We are well into the growing season here at The Local Food Project at Airlie and excitement is in the air-- and in the soil! This year we are not only improving our approach to the garden, but also simplifying our blog. Each week we will divulge the status of our crops so you can track their progress as they develop-- think of it as the baby book for our garden.
First let's rewind and summarize the last couple months:
- Planning- We coordinated with the culinary magicians in Airlie's kitchen to refine the selection of food to grow this year. The chefs detailed the maximum quantities of various produce they could use, and we used their list to determine the amount of garden space to allocate for different fruits and veggies. We translated this information into a plan for the spatial and temporal layout of the garden--a vision that is consistently altered and revised. Key ingredients for this stage of planning: Google spreadsheets, graph paper, Crayola colored pencils, and a dusty calculator that I hadn't touched since I took Macroeconomics in college.
- Ordering seeds and supplies- We ordered more than 200 varieties of seeds and plants from seven different catalogues. Almost all of our crops we start from seed ourselves, but there are some exceptions for which we order plants from specialty providers: strawberries, onions, leeks, potatoes and some herbs.
- Starting seeds- We use Premium Lite Growing Mix from Countryside Organics to fill plastic trays and start seeds in Pablo's greenhouse at Stoney Lonesome Farm. So far we have started thousands of plants, including: parsely, bunching onions, cabbage, basil, pac choi, swiss chard, sweet peppers, spicy peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, celeriac, marjoram, zinnias and sunflowers.
- Planting- Before planting we prepare beds by loosening the soil, removing weeds, adding compost, and raking them smooth and even. So far we have planted: 15 (3ft.x30 ft.) beds of strawberries, 10 beds of onions, 5 beds of leeks, 2 beds of radishes, 2 beds of tat soi, 1 bed of lettuce mix, and 15 beds of potatoes.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for updates! Remember, the best way to learn more is to come check out the garden in person- we are always eager for volunteers! If you have questions or would like to arrange a visit to The Local Food Project at Airlie, please email awhalen@airlie.com.
