It was a productive weekend on the farm! We are officially ready to till once the moisture dries up a bit. The seeds are here, transplants have been ordered, and potatoes will be shipped this week. We are excited to pick up our transplants from a local organic grower this year, Brockman Family Farms!
The compost pile is looking great. Just imagine that the “black gold” that you see in the left bin was a heaping pile of vegetation and kitchen scraps just a few short years ago. It has decomposed over time, breaking down into a fine soil that is loaded with nutrient-rich organic matter. The compost will feed our plants and should help them to be stronger and more productive as the nutrient-rich soil will be more easily absorbed into the roots. The organic matter will also allow excess water to drain and will retain water when needed. And as an additional bonus, we will use our vermicompost with each planting as well. Read our article, “We Got Worms!” from March 2016 to learn about vermicompost benefits. https://cleanacresblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/we-got-worms/comment-page-1/#comment-1
A nutrient-rich soil is not the only benefit to recycling your food scraps. Food thrown into landfills heats up over time and releases methane (greenhouse gases). When you take the amount of food wasted in America alone, nearly 40% according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the problem exponentially increases. And what’s even better is that building a compost pile is easy. All you need is an area to hold your scraps and either let it break down on its own or turn it to see results more quickly. I must admit I rarely turn the pile or pay much attention to it at all.
In other preparations, the straw was removed from the strawberries we planted last year and we tightened the tomato lines…..bring on the salsa! We purchased spring, summer, and fall bearing strawberry varieties to have a continual harvest, and we are excited to add this fruit to our list of fresh produce available on the local market this year. We plan to sell our chemical-free produce at our local grocery store, JTA Foods and Grill again this grown season.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and our webpage to see what Farmer Tab and family are up to at Clean Acres….spring has officially sprung!
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Transplants from: https://brockmanfamilyfarming.com/.
Clean Acres 