Time to get things moving

It is looking like Punxsutawney Phil might have been correct and we are in for an early spring.  There certainly have been more and more song birds each morning on the way to the Farm School.  Even though we had a burst of snow yesterday, sending us home from the farm early, today it is raining and most signs of snow have melted away.  There is a chill in the air so March may indeed come in like a lion and exit like a lamb, but we will see.

The Farm School also has some new, squiggly additions and even when it is cold and rainy out there they need to be fed.  Mrs. Priest has brought to the program a huge crop of worms for composting.  Healthy composting worms have been known to be able to convert half their body weight in a day, which will be a huge help with the scraps coming out of the Culinary Arts classes.

Here she is digging out compost for the worms to feed on.

And here is their lunch.

You can just make out a few of them in this shot.

Here are the students' worm bins that are being taken care of by groups of four to five of our sixth graders.

Another new addition to the growing operation are several four foot seedling lamps.

Here we have pea sprouts, and behind them sunflower sprouts, that only yesterday showed no signs of sprouting.  The idea here is to grow them as micro greens to use in salads and as garnish.

Here you can see the pea sprout close up.  

Pretty soon things are going to be in full swing here at Middlebrook Farm School so stay tuned and if you are in the neighborhood come and check us out.  Also keep an eye out for Ambler Farm maple syrup.  It is some of the yummiest around and it is 100% local.  Their Maple Syrup Open House is Saturday, March 5th and the 12th.  There are plenty of activities like syrup tastings with ice cream and you can watch the evaporator boil away over the warm fire.

Snow & The First Signs of Spring

Though the  gardens may look like they have been buried by the snow...

...our work towards a simple four season harvest is paying off with fresh spinach greens as we near the end of January.  Mrs. Priest has been able to take the kids out to pick the spinach for use in their Culinary Arts classes.

Also, the first signs of spring arrived in the mail recently.

With the upcoming delivery of new grow lights and other seed starting equipment Mrs. Priest is going to begin the season with tasty micro greens of numerous types.

Stay tuned, and remember we are gaining two to three minutes of sunlight every day.

Snow On The Ground, Greens In The Box

December Greens

Putting The Gardens To Bed

The season cycle has turned again and it is time to put the gardens to bed for the winter.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  May it be warm and filled with joy.

First Frost

Wooly Bear

Wooly Bear, Wooly Bear what do you know?

Wooly Bear, Wooly Bear when will it snow?

Garden Ghosts

Not all of fall is shades of amber...

Late plantings at the Farm School are coming in with the turning of the season cycle.

The hope here is to maintain these colder season crops through the winter and into the spring. 

For the first time in my experience we have been needing to catch and release actual locusts.

Arugula and other lettuces are enjoying these warm days and cooler nights, but the killing frosts are coming soon.  Row covers and frost fabric will help extend their growing season through October.

 Snow peas are doing well now too.

 I guess you can call this scatter planting.

Despite these warm days winter is definitely on the way and it will soon be time to browse through seed catalogs and begin planning the gardens for the nest growing season.  Though I have not seen a wooly bear caterpillar yet this season (the wider the black band the more harsh the winter, so say the Olde Tymers), but the oak trees are dropping acorns in huge numbers.  Some Olde Tymers say that is another sign of a harsh winter to come, but others say it is really a reaction to the previous winter.  Either way, it would be excellent to find a way to process or cook all those acorns for storage, or feed them all to some pigs.  Just watch out for the weevil larvae.  Blech.   

Did we mention...

...that sometimes things on the farm break?  Somebody was a little too excited yesterday about shoveling and moving soil to the new cold frames that they lost track of their feet and so this happened.  No problem though.  One quick trip to the hardware store and it was solid once again. 

Most of the time though things grow or get built, like these two new cold frame boxes.  Between the four of them there will be six small plots for the second and third quarter kids to work with.  

It's Been A While...

...but things at the Farm School are looking really good.  We are in the third week of school and I am not sure we could have hoped for a better introduction to the garden for our new sixth graders.  They are totally excited about it and according to Heather they are practically begging to go out to the gardens every time they are in class.  She has had them out there picking weeds, hunting bugs, doing general maintenance and harvesting the bounty.

And speaking of the bounty, here it is...

As we head into fall, and the sunlight sinks in its declination, our harvest continues.

Also, as the winter approaches, we are continuing to work towards a four season harvest by turning old window frames (recycled from Heather's home project) into boxes we can use to grow some cold hardy plants such as mache lettuce and carrots.  We will be building two more this afternoon.

And sometimes on the farm things break.  This is the ripcord and housing to an Echo weed cutter that we were using.  Here we have a key element to the idea of sustainability.  It could have been a >$300 addition to the local dumpster, but with some time spent with youtube tutorials and some investigation into where to order parts, $45 and three days later we are good to go.  

If you are in the neighborhood please check us out.