Seeding, Weeding, and Spreading

     What goes well with your morning coffee? Oh, just some light learning from our Ag students, on topics that range from the cute and fluffy to hardcore!


   First to snag the teachers seat was Will, to inform us about the "weed" Portulaca oleracea or more commonly known as purslane. This "weed" is common across the globe but also a food staple of many cultures, including First Nation peoples of North America. This living mulch is a prolific seed producer and can take over, but benefits like weed suppression, chicken and livestock feed, and possibly saline remediation are hard to argue against. Not to mention this pervasive plant has lots of added health benefits. It is high in omega 3 fatty acids, ant-oxidants, iron, and vitamin C; could it become the new kale? 

 Next up to the hot seat was Jordan, he told us all about rascally rabbits. These cute fluffers have also invaded most of the world and are certainly a nuisance to farmers everywhere. They eat everything! (maybe even purslane), but on the plus side we can eat them. Farmers breed rabbits for meat, skin, and fur. Considering the saying "breed like a  

"rabbit," it might just be a good business to get into. They are a low input meat source, which leaves me wondering why there is not more rabbit in the market. A disease discovered in Latin America has found some success controlling pesky wild populations but resistance to Myxomatosis virus is an ongoing challenge.

Even Modern Farmer is chatting about it! check it out = Down the Rabbit Hole

   Last on the docket was Lindsay with her presentation on Entomophthora muscae AKA destroyer of the fly. Just think insect zombies and your well on your way to understanding this fungi. The fungi commands, if you will, the host to crawl their way to high elevations before death so that the spores have free rain over their victims below. The way it enters the body, I imagine the Scarab beetles from the mummy movies, moving its way through the insects body to the brain then digesting its insides for food. Only slightly terrifying. And just like the body obsession of the new millennia, other fly's are more attracted to the big bums of infected partners. The jury is still out on whether this apocalyptic fungi could be used in the field.

  

   After coffee and learning it was time to get out in the soil. It was a damp Wednesday morning but that didn't stop us from getting things started. I must say, what better way to use under utilised grass space than to grow food. So off we went to prepare another year of productive terrace beds.

   This is the second week of amending the terrace gardens but this week it was the east sides turn. Before getting down to work however, the class took a peak at last weeks plantings, nestled under cozy frost blankets.

Looking good guys!

These babies are destined to be sold at the pre-farmers market, or pop up market happening on April 5th , 18th, and May 2nd. The full market comes to you May 9th and every Tuesday after, from 12-4. Some of our planting had some surprising growth, even though the week prior had some frosty nights.

Ready! Begin

  Adding compost is a excellent way to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil, but heres the thing, its kinda heavy to haul it up flights of stairs. This is why aggies can skip the gym.

Our crew toiled away adding fresh smelling compost to our beds.The class being the healthy size that it is soon had to divvy up the labour and move on to other projects. More of our hardened off seedlings needed to be planted and weeding needed to be done between the established plants.

See those stairs?

   The top layer of added compost needed to be turned/incorporated into the the soil, we had two strategies two accomplish this task.                              Torin and Lindsay on the left are doing it the "good ol fashioned" way, using pitch forks to loosen and turn over the beds. On the right, Kirsten gets it done by a much easier method using a rototiller. Once incorporated these beds are ready to be seeded. This particular bed was direct seeded with french breakfast radishes.

Earthway so Rad! ... ish

Here is another tool used to make our lives easier. This is called an Earthway seeder. As the front wheel turns it turns a seed plate on the inside of the bucket. The seed plate, 1 of 4 tested, scoops up a radish seed and distributes it, in even spacings, onto the soil. The side bar is used to measure the rows and underneath is a mini plow, like on the front of a train, to dig out a row for the seeds to be planted. We planted seven rows of tasty radishes.

  

In some cases farmers will attached multiple of these tools side by side to seed larger areas in a timely fashion. To test the spacing and seed fit the Earthway was rolled over a tarp prior to use. better safe then sorry right?  While all the prep and seeding was being done on the east side, more greens were being added to the west. Among these tasty leafy greens were arugula and several lettuce varieties. So make friends with salad! cause there will be lots ready for munching soon.

Farmer yoga at its best

   After all was said and done, the tender leafy seedlings were tucked in under the floating row covers and we left the rain to water in our newly seeded patch. I don't know about the rest of the class but I woke up with sore shoulders the next day, got to build that aggie strength.