There is nothing like a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures to hustle plants into growing. For the first time in three years, the plums are blooming, and it isn’t raining, which means the bees will be busy pollinating. We are due for a bumper crop of plums. The trees have had enough rest and time to produce.
Purple-Sprouting Broccoli
The purple-sprouting broccoli is in full swing. After the freeze in January, I was unsure whether we would have a crop, but fortunately, the plants pulled through.
Rainbow-Colored Chard
The rainbow-colored chard is looking good. Since chard leaves are not always smooth, they are challenging to clean. So this week, the chard had the honor of being the first crop washed in the newly installed greens bubbler.
The Greens Bubbler
The big project for the week was turning an average utility sink we formerly used to wash produce into a greens bubbler. We were all tired of washing lettuce by hand agitation because the water this time of year is COLD! When a garden team member mentioned a greens bubbler, our cold hands couldn’t look up the details quickly enough. After some research, we involved the engineering department. They built a stand for the sink in a fraction of the time it would have taken the garden team to make it!
The next step was an inspection by the feline rodent patrol. After approval, we put our heads together, drew a plan, purchased the parts, and put everything together. Just as we were testing it, the call came to harvest chard. Hence, chard was our first test subject. The air-agitated water (think jacuzzi) did an excellent job of cleaning any debris from the leaves, leaving the leaves unbruised and sparkling clean. It was a fun project that improved our efficiency and gave us an excellent final product.
the Greenhouse Plants
The plants in the greenhouse are keeping us busy. This week, we started transplanting what we seeded in February.
