Early spring brings a variety of activities as we gear up for the start of our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Our apprentices have been with us for a week now and have been busy with a variety of jobs. Initially, they worked in our passive solar/wood heated greenhouse. The onions and leeks are growing well. We will be planting them with a transplanter that is being retrofitted to be pulled by our Suffolk Punch draft horses (a rare breed that originated in Suffolk, England). The broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi seeds that were planted a week ago are popping up.

Another of the first jobs that we do is to get our hoop houses up and running in order to have early lettuce, pac choi, spinach, mixed greens and green onions to accompany our early perennial crops of rhubarb and asparagus. The process began with plowing under the clover cover crop with a team of Suffolks. The clover was planted last year to prevent erosion over the winter and fix nitrogen. After spreading compost and cultivating it, the hoop house was erected and the first transplanting of the season began.

Today we worked on getting the frame ready for another hoop house and started plowing the main garden area with the horses.