 18/19- Fourteen flats of fennel.

March 19- Twelve flats of four varieties of cabbage. Twenty-two flats of four varieties of scallions. Four flats of celtuce. Three flats of escarole. Thirty-two flats of kale. And ten flats of kohlrabi.

March 20- Twenty flats of seven varieties of lettuce. Nineteen flats of three varieties of spinach. Thirty-three flats of six varieties of beets. One variety of the beets is called crapaudine. “In 1885, the French book, The Vegetable Garden stated this is one of the oldest varieties. Today some experts feel this may be the oldest beet still in existence, possibly dating back 1000 years. This unique variety is one of the most flavorful, with carrot-shaped roots that have rough, dark colored skin which looks like tree bark. Inside, the roots are very dark, with almost black flesh that is of superior quality and sought after by chefs who want real flavor.” (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds) If you are interested in more information about this unique beet go to: http://www.frenchgardening.com/aupotager.html?pid=12712534853556821

One of the critical components of the soil mix used for starting the seeds is mushroom compost. The compost, along with the peat moss and the other ingredients for the soil mix provides the necessary nutrients the seeds need to start germinating.

 

 This shows the earliest stages of seeding. A later picture will show how quickly the greenhouse fills up.

The first germination!! A most excellent sight.

This picture taken less than a week after the picture above.

The next four pictures convey a sense of the beauty and majesty of new plant life. These pictures do not do justice to what the greenhouse looks like in person. Some varieties of plants germinate more quickly than others, so virtually each day brings new signs of germination. The process of seeding, watching and waiting, germinating will continue throughout the entire season. The road goes on and on.

As you can tell, David and Rachel have been quite busy. And since March 20 there has been more seeding. The next update will be forthcoming within the next few days. Until then happy and healthy eating.