Farm Work

Spent the afternoon prepping a bed in the polyhouse for carrots. This particular house was very, very wet this winter. I have been waiting until it was dry enough to work the soil. We had planted this bed with spinach (var. Space) last October. The spinach seed germinated well but as winter progressed and soil moisture levels increased the spinach plants succumbed  to the damp.

To prep the bed I first removed the weeds, spread compost, lifted the soil using a broadfork and then worked the compost in with an electric tilther. Four shallow furrows were made using a Earthway seeder. Minicor carrot seeds were then carefully sprinkled into the furrows and covered with a light topping of vermiculite. We use vermiculite as a top dressing as the soils in this particular polyhouse are still fairly heavy and may unduly impede the young carrot seedlings. The vermiculite also effectively keeps the seeds moist as they germinate.

Finally completed the fencing epic. Like with all things farm-related, always multiply the time you estimate to a job by a factor of four. Every job undertaken seems to uncover a series of new jobs that must be completed before you can finish the initial task. As long as you remember this ‘law’ you can keep frustration to minimum. Unfortunately, I seem to have no long-term memory so I am always surprised (and often frustrated) at how long it takes me to get anything done. That said I am happy with the new fence.

Spent most of the day preparing to re-fence Fred and Vi’s field – the farm (Welcome Bay Farm) next to ours – so that it will hold our bred Icelandic ewes when we move them into it a week from now.

I was able to take down the old page-wire fence without too much trouble. Tomorrow will be spent removing a number of young and aged trees that are either in the way or that could threaten the future ‘integrity’ of re-formed fence. Days like today are a balm for my soul. I really enjoy this kind of meditative work.