MAY!

Well Folks, the planting season is upon us again.  We have been diligently popping plugs and seeds into the ground and trying to capture as much sunlight and photosynthetic potential as possible.  So far we have planted either in greenhouses or outdoors in our fields: carrots, beets, radishes, cabbages, kales, swiss chard, parsley, dandelion, broccoli rabe, celtuce, head lettuce, scallions, onions, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peas, and a few other things I’ve probably forgotten.  We are in the midst of our big onion planting right now and will soon be getting in our fall leeks, celeriac, and summer celery.  We had the pleasure of some North Providence 8th graders join us at the farm yesterday and they were a big help getting some squash and zucchini planted (thanks Jeff!).

So the CSA will be starting soon.  The first Thursday of June falls on June 1st.  Please take a minute to review the CSA details  so that you don’t miss anything.  Our pick-ups will be the same format as in the past (point system with scales) and you will have the choice to take what you like.

IMG_1089We Need Your Help in promoting the CSA for some last minute sign-ups before we begin in June.  If you have enjoyed the CSA over the years please help your friends, family, and co-workers learn about the Big Train Farm CSA.  Feel free to use the poster-image here (thanks Dave!) to distribute as you please.  Also, we encourage you to promote the CSA to anyone you may know who receives EBT (AKA Food Stamps) to consider joining the CSA.  Paying with EBT can save you over 40% on your vegetables.  You can read more about the EBT payments here .

EM-1 FermentDid You Know that microbes help provide soil nutrition to plants, as well as providing other health benefits?  We are always considering our microbial populations at Big Train Farm.  This year we are trying a product known as Teruo Higa’s Effective Microbes (or EM-1) which is a collection of saccharomycetes, actinomycetes, nitrifying and photosynthetic bacteria that provide a range of benefits to the soil ecosystem and contribute to healthy plant growth.  We “activate” this product by fermenting it with molasses over several weeks and then apply it to our seedlings at transplant.  These EM-1 microbes then join the food web which is already in place in our soil, mixing with other bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and larger order predators like arthropods and earthworms.  The picture here is a carboy with EM-1 material being activated.

 

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