Archives for garden updates
Pomme de parterre
Ever wonder what the power of 1000 potatoes sounds like? Well, you don’t have to worry anymore.
Go here: http://graphicstandards.org/pdp.htm
Signs of spring and some thoughtful words from E.E. Cummings
O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
fingers of
prurient philosophers pinched
and
poked
thee
has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy
beauty .how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and
buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true
to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover
thou answerest
them only with
spring)
Local Farmers in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06farmers.html?_r=2&hp
Usually you know that you’ve arrived when you make the New York Times but some local friends arrived some time ago. Kasey White and Jeff Broadie of Lonesome Whistle Farm have been featured in today’s Times for their work in growing heirloom beans and grain.
Kasey White and Jeff Broadie of Lonesome Whistle Farm
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06farmers.html?_r=2&hp
They are involved with the Southern Willamette Bean and Grain Project and are part of a great local effort to return wonderful food to valley. (http://www.mudcitypress.com/beanandgrain.html).
Great to see the exposure!
2010 Garden Harvest Tally
A common sight at the Urban Farm, among the compost heaps and tidy beds, is our baby scale. A baby scale? I know! But it turns out to be the perfect-sized scale to weigh all of the produce we harvest from the farm.
We keep monthly records of our harvests for a few reasons. People will make notes about certain pests, which helps us adapt for future plantings. And it tells us what worked well last year and how we might mix things up for the coming season. We might remember that we planted way too much zucchini and too little potatoes, so we adjust for the coming year.
This year we can celebrate 6,500 pounds of food grown from students and volunteers at the farm. Our goal is education, not to be the highest producing farm. Regardless, it was a good haul! Here is a brief look at the biggest producers:
- Tomatoes – over 1,000 pounds
- Summer squash – over 700 pounds
- Beets, apples – over 500 pounds each
- Onions – over 300 pounds
- Lettuce, cabbage – about 300 pounds each
- Potatoes, pears, pumpkins, swiss chard – about 200 pounds each
- Broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, kale, leeks, shallots, spinach – all about 100-200 pounds each
Our produce goes home with volunteers and students in the class. When we have excess, we donate to local non-profits like Food for Lane County. It was a great year!
Sleepy Farm
The temperatures have really dropped over the last couple weeks here in the Willamette Valley. We wrapped up fall term of class by prepping the Urban Farm for winter. Our students worked on pulling out the last of the warm weather crops, like tomatoes and squash. We dumped all that “green chop” into the compost bins, layered them with “browns” like straw and leaves, then threw a plastic cover on top to let them quietly break down.
The students also covered the pathways with dried leaves, which we got from the City of Eugene. A few team leaders put cover crops on their beds. Others placed row covers over tender plants like lettuces.
There are still a lot of cold season plants growing: collard greens, kale, swiss chard, spinach, etc. We’re hoping to harvest those a little at a time through winter. We are happy to see volunteers show up Saturdays from 10:30-12:30, but class is done for the year. Time for the garden to get some rest.
Pumpkins
We had a very energetic group of kindergartners visit the Urban Farm back in May. They learned all about growing a garden to make food for healthy meals. They each planted some pumpkin seeds at the end of the sunny afternoon.
Some were more careful than others with planting, but pumpkin seeds are very forgiving. We ended up with a huge patch of mixed pumpkin varieties. Halloween is only a couple weeks away and we hope they come back soon to collect the rewards of their hard work! I’m not sure if we can eat this many pumpkins…
Summertime
It’s summer time at the Urban Farm and the living is definitely easy. Our summer term class has been spending most of their time on the farm trying to keep on top of harvesting. Last year we planted way too many zucchini and crookneck squash plants. We adjusted things this year in the hopes that no one gets buried with summer squash. I’m happy to report that we are getting a good variety of summer squash, tomatoes, lettuces, beans, beets, cucumbers and such.
The apple trees are hanging over and starting to drop fruit already. Not sure what is going on there. Don’t they know it’s only August? Typically we harvest those in another month, around late September. The pear trees seem to be behaving though. We should have a good crop come October.
The school break between summer and fall terms is on the horizon. We always need extra volunteers during that time. If you are interested, send us an email or just stop by on a Saturday from 10:30-12:30. Happy harvesting!