seed starting

Leaf, Stem, Root

November 25, 2021

The crisp, cool fall mornings are some of the best times of the year to be working at Rural Studio Farm.

Two students take a moment in the field to talk with one another as the dawn casts spectral light across the morning clouds

With the fruits of Summer harvested, the Fall crops of leaves, roots, and stems have become the farm’s focus.

  • Three women students display peanut plants they have just pulled, each thick with peanuts to be dried and picked
  • A student cleans some dirt off of a giant turnip root she has just pulled from the ground
  • A student harvests some red mustard greens
  • Two students pull up some peanut plants, revealing peanuts that were previously underground
  • A student harvests some loose leaf lettuce from the field
  • Two students harvest some baby greens from seedling trays
  • A student crouches over a raised bed in the field and is cutting leaves of spinach

Students and staff can now enjoy fresh green salads from the farm every lunch until the weather becomes hot again.

  • A student is transplanting salanova lettuce seedlings into a raised bed in the greenhouse
  • Two students transplant romaine lettuce into raised beds in the greenhouse
  • Two students prepare to transplant salanova lettuce seedlings into raised beds in the greenhouse
  • A student measures out a distance for transplanting spinach seedlings into a raised bed in the greenhouse
Full heads of salanova lettuce, both red and green, look beautiful in their neat arrangements within raised beds in the greenhouse in the morning light
  • A smiling student bags up some washed lettuce for the kitchen
  • A student bags some newly harvested and washed lettuce in the post harvest space
  • Washed lettuce is laid out to dry while two students continue to wash lettuce in the sink in the background
  • A student places a colander of washed lettuce dry on a mesh table

In addition to a variety of fresh lettuces, the farm is also producing spinach, baby greens, kale, collard greens, beets, hakurei turnips, radishes, peanuts, turnips, scallions, carrots, mustard greens, sugar snap peas, and snow peas.

  • A student transplants some lettuce and spinach seedlings into a raised bed in the greenhouse
  • Two students transplant turnip seedlings into a raised bed in the greenhouse
  • A student harvests some baby greens from seedling trrays
  • A volunteer farm worker plants some pelleted celery seeds into seedling trays
  • Two students fill seedling trays and plant some new seeds
  • Two students happily transplants some turnip seedlings into the greenhouse
Two rows of carrot foliage in the foreground with trellised sugar snap peas in the background

With the next freeze right around the corner, most of the field production is halting for the Winter. To maintain and promote healthy soils, as well as to protect against erosion, the students broadcast a cover crop mix into the beds and winter rye grass into the aisles. It is also a good time to tidy and clean things on the farm so that it looks good while it rests in the cold.

Morrisette house with rows of bright green cover crops planted out in the farm
Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Return of Students to the RS Farm

September 15, 2020

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.

  • A male students picks okra from tall plants
  • A student picks bell peppers
  • A student fills planting trays with a soil mix
  • Two students pull weeds around some watermelon vines

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.

  • A tub of harvested watermelons rests on a table
  • The sun rises over students picking peas
  • A tub of recently picked bell peppers
  • A student gathers tomatoes
  • A student picks peas while a second picks okra in the background
  • A male students picks okra from tall plants

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.

  • Two workers examine some seed trays
  • A student makes soil blocks for seed starting
  • A student makes planting holes in some trays to make them ready for seed starting
  • Two students plant seeds into trays

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

  • A pink and orange sunrise over the greenhouse
  • A push-seeder is shown ready to make another pass over a bed with several planting furrows in it
Tags: , ,