This past week (6/2 – 6/6) has certainly been a lot less stressful. We finished planting everything in our plot which was really exciting for us! After focusing 2-3 weeks on getting everything in ground, it was a relief to know that we had finally completed our objective.

We started the week knowing that we were so close to having our entire plot planted. We got to the farm bright and early Monday morning and dove right in, planting five of the last six rows in our plot. We were hoping to finish that day, but had to return to campus so we could eat lunch before a meeting with our advisors. The meeting was extremely helpful to steer us in the direction of where we want to go with this project this summer! It also gave us a chance to touch base with our advisors about what has been going on. I definitely enjoy the freedom that we have of choosing when to work and what we need to do, but it is nice to have some more structure once in a while.

On Tuesday we planted the last row in our plot. Then we took our first trip together to the Northampton Farm Bureau which basically has everything you could ever need for your garden/farm. We picked up wooden stakes for our tomatoes and metal caging and stakes to build a trellis for our peas. It was great and the lady working was so nice and gave us the caging for free!! We went back to Lafarm and hammered in one stake for each tomato plant and built the trellis. The caging we got was exactly the right length for our row of peas!

Wednesday, the three of us and Kevin Jackson, a student from Tech Clinic who’s here working over the summer, weeded the plot. Then Thursday we went to Bangor, PA to help him with his project. It was great to see the greenhouse he was working in and all of the success that he had growing vegetables in buckets. Thursday night, Andrew, Alexa and I walked downtown to the Nurture Nature Center to see their art exhibit “A Garden Affair.” I really enjoy painting and drawing myself, so it was fun for me to see the work of local gardeners and the different techniques they were using! I’ve included my favorite picture at the end of this post!

Friday we spent the morning cutting cardboard so that we could place it in the rows of our garden to use as a weed blocker. We took the boxes from the loading dock behind Marquis and had enough to cover almost half of the garden. Then we went back to the Farm Bureau and bought straw to put on top of the cardboard. Hopefully this will cut back a lot on the amount of weeds that we have to pull!

 

So here it is, a complete list of the vegetables we have planted in our plot:

  • Summer Squash
  • Bush Beans (Halt Maxibel Haricot Vert Bush Bean, Provider Bush Bean)
  • Peas (Snap and Shell)
  • Potatoes (2 varieties)
  • Belstar Broccoli
  • Broccoli Rob
  • Onions (green and red)
  • Tomatoes (San Marzano, Roma)
  • Peppers (Sweet, Bell, Jalepeno)
  • Butternut Squash
  • Cilantro
  • Basil
  • Cucumbers
  • Carrots
  • Okra
  • Cabbage (Red Express, Famosa)
  • Touchstone Golden Beets
  • Silverado Chard
  • French Breakfast Radishes

 

  • Nurture Nature