Autumn On The Farm

November 9, 2020

Autumn at Rural Studio Farm is in full swing.

A student uses a sprayer to apply foliar fertilizer to growing plants with a good view of the farm

Some of the lingering warmer season crops are still yielding, like eggplant, peanuts, and bell peppers.

  • A student picks jalapeno peppers
  • A close-up of a bright red hibiscus flower
  • Many brightly colored flowers are in bloom with dense green foliage
  • A close-up of brightly colored zinnia flowers
  • Students prepare pepper plants to be removed from the farm to make way for cover crops to be overwintered

Mostly we have been busy planting seeds into soil blocks and direct-sowing with the push seeder. These crops are lettuces, mustard greens, baby brassica greens, carrots, beets, chard, collard greens, rutabagas, broccoli, radishes, spinach, hakurei (salad) turnips, and turnips.

  • A student thins out extra seedlings that have emerged in the soil blocks and seedling trays in the seed house
  • Two students plant crop seeds into newly prepared soil blocks and seedling trays in the seed house
  • A student pushes the seeder across a prepared bed
  • A student uses a soil blocker to make batches of 20 1.5-inch soil blocks
  • A student makes adjustments to the push seeder before using it
  • A large tray filled with seed blocks of lettuce seedlings
  • A tray of mixed lettuce soil blocks with bright foliage ready to be transplanted
  • Several rows of perennial crops--asparagus, artichoke, and scallions--with a rainbow over them

Once the seedlings are ready, we prepare the beds and transplant out all the crops.

  • Two students transplant beet and chard seedlings
  • A student uses a sprayer to apply foliar fertilizer to growing plants with a good view of the red mustard greens
  • Two students transplant out some fall crops into bed still brown with recently mowed cover crops
  • Rows of crops grow: summer squash, mustard, and turnips with buckwheat growing in between
  • A student transplants out some lettuce seedlings
  • Lush green rows of mixed lettuce and carrots are growing with rye grass in between

We have been reaping great harvests of many of these crops too, with all of Rural Studio’s daily green salads coming straight off the farm.

  • Farm manager Eric harvest some baby greens
  • Three students pick and process turnips
  • A student harvests baby carrots
  • A student harvests baby carrots into a bowl
  • A near shot of some red mustard greens
  • Two groups of students are harvesting mustard greens and turnips
  • Two students are harvesting turnips
  • A big pot of mustard greens cooking in the kitchen
  • A close-up of a harvested baby carrot
  • Two students transfer newly spin-dried greens into plastic bags read for the kitchen
  • Two students are harvesting red mustard greens
  • Students wash newly harvested lettuce leaves in a large sink
  • A view of several rows of fall crops ready to be harvested: red mustard greens and turnips
  • A student transfers some mixed lettuce greens to a commercial salad spinner
  • Students spin-dry mixed lettuce greens that were recently harvested and washed
  • A student harvests baby carrots

Now that the weather is beginning to cool, we have also been preparing for winter by sowing fall cover crops to leave in the field for overwintering. This ensures that there is always something growing in the beds, which helps with drainage and compaction and overall soil health. In the spring, these crops will be mowed down, adding good organic matter back into the soil.

  • Fall cover crops for overwintering grow across several beds with rye grass growing between the rows

Finally, we are also preparing the greenhouse for production over the winter, which is where most of Rural Studio’s food is grown in deep winter.

  • A student mixes amendments into a raised bed in the greenhouse, preparing it for transplants
  • A mixture of red and green lettuces grows abundantly in the greenhouse raised beds
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