bell peppers

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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A Long and Productive Summer

August 25, 2020

It’s been a long, sweaty summer, and even with continued help from some of the teaching faculty (Steve, Emily, Chelsea, Mary, and Xavier), our farm manager Eric has been very busy.

Eight harvest tubs are arranged, each with its own crop: red mini bells, mini eggplant, jalapenos, orange mini bells, Asian eggplant, tomatoes, yellow mini bells, and okra

We made several large harvests of commodities that went into long-term storage: garlic, onions, butternut squash, and potatoes. For every one pound of seed potatoes that Eric planted back in February, we harvested 14.5 pounds of fresh, organic potatoes back, which is a great return.

  • A cluster of red potatoes peak out of the earth after the plant was pulled up
  • A large table lined with harvested garlic and onions to be cured
  • A grid of harvested butternut squash laid out neatly for curing

Many of the summertime crops, such as beans and squash, have also been very productive, with many still yielding, like tomatoes, mini bell peppers, mini eggplant, Asian eggplant, and okra.

  • A diagonal view of a block of beds showing hibiscus, Asian eggplant, mini eggplant, mini bell peppers, and tomatoes
  • A full-on view of a block of beds showing hibiscus, Asian eggplant, mini eggplant, mini bell peppers, and tomatoes
  • A row of pepper plants that have been staked and supported with netting
  • A tub bursting with ripe mini bell peppers of orange, yellow, and red
  • A close-up of harvested mini eggplants
  • A row of basil stands before a much taller row of okra plants
  • A young Asian eggplant fruit developing
  • A little boy inspects some growing squash plants next to trellised pole beans
  • Tear-drop shaped jalapenos hang from the plant, ready to pick
  • A little girl helps to harvest some yellow summer squash
  • Several ripe okra pods jut out from the nodes on the central stock
  • A mini bell pepper plant with many green fruit growing on it
  • Sprawling butternut squash plants in contrast with the tall pole bean plants in the adjacent row
  • Two 10-gallon tubs full of harvested tomatoes

With autumn just around the corner, our long-term crops of peanuts, parsnips, and leeks are continuing to develop and grow.

  • A small watermelon develops on the vine
  • Young parsnip plants growing together in two rows
    young parsnips
  • Leeks and parsnips growing in adjacent rows
    leeks
  • Two rows of mature peanut plants next to some much taller okra plants
    peanuts

With the return of students, we have just begun to harvest our edible summer cover crop of pinkeye purple hull peas.

  • Rows of pinkeye purple hull pea cover crop seedlings grow
  • All of the beds in the solar greenhouse filled with flowering pinkeye purple hull peas

And finally, the perennials and flowers that Eric planted earlier in the spring, like asparagus, have been very productive.

  • Pink blooms of nicotiana, or flowering tobacco
  • A close-up of red and orange French marigolds
  • Deep blue morning glory flowers sprout from vines trained to grow up several vertical lines
  • Perennial rows of asparagus, artichoke, and scallions looking verdant between cover crop rows of white clover
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