Struggles in a New Environment

In the first week, crops are facing much difficulty in the new environment.

• Too much heat are wilting the lettuce and broccoli

Therefore, we started mulching both broccoli and lettuce.

Now, they look much better

• Animals are eating the crops especially the broccoli and lettuce.

We had to replant some of those crops. 

Broccoli,
in the process of replanting.., 

For permanent solution against the animals, we built chicken fence. 

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Shristi and Alison watering the crops

 Finally,
the mache is sprouting..

So,  are the beans

Both are direct seeded
(beans and mache)

-Best of Luck to these crops
N give lots of love

(:)Lobsang

Its officially a garden!

It's been a long week but also the most exciting one since we began working in the student garden (I think). Yes. The plants are down and the 30x5 meters plot, once conquered by rye and weed, are now covered with our plants and finally looks like a garden.
It has been pouring since the beginning of last week. more like a week when on would want to snuggle under a warm blanket with a hot cup of cocoa. However, we had a lot of things going on in the garden. To start with, our compost looks beautiful. The earliest pile has decomposed completely. The second pit is in the process of decomposition. The first pit receives a handfull of food remains every morning, thanks to the residents of 1837. We also moved a rose bush initially located in front of the entrance to the garden to one of the corners of the student plot.
The farmer's market at the village commons began last Thursday. We started setting up the tents and putting up the stalls at noon. There were vendors from around the valley selling a variety of vegetables, flowers, herbs, meat products, wooden handicrafts, jewelry, baked goods and more. We were pleased with the number of people who showed up and with their responses to the market.  

Welcome to the South Hadley Farmer's Market!

'Cupcake Closet'. So good!

Crafty wooden bowls and utensils.

Where Lobsang and I sold a scone and a loaf of bread. 

Strawberries!!! And fresh veggies!!

Home made jewelry.

A variety of plants from the greenhouse in her backyard. 

Lobsang, Allison and Cindy, the market manager. 

Their music keep us grooving behind the manager's desk.

We measured the plots one more time before amending the plots with organic fertilizers and compost. We finally figured out the amounts and concentrations of fertilizers required for each plot and amended plots 2, 4 and 6 with organic fertilizers last Friday. On Monday, we amended plots 1, 3 and 5 with compost. Loosening the soil before amending them and turning them over was a good work out and all three of us ended up with a couple of blisters each. We're fine.

Allison turning over the soil.

Lobsang amending the soil

We spent yesterday and today planting in the garden. We brought all the trays we had in the greenhouse up to the garden, in a van of course, and planted all day long until the weather forced us to leave. the same happened today.
Crops in the research plot:
Tomatoes
Beans
Broccoli
Mache
Lettuce
Okra
Beets

Transporting plants from the greenhouse to the garden.

Lobsang with a tray of baby lettuces. 

Ruby helping us with planting.

Plot 1

Cheers :)
Shristi

Transplants!

Hello there,

This past week at the garden we've been maintaining the compost piles, which are accumulating at a steady pace, and working with Facilities Management to figure out mowing, branch removal, and fence-fixing.  The fence was finished Friday (thanks facman!) and the cleanup and mowing will ensue in the following few days.

Now that the plots are completely rototilled (thanks Rob:) ) we can start to amend the soil and finally transplant our seedlings into the soil.  We recently transplanted 210 broccoli and lettuce seedlings (420 in total) and countless basil seedlings from shallow sowing trays to six-pack cells.  Those will remain in the greenhouse, along with the okra, tomatoes, beets, and various herbs and flowers until they are ready for outdoor planting.  Hopefully it will only be a few days now!

In addition, we've got the South Hadley Farmers Market to think about.  The first will occur June 7, this coming Thursday, from 1-6PM and will continue through October.  As garden managers, we will help local farmers unload their produce/products and aid in payment methods for customers.  Come the later summer months we will be able to sell produce, value-added-products, and flowers at the market.  Look for us sporting the Miller Worley Center for the Environment tees ;)

With that, our weeks to come will be filled with gardening, pest-control, cultivation, market management, and more.  Come by the garden or the Market (every Thursday) and say hello, ask how we're doing, or just hang out!

 Rye drying to be used as mulch (got a little wet the first time... woops).

 found this on the floor of the botanical garden...thanks Rob haha.

 finished fence:)

 Lettuce sprouts...so delicate and small...we transplanted 210 of them.

 "baling" hay..in a sense.

My independent project will likely revolve around local mulches and the effectiveness of either rye mulch (a cover crop from our research plots) and leaf litter collected from around the property.  The technicalities are still in process.

Peace,
Allison