Sorry it has been several days since the last post. The end of the school season is here and it's when we all get a crash course in juggling. Closing House last night went really well. Things keep growing along here on the farm thanks to the recent warm weather. There is a whole new batch of seedlings almost ready to go in the ground once they get their secondary leaves sprouted a bit more. Maybe next week sometime. Anyway, here are some shots from around the building.

Tomato that survived the recent cold spells.













Pole bean sprout.



















Garden peas almost ready to pick on the trellamid.



















Chive flowers.













Lettuce and chives.



















Folded iris. Did you know we have four or five different varieties of irises here?



















Unfolded iris.













Iris number three.













Final iris shot. This one has an intense pattern on the inside.













Have a great weekend.

Harvest Day

With a three day weekend coming up it was about time to thin out the lettuce and spinach a bit. The sun has finally come out and it looks to be a beautiful day and the beginning of a fine weekend. Have a fun and safe Memorial Day.

Geese and Garden Peas

Again, today, things are cool and quiet on the farm. Except for the birds who frequent the courtyard. The local gaggle of ganders was marching across the parking lot when I got to school today. The really good news is that the first garden pea popped out today. Hopefully with the oncoming warm weather things will get moving again after this weekend.

Cool As A Cucumber

This cool weather is really stressing out the warmth loving plants like these cucumbers. I don't think they are going to make it so it's time to start some new ones. The tomato seedlings I put in seem to be holding their own, but not making any progress either.

Cool Monday

Not much new going on here at the farm on this cool May day. Lettuce is almost ready to start picking, more pole bean sprouts came up, there are more radishes to harvest.

Possible Additions To The MB Family

Although in the last week or so we haven't seen the pair of mallards who use our courtyards as a nursery each spring, we are keeping a vigilant watch (against crows and blue jays) over their nest that could have close to a dozen or more eggs in it. Unfortunately there is a chance that the nest has been abandoned, and in that case there's not much we can do at this point. Keep your fingers crossed.













Not much else going on today. The irises have come out in bloom though.

Mending Fences

There are a couple things going on on the farm today. I replaced the posts for the border since the wood that was there was getting droopy from being wet, the first bean pole sprouts are showing their heads, and there was another spinach and radish harvest. The sun is coming out now and Happy Birthday to Mrs. LaBarbera.













First bean pole sprouts













More spinach and radishes

Trellamid? Pyrallis?

The sweet peas are starting to run so this morning saw the construction of some sort of hybrid pole pyramid and trellis system so they have something to climb on other than themselves. It is doubtful that it will hold up in the end, but the poles and twine were here and available. We shall see.



















A running sweet pea













Sweet pea tendrils



















Chive flower buds

New Crop

Today I was able to get in the ground a whole new crop of tomato (three kinds), cucumbers (three kinds), and cabbage seedlings to replace the seedlings we lost to the late frost. They are all about a week old. Peppers and eggplants take a little longer to get going so they will be here soon. No pole bean sprouts yet. It is a really beautiful day to be outside in the garden.

Tool bag and seedlings













Cucumber seedlings at one week













Tomato seedling at one week













Kale that went to seed last season and is coming back.













Here's a random composition with the hose.

Radishes

There was a second radish harvest today with about two dozen picked. It looks like we are in for several days of rain, which is good, but it seems like we are getting off to a slow start.

Salad Days

Here are photos of the first radish and spinach harvest of the 2008 season. These have got to be the official taste of springtime. It's rainy here again but that's okay since the gardens need the water.

Rainy Thursday

Here are some random shots from around the building today.

Sign for updates.













Flowers in the science courtyard.













Radishes are coming up.













Cilantro and dill as well.













Spinach is almost ready.



















New lettuce and chives that came back from last season.



















Pink tree.













Red dogwood













White dogwood

Border

Our courtyard here sometimes gets used by various classes for various reasons and in the students', and teachers' and custodians' come to think of it, excitement for what they are doing they sometimes don't see where their feet are going. So thanks to Mr. Abbott for the lumber that we used to tie up a temporary fence.

Irrigation project

The courtyard where we are growing the Farm School for some reason has no spigot for water, but the courtyard on the opposite side of the connecting hallway does. Unfortunately that spigot used a special key to open it and the threads for that were stripped. A huge thanks go out to Herc, Ramon, and the rest of our outstanding custodial crew who almost overnight ordered a new spigot and had it installed. After hauling the hose over the roof and connecting it we now have plenty of water if we need it.

Killing frost

So Mother Nature tricked me again. This is a photo of what was a cucumber seedling last Saturday. A late frost came through and wiped out all the seedlings I planted. Oh well...
Just have to start over.

Seedlings

I came in on Saturday and planted over one hundred seedlings including: three kinds of tomato, four kinds of peppers (hot and sweet), three kinds of cucumbers (slicing and pickling), two kinds of eggplant, cabbage, and kale. I also planted two kinds of pole beans. Luckily the courtyards here have a beach grass type of plant growing that every spring the custodians crop. There were plenty of cuttings around to use as mulch over the beds. This will help keep down weeds and retain moisture from evaporation.

Seeds and sprouts

Today the first spinach and lettuce sprouts showed their heads, and I planted some more seeds including: sage, chamomile, oregeno, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, chives, and echinacea.

Smaller bed

Today I turned over a new, smaller bed for herbs. Irrigation is starting to be an issue because there is no spigot in this courtyard. My solution for now is to run a very long hose from the custodian's closet down the hall. It's not perfect, but it works.

Poacher

As I was working in my classroom this morning I heard a squeak outside my window. When I looked on the ground there was a falcon, of all possible visitors, on the ground clearly covering something it had preyed upon, which Mr. Nicsaji told me is called mantling. About a month or so ago I found the feathers of a cardinal scattered about a corner of the courtyard. I had no idea what could have gotten in the courtyard and taken a cardinal, but now I know. The falcon lay on the ground for a few moments, and when it felt safe enough it stood up and very efficiently began plucking its prey, which was a sparrow. It finally recognized my presence as I tried to take a photo and I ducked, held the camera above my head, and got this photo that is blurry because I shot it through the fake snow on my window. The falcon can be seen at the bottom of the shot and you can almost make out the sparrow in its talons.