It seems like we do an awful lot of plant protecting over here on the farm. We install deer netting around all of our fields, we spray certain crops to avoid pest and disease damage, we patrol around the jackfruit and breadfruit trees looking for mango stem borers to squish... But one of my favorite means of protecting our plants is applying mulch. I never totally understood the value of mulching in crops until I moved here where we can experience such intense periods of rain and drought. The field pictured above was mulched in last week and already the cherry tomatoes have grown several inches. The application of mulch - here we used hay - helps the plants retain water and smothers weed seeds so they don't germinate. Certain crops really really love being mulched in. I have found here that most nightshades, i.e. tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, do best with some sort of mulch, whether that be hay or ground fabric.
Aside from lots of collecting and applying mulch, the crew has been busy weeding and planting. We have tons of new greens coming in so we've been making all kinds of salads for lunch. The asian greens are really tender and vibrant and the red and green mustard greens are super young so they aren't terribly spicy yet. Andy and I have been adding baby red mustard green salads to some of our dishes at the Slow Down Dinners because their color is so vibrant and that slight bit of spice they give off compliments dishes pretty well. Aside from lots of greens, our tomatoes are still going strong and we're just sitting back and trying to wait patiently for our cucumber, zucchini and eggplant crops to start producing in full throttle. It's coming!
We hope everyone has a great week and we look forward to seeing you all this weekend. If you don't have any plans Saturday March 12 and 19 consider joining us up at the farm for a Slow Down Dinner! Additionally, on Sunday March 13 Snowbear will be hosting a small Bush Skills workshop where he will be demoing construction of bamboo tools such as fruit pickers and fishing spears. More info on this workshop will be made available soon, so keep an eye out.
One final note, if anyone has some old CSA boxes lying around, please bring them with you to either Leatherback or LLG. We are waiting for our new shipment of boxes to arrive but we like to reuse boxes when possible so we could use your help!
Cheers,
Elizabeth and the Farm Crew
