| A YEAR AT WORDEN FARM |
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Scroll down for photos
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2007
We are mowing and disking down the cover crops, to prepare the ground
for planting next month. Cover crops are an important tool in organic
farming. The cover crops were planted in June, and grew all summer
long. They now are incorporated into the soil in order to increase the
soil fertility and organic matter, and to break insect and disease cycles.
Well-composted manure is also being applied to the land, in advance of
the growing season, to improve the soil fertility.
The greenhouse is sheltering the season's first trays of baby transplants.
Many more will follow, in the coming months. We grow all of our own
organic transplants ourselves, from seed, in the greenhouse. Not every
crop is transplanted. Some, like carrots, are seeded directly into the
field. Examples of crops that we grow into transplants are lettuces,
herbs, peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli.
Equipment maintenance also happens at this time of year. The Ford 4100
has just emerged from a new transmission job, and the Allis Chalmers "G"
is sporting a new set of brakes. Two tractors, the Big Kubota, and the
Saukeville cultivating tractor, were equipped with sun shelters, to keep
us cooler in the field.
The first of this season's farm apprentices will arrive in a few weeks. As
in previous years, the apprentices each have strong career interests in
agriculture, and great enthusiasm for working at Worden Farm. We
eagerly anticipate their individual and collective contributions to the
Worden Farm community.
Photos below are thumbnails. Click for larger view.
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2007
We are mowing and disking down the cover crops, to prepare the ground
for planting next month. Cover crops are an important tool in organic
farming. The cover crops were planted in June, and grew all summer
long. They now are incorporated into the soil in order to increase the
soil fertility and organic matter, and to break insect and disease cycles.
Well-composted manure is also being applied to the land, in advance of
the growing season, to improve the soil fertility.
The greenhouse is sheltering the season's first trays of baby transplants.
Many more will follow, in the coming months. We grow all of our own
organic transplants ourselves, from seed, in the greenhouse. Not every
crop is transplanted. Some, like carrots, are seeded directly into the
field. Examples of crops that we grow into transplants are lettuces,
herbs, peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli.
Equipment maintenance also happens at this time of year. The Ford 4100
has just emerged from a new transmission job, and the Allis Chalmers "G"
is sporting a new set of brakes. Two tractors, the Big Kubota, and the
Saukeville cultivating tractor, were equipped with sun shelters, to keep
us cooler in the field.
The first of this season's farm apprentices will arrive in a few weeks. As
in previous years, the apprentices each have strong career interests in
agriculture, and great enthusiasm for working at Worden Farm. We
eagerly anticipate their individual and collective contributions to the
Worden Farm community.
Photos below are thumbnails. Click for larger view.
| Freshly mowed cover crops |
| Cover crops one week after disking |
| Mowing down cover crops |
| Sudex cover crop standing in the field |
| Baby lettuce transplants in greenhouse |
| Well-composted horse manure |
| Ford tractor getting a new transmission |
| Allis Chalmers "G" getting new brakes |
It has rained at the farm lately. More rain has fallen in the past few
weeks than all summer long. The early season planting is underway,
despite the heavy rain.
The rain has given us the opportunity to try out our new spader.
The spader is a field tillage tool from Italy, made by the Celli
company. It turns the soil over, without creating a hardpan layer,
and helps conserve the organic matter that we work so hard to
build. The spader excels in wet soil conditions, where a rototiller
would perform weakly. After heavy rains, we were able to get in and
work the fields, and even help the soil to dry out faster, by using
the new spader.
The greenhouse is overflowing with lush "transplants" -- baby
seedling veggie plants that we started last month. These strong but
tiny plants are being transplanted into the field over the next
several weeks and quickly spread out their roots and grow,
becoming the luscious lettuces, tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, basil,
and other crops you love to eat. Throughout the growing season, we
continue to seed new trays of transplants, and then plant them out
in the fields as they mature, so that we can have multiple harvests
of various vegetables. We also continuously direct seed other crops
into the field, like tender salad greens and root crops.
We grow every crop on the farm from seed, except the strawberries,
which have to be grown from plants. The 4000 organic strawberry
plants that we ordered just arrived, ready for transplanting to the
field. Strawberries in northern climates are grown in beds for
several years, but in Florida, strawberries are grown as annual crops.
We are excited about our seasonal return to the Sarasota Farmers
Market on October 27. See you there!
Photos are thumbnails. Click for larger view.
| A newly seeded field. Under the soil, carrots are germinating! |
| Spreading compost on the field. This adds fertility to the soil. |
| Farmer Chris teaching the farm apprentices about field seeding. |
| Transplanting bok choy, with puddles between the beds. |
| Apprentice Jenny, watering the strawberry seedlings. |
| Farmer Chris taking the new spader on its inaugural drive. |
OCTOBER 2007
This page is a work in progress, and will be updated throughout the year.