Spring is finally here! And with it some more typical spring temperatures. With the deluge of snow Stella dumped on us, the fields are soaking up all that meltwater. I'm hoping that extra moisture is not going to delay the pea planting too much, which we prefer to get in the ground in the first week of April. It is only about a week away after all! We also put the beets in at that time. Both of these seeds germinate well in the cold soil, and are hardy plants that can do well in cooler Spring months.

Sweet Cherry buds getting ready to bloom.

Unfortunately the tomatoes have not been grafted yet. That is scheduled in for the next couple days. I will have lots of photos and details about that in next week's update, don't you worry.

Inside our germination chamber, a baby pepper plant emerges.

Grafting was delayed partially due to the large amount of annual and perennial shipments we received this week. Managing this and actually getting the job done right demanded most of our time. We filled hundreds of flats worth of plants, which means we had to have all those flats prepared and ready to go. These come in many different shapes and sizes as many of you know, and we fill them all ourselves. We are very meticulous on how we go about this process. Each pot and cell needs to be filled right to the top with loose soil. This is important so the roots can easily grow and breathe. Airflow to the roots is just as important as water. Also, consistent soil level is crucial for all the plants to grow evenly which makes the enormous and endless task of watering more manageable. The machine we use is actually homemade, constructed back when we first built and opened the greenhouse in the early nineties. This is actually one of my favorite jobs on the farm.

Thanks for reading, and catch you back here next week!