We enjoyed meeting some of you at our spring farm tour last Saturday. It was a beautiful day for walking around the farm and seeing what’s growing. Here in this picture, Steve is showing off one of our new hoophouses. He talked about the mechanics of using the hoophouses to extend the season and improve the growing conditions for heat-loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. We could see the stark difference in the size of the plants that were growing right outside the hoophouse compared to those on the inside. Steve also showed folks the various equipment he uses to prepare the ground, plant, and weed. Plus he explained the varying soil types we have at our different farm fields and how this informs what crops we grow where.
We were lucky to also have Keith Kimes join us toward the end to talk about the bee hives that he keeps on the farm. His hives help us to make sure we get good pollination for our crops, and he likes having his bees on an organic farm, so the relationship works well for both of us. Keith talked about the challenges of keeping bees, and his strategies for developing strains that are more resistant to the various mites and diseases that are seriously threatening bee colonies in recent years. The winter was a tough one and Keith lost many of his hives this year. But he is bringing along many new hives that will hopefully be stronger with some new Russian queens in the mix. Keith uses completely natural methods with his bees and does not apply any treatments. Over time he hopes that good practices and the natural selection that takes place will make his hives stronger than if they were treated conventionally. Here, Keith shows the group a tray of pollen, which represents a single day of collecting from one hive. We all marveled at the different colored balls of pollen gathered from different types of flowering plants.
The next opportunity to come out and see the farm will be our strawberry u-picks, which will be at our Redman House farm this summer. Stay tuned for the dates!
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