Starting up in the Greenhouse

It’s seeding time!  Though you would not think so looking out the window at all of the snow!  We are growing our transplants in borrowed greenhouse space this year as moving into our new farm in December did not allow for time (or weather!) to put up a greenhouse.  It was a bit of a shock to see 7.5 fresh inches of snow on the fields last week after some wonderful melting.  This pushes the start of the season back a little.  Quite a change from last year when we had no snow in March.  The new snow was especially strange after we had just been enjoying the spring migration of several bird species.  Our farmland is very wet this spring due to heavy rains last fall and heavy snows this spring, attracting waterfowl to the farm including Canada geese and an American Coot (a quirky bird with blueish-green feet).

On March 15, our first seeds went into flats in the greenhouse to get a jump start on growing before we transplant them out into the field in the spring.  Onions and leeks are the first crop to get seeded as it takes them such a long time to grow before they are ready for transplanting.  Following closely behind were celery, celeriac, herbs, and our first round of brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower) and head lettuce.  This is always an exciting time of year when you can almost start to taste the fresh vegetables and the weather starts to hint at spring.

Last week, while seeding in the greenhouse, it seemed that the whole structure would blow away in the monster windstorm that blew up and lasted much of the day.  There is nothing like being in a plastic structure during a storm – every breeze and raindrop is magnified 100 fold. This week was a much nicer seeding experience; nice enough to bring Abe, our 9-week old, into the greenhouse for the first time.