Hey everyone and happy March!
Today was my first day of work at the farm for the season. It was exciting on many accounts because it marks the beginning of many delicious veggies, new and continuing friendships, and long, warm days. Speaking of warm days – it was up to 62 degrees today! What a welcome.
For the first 2 weeks it will be just my 2 managers, the assistant manager, and myself working on the farm. After that others will slowly trickle in and our workforce will more than double by June. Last year I started at the end of March so it’s interesting for me to see, and participate in, all the prep that happened prior.
Today we jumped right into the thick of it and got outside to make the most of the glorious weather. Our goal for the day was to prepare 4 beds out in the field and seed them. This might not sound worthy of a whole day’s work by 3 people, but let me explain.
1st: We clear the plastic that was on the beds from last year. The plastic is originally layed with a tractor and edges are buried securely under soil. So to get it up we used a shovel to loosen the soil on the edges and then carefully pried up the plastic. Each bed is 200 feet long so this wasn’t a particularly quick task!
2nd: We add compost and organic fertilizers. We are lucky to have our own compost-making operation on the farm so we don’t have to buy it. My manager drives the tractor down to pick up a big load of the good, nutrient-rich stuff and brings it out to the field. We then shovel it into 5-gallon buckets and distribute it down the length of the beds. Granulated fertilizer follows. To finish this step we rake it all in and smooth the surface.
3rd: Seeding! We have these cool little seeding machines that, once you set all the gears and dials correctly, do the work for you. Just walk the length of the bed and the seeder will dig a little furrow, spit out the correct amount of seeds, and then cover them back over with soil. Pretty neat!
4th: Finally we put out hoops that will eventually hold up the fabric row cover we put out to keep the little babies warm. One hoop goes every 3 feet or so, spanning the width of the bed. Then later we come and put a big piece of white fabric over top of the hoops and secure it down with sandbags.
Looking over what we got done today I felt pretty accomplished. My arms are a little sore – need to build those farming muscles up again. But it was a productive day – and exciting to know that I had a hand in the very first things we seeded outside for the year!
We also have a lot of little seedlings in the greenhouse, staying cozy and getting strong so that we can transplant them in the coming months. Stuff like lettuce, bok choy, onions, herbs, and soon peppers and tomatoes!
I hope you all are feeling a small touch of spring wherever you are! I have a feeling this is going to be a wonderful year on the farm.
And if you’re ever in the DC area and want to come and visit – let me know! I love giving tours of this beautiful place!
Thanks for reading,
~Sophia
My Growing Life 
So nice to receive. Foodies one and all.
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