okra

The Return of Students to the RS Farm

Students are back on the farm! With masks in place, all 3rd-year, 5th-year, and graduate students have started their early morning rotations on farm duty.

We have been busy harvesting some of the remaining summer crops, like tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, watermelon, okra, and black-eyed peas. The peas were grown both as a cover crop and a food crop, which meant that they covered most space in the field.

Once their yields began to drop off, the crop residue needed to be cycled out to add organic matter to the field and to make room for future crops. Traditionally, this is done by tilling the crops under the soil, but because we are no-till, Eric mulched the crops with a flail mower and then covered the areas with a tarp to break down all the organic matter left behind. The root masses were left in the ground to break down naturally, opening the soil for water and aeration, as well as adding a large quantity of organic matter.

A student picks peas into her bucket

Meanwhile, the team has been starting seeds and transplanting seedlings into the field that are fall and winter crops: baby mixed brassica greens, lettuce, collards, kale, beets, turnips, broccoli, rutabagas, and mustard greens.

Finally, students have been direct-seeding out several other crops like hakurei (salad) turnips, radishes, and carrots.

A Long and Productive Summer

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.

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.

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

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

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