Around the Farm and What We Have Been Up To

  Already late in May, and it is unbelievable. We have been extremely busy with getting the farm in shape and prepared for our very first CSA season. We are excited that we have acquired our very first inaugural CSA members and we can't wait to share with them all of the wonderful fruits and veggies we have planned for this year. If you are one of our CSA members reading this, thank you again for joining us on this wild journey through the world of farming and we can't wait to enjoy the fresh garden delights with you this season from Furlong Forest Farm.

I'll try to set up a recap of what we have been doing since the New Year around the farm. This is going to be heavy on the photos and light on words so that you can visually see how the farm is rapidly changing month to month, week to week, and day to day.

In January:

making more seeding flats. our carpentry skills sure need work.

various versions of seeding flats

that kittons sure is helpful when I am trying to sow our first seeds

our first seeds in our homemade seeding mix and protected in a makeshift greenhouse while we set up the hoop house

hoop house framed up

In February:

wrapped in plastic 

hoop house complete with half door and rolled up "window treatments". moved the seeding flats onto our benches and we are ready to grow!

brassicas the first to germinate in the hoop house

scything down the cover crop to prepare the strawberry beds

planting strawberry plants

strawberry plant

In March:

peppers germinated

a bed of cosmic purple carrot. the first seeds to get direct sown into beds: carrots, beets, lettuce, radicchio, radishes

brassicas transplanted 

garlic planted in november are growing very well

brassicas ready for outdoor protected area to toughen up for planting

re-staking the lower blocks of beds 

cosmic purple carrot: the first direct sown seeds have germinated

first tomato and pepper plants transplanted

lettuce plants transplanted

In April:

broccoli and cabbage beds ready

one compost pile can take all day to gather green and brown materials

and can be over 4 feet tall

many of the first direct sown seeds are beginning to grow well: greens and lettuces, beets are seen in the picture

view of the farm from the southern end looking northerly

planted the first onions: newburg

and had the help of family to plant lettuce transplants that would go in the first CSA boxes

transplanted the last of the tomatoes

first reddish strawberry ripens: seascape 

and planted cabbages

prepared bean beds and melon beds and cucumber beds

sorted and selected the best seeds of our dry bean varieties for planting: hopi red 

calypso

hopi yellow

And then there was May:

prepared beds for tomatoes and squashes and more dry beans

and everything seeded and transplanted has really started to grow

on the farm looking northerly in May

friends visit and help prepare and plant more cosmic purple carrot seed as well as more bean selecting and sowing and summer squash seed planting

planted all our tomato plants

and then planted our pepper plants

germination of all the recently planted seeds begins: beans as well as melons, cucumbers,  more lettuces,  more carrots

And now we are caught up to the weekend of May 17th and 18th when we harvested our first goodies and brought our members their first Furlong Forest Farm CSA box!

You can see more photos of the preparation of the first boxes (as well as earlier farm photos not on the blog) on Instagram with some sort of smart phone or on the web using the site webstagram and typing in @furlongforestfarm or #furlongforestfarm.

We got most everything in the ground that we had wanted to by this time of year. Just a few late season beds to plant with seed and later transplants from the hoop house and we will have met our full capacity for this season's plantings! 

Is it time to take a breather yet? Not a chance.... still lots to do and not just sit around and watch the plants grow and wait to eat them!

'till next time.