May is the busiest month for farmers.
Not quite spring, when each seed is gently planted in the greenhouse and the controlled environment perfectly meets their needs.
Not quite summer, when the gears have been set for the season and each plant grows on its own volition.
May is when we transfer the thousands of sprouting seedlings (not just the frost hardy ones like last month!) from the greenhouse to the farm and bring the soil beds to life.
This time of year, you can catch us out at the farm nearly every day planting seedlings, adding mulch, watering, adding drip line, and cutting out weeds.
We are often at the mercy of the weather, as May can bring cold nights of 40° F, hot days of nearly 100° F (as we saw last week), thunderstorms, hail, and stroooong winds. Transplanting is always a traumatic process for the plants, so a poor combination of any of these extremes can be damaging. Perfect transplanting weather is overcast skies (so the sun is not beating and wearing down on a plant trying to become accustomed to its new home) with light rain and high humidity (to help the soil blocks fuse with the soil beds most efficiently).
When these conditions are met, or close enough as conditions are never truly perfect, we are out there! And this continues for the entire month of May.
While the summer plants are being transplanted and continue to grow, our frost hardy plants are growing wonderfully as we prep for the first week of the CSA. Our CSA members can expect sprint-time veggies and greens very soon, as our spring lettuce mixes and pea shoots are taking off.
Santiago and Juniper also love this time of year. They get to spend all day outside digging holes, chasing rabbits, sleeping under a tree. Living a dog's dream.
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