Tag Archives: sustainable agriculture

Potato Planting

Potatoes have eyes. I don’t know why people started calling the tentacle-like appendages that seed potatoes have growing from them eyes, but that’s what they’re called. Most people know that potatoes are the root of a plant (a nightshade plant, the leaves and flowers are poisonous) but not as many know that the beginnings of their extended root structures are these noodley ‘eyes.’

Potato Eyes

Potato Eyes

To ready potatoes to be planted, you take seed potatoes–potatoes that still have eyes–and cut them usually in half, to pieces no smaller than 3oz. or about the size of an egg. Any potato that’s already around that size need not be cut. And each seed needs to still have developed eyes on it or it will not grow.

You need to have tilled land with 3 foot wide beds separated by 1 foot paths. You take a wheel hoe with a shovel like attachment and run it right in the middle of your beds, making a V in the ground. Then, you simply put potatoes in this V about a foot apart and then close the V back up, watering the potatoes a bit afterward to help them grow. It’s that simple! At LaFarm, we make sure our potatoes are well weeded until the plants are tall enough to lay down straw around without blocking out the potato plant, maybe around 10-12 in. tall.

-Joe Ingrao, Excel Scholar 2014

Visions of a Greener Tomorrow

June 20th, 2014
As my third week this summer draws into a close, the future is looking bright. At the farm we have plenty of plants growing,

 


So this growing season is shaping up to be a very green one for the farm. But it’s also becoming more obvious that the further future of LaFarm is going to be very green. As my research on farm infrastructure has gotten underway, the potential for expansion with even small additions to the farm makes future growth seem very within our reach.

Right now, I’m working with our farm manager Sarah, as well as my faculty advisors and now USDA extension educator Tianna DuPont to learn what I need to plan our packinghouse and greenhouse by going out and visiting other farms as well as doing some good old fashioned book learning.

So far, I’ve visited Pennypack Farm and Education Center in Horsham Pennsylvania. Their 12 organic acres were very nice to see up and running with the help of their Farm Manager Devin Barto and their interns like Jenny and Josh, whom I met and who were nice enough to talk to me about Pennypack and farming in general as I helped weed for an hour.

I’ll hopefully be making more connections with more farmers soon.

-Joe Ingrao, Excel Scholar 2014

First Week back at the Farm

June 4th, 2014
After a hiatus for my second academic year at Lafayette, I’m finally working out at LaFarm again, and this year I’ll be out here a lot more, doing a lot more.

In only 2 days I jumped right back into work weeding, laying cover crop, planting and transplanting potatoes and asparagus, and watering our strawberries, rhubarb, horseradish, and pleurisy root. I also got to meet three of my co-workers for this summer: Jenn, a recent graduate and aspiring farmer; Kelly, a fellow rising junior; and Serim, a rising sophomore.

In just these two days, we have already done so much.

 

Rhubarb, under a tarp. you can see the leaves poking up where there's straw!

Rhubarb, under a tarp. you can see the leaves poking up where there’s straw!

Here is what will be, in a few years, a (hopefully very productive) strawberry patch!

Here is what will be, in a few years, a (hopefully very productive) strawberry patch!

And we cleaned up our new beds of rhubarb and strawberries.

Much of these patches just look like indiscriminate dirt with maybe some straw right now, but it won’t be too long until these plants are recognizable and even producing food. That’s the magic of agriculture, with a little help from humans, nature does the hard part (actually growing into food.)

I wasn’t able to post anything here until this week (the week of June 20th) so I’ll be posting everything up until this week right away, but from then on expect weekly updates!

-Joe Ingrao, Excel Scholar 2014