Building and Planting

This week was HOT, sunny, and exciting. We put the new plastic on the hoophouse, which takes everyone. first we unrolled it next to the structure, then we pulled it taut from both ends, with people standing on ladders on either end, and unfolded it so it was over the house. we made sure it was even and then used strapping (thin pieces of wood you drill through) to pull it extra tight and secure it on both ends. Then, we pulled it down and added strapping to keep it taut halfway down the sides. The bottom part of the sides we rolled and clamped onto a long bar the whole length of the hoophouse, so we can roll up the sides and let the breeze through when it gets too hot. We'll be using the hoophouse for some of our tomatoes.

Also, we worked on seeding a lot. Today, on our second big volunteer day, we had loads of folks come out and help plant potatoes. I mostly worked placing potatoes in front of the people planting them with Matthew (age 10) and Abigail (who will turn 8 next week). At the same time, we got to have our first wild food - ramps! Ramps are wild leeks which grow in the woods in the Northeast. Last weekend Don gathered a bunch and Bridget used them in a frittata.

But the veggie of the week here is asparagus. Sunday, Katie and I went to see "Asparagus: a Stalkumentary" in Williamstown, which talks about asparagus growers in Oceana County, Michigan, and how they are struggling to stay in farming after a US drug war initiative supports farmers in Peru and Chile in growing asparagus instead of coca. We got to meet some nearby farmers there, and this week Don harvested the first asparagus here.


We also learned how to lay black plastic. Also a big group job - it works best with four people. First, you dig a trench across the end of the bed, put the end of the roll of plastic in the trench, and cover it with dirt and step on it to hold it. then two people unroll the plastic about halfway down the bed, and hold it down where they stop by putting buckets of rocks on it. the other two people start hoeing along the plastic, just underneath the edges to thint he bed and leave a bunch of dirt in the pathways. The first two people follow them, pushing this dirt on top of the edges of the plastic and firming it down by crawling on it. Then once you get tot he end of the bed, you dig the other trench and bury the other end.


Caretaker is in this beautiful valley, so we also have tons of wildlife. We hear coyotes about half the nights, and every night as I walk back to the cabin I hear tons of frogs at some of the ponds on the farm. You can look in and seed the egg masses and the tadpoles in this top pond (it's spring fed, so super cold, but good for dips once it gets warmer out!)