Howdy! Okay everyone, now I know that I have been rooting for all this warm weather with no rain but this week was hot! I am not complaining because I love it but I actually got a sunburn...and I never sunburn. The weather was amazing this week, Nepeta even came out and sat with us for parts of the day. We tried to take it a bit easier this week to adjust to the warmer weather but we still got a lot of weeding done at the end of the week. We even got to plant some small lettuce into some of the raised beds. When we had a good sized group of volunteers on Friday we ended up weeding some rows and planting a good amount of tomatoes and peppers that were given to us. As you can see in one of the pictures below, we got a ton of beautiful peppers transplanted. I will have to say that overall this week was a hot but good one. I got a sunburn which means that the sun has finally come out to play and I can't complain about that! We got lots of weeding and summer plants planted. The farm is looking amazing with Michael's expert guidance and I can't wait for next weeks fun on the farm!
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Howdy! Well let me tell you that the warm and hot weather have arrived this week. At the farm this was the first time I actually wore a short sleeve shirt the whole week. The Daffodils are out as you can see in the picture to the left so you know it's ready for a good time. This week on the farm we had pretty much caught up with all the "to-do's" as Michael told me so that just led us to making sure all the beds were well weeded. So, I got to continue my favorite activity of weeding along with many of the volunteers that came out to experience the warm weather. I also made sure to keep on eye on my tomato babies to make sure they had everything they needed to prosper. I kept them well watered and I ended up having a GREAT overall germination of both varieties that I planted. It was around a 95% germination rate between the 35 seeds that I ended up planting. Now I am just waiting for them to get a little bigger so that I can transplant them into their bucket homes, so that they can live happily ever after. Or at at least that is the plan, but I believe they will do really well. Then of course, I had to add another picture of the massive amounts of Blue Bonnets that we have blooming right now because they are just beautiful! Had a great, warm week at the farm and I hope it continues. Thank you for everyone that came out to help at the farm this week! HOWDY! If this is was not a great week then I don't know what would be. This week the seeds finally came in and I got to start my tomatoes for my hydroponics project. As you can see in the picture to the right these are the Frederick and Geronimo tomatoes planted in the fiberglass cubes. I spent the most of my time this week making sure my system is ready to go for when the tomatoes have finished germinating. The Blue Bonnets are out, as you can see below, and looking as good as ever. My tomatoes are germinated really well so I am as happy as a plant parent could be. I cant wait to transplant the tomatoes and watch them take off growing in our Hydroponics system. Overall, just a good week at the farm with everyone coming out to experience the warm weather. Looking forward to the forecast of hot weather next week. Howdy! So this week overall had some great weather. Not too hot and not too cold with some breeze here and there. This week we ended up cleaning up the farm pretty well. As you can see in the picture at the very bottom there were some beds around the sustainability building that were weed heavy. We also took to sweeping the walkways and sitting areas around the Holistic Garden. Gab and I along with many volunteers got to work around the building and eventually got it looking pretty neat and clean, well as clean as a farm can look. The picture to the right was another bed around the building that we got weeded. The picture above is actually a plant that I have never previously worked with called a Sunchoke. This vegetable is in the Artichoke family, if you didn't already guess, so you eat the underground portion of the plant. To give this pair of plants a good area to grow we weeded the bed and then loosened up the soil. The picture above is the final look at the bed when we got them planted. I cannot wait to see them grow because it is a completely new thing to me. Overall, with a peek at nice weather this week at the farm, it was fun as always. Thank you for everyone who comes out to volunteer! Howdy! Well, I keep hoping for better weather in College Station but it doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Monday and Wednesday it was still pretty sloppy and muddy due to all the rain. However, Friday was a great day with some much needed sunshine on the farm. We decided that while the ground was sopping wet it would be a good idea to get some much needed weeding done. I got to slip and slide a bit in the field plots but that just makes it more fun! I also got to work on weeding the Asparagus beds and getting them ready to be able to grow to their maximum potential! I have never grown Asparagus personally so it was interesting to see how they come back from previous years growth and get so big and bushy. The baby Asparagus are just now starting to poke their heads out from the soil so it shouldn't be anytime before they are something to feast your eyes upon. I did get some mud on me this week but in the end I got to have some fun and learn about some new vegetables and that is what it is really about out at the Howdy Farm! Learn, Learn and you guessed it, Learn even more!
Howdy! This week at the farm was beautiful because it has just begun to warm up a little bit. Monday started off with some usual farm activities like weeding but then Gerald requested some help in the greenhouse. Upon us helping, I ended up running into something I had never personally ever seen before. A BABY PINEAPPLE GROWING! It was so cool to see, especially for me because I had seen pictures but never in person. Wednesday, we had a good group of volunteers and were able to get some beds weeded as you can see in the slideshow at the bottom. Now, for the wonderfully rainy day that was Friday! Michael and I attempted to get some T-post and fencing up as you can see in the picture to the left. Which we were able to do but because of the rain and muddy ground we decided to focus on something better done indoors. We harvested some collard greens and washed them for sale. Overall, a good week at the farm besides the weather on Friday. Hoping for warmer weather!! Howdy! Well it is still a bit chilly out on the farm but that doesn't stop us from getting some spring and summer plant started in the greenhouse! We started some lettuces, basil, and as you can see in the picture below some of my favorite plants, peppers. I always love it when I get to start some summer vegetables because that just tells me that its getting closer to be my favorite time of year. On Friday, we had the joy of having a BIG volunteer group out at the farm numbering at about 30 people. This is the biggest group I have seen yet and we ended up getting a lot of work done by dividing and conquering. We split up into multiple different groups that all had different jobs. I led one one of groups that was tasked with weeding some of the beds as well as the Holistic raised bed area. Everyone seemed to have a great time because like I have said before, weeding is a great time to relax and just have some amazing conversations. We also were able to get a lot of the work on the farm done since we had so much help so thank you to everyone that volunteered this week! Howdy! This week I got to start off with weeding, which I believe will become my favorite activity soon enough. However, Michael and Gabby had already done most of the weeding in this bed so thank you to the both of them. I finished up weeding a small portion of the bed and then got to plant all kinds of flowers. The best part is when Michael gave me the flower trays and said, "Here you go, I am giving you artistic freedom!". I tried to take advantage of that and plant them in a creative way but some of the ways I tried, didn't exactly pan out as intended so they were scrapped. I can't wait to see all the beautiful flowers bloom so you all will have to come check them out. Through out the week I got to witness and learn about some of the machinery on the farm. I got to experience using the Howdy Farm tiller which is an experience everyone should get to enjoy. I have used many tillers before but this one was serious and you need to be ready to "control" that thing. It was fun though because I got to slide around in the mud tilled soil. We ended off the week with some FREEZING weather and rain. It was such a fun time that Michael decided it would be best to run out and harvest some lettuces, Collard greens and some Daikon radishes so that we could wash them inside. Get some work done and not freeze while working outside, so I was all about that. We even got a decent size group of volunteers that came by and helped with the preparation for the Farmer's Market. So the week came to an end and it was still raining and cold. Hopefully the weather shapes up but its always fun on the farm! Howdy! This week was real fun one because I learned the well respected art of weeding at the Howdy Farm, and we like to be thorough. Since the farm tries to not use any chemicals weeding is a must on the farm. I know everyone usually thinks of weeding as a boring activity but let me tell you that's when everyone really gets to talk and learn about each other. Leads to some fun conversations and some great laughs! As you can see in the picture to the left, pulled a lot of weeds so that we could clear out the row and plant some new plants. Continuing the week, Gabrielle and I with the help of many volunteers finished weeding the row and planted some Napa Cabbages in it. The picture to the right is the row after being weeded and replanted. Took a good amount of time but like I mentioned earlier, we had a fun time having some entertaining conversations. I finished off the week helping Michael weed another row as you can see in the two pictures below. Then, we harvested some lettuces and greens to be sold at the Farmer's Market. This week was fun but the weather wasn't cooperating so I hope it starts to warm up soon. Can't wait for another week on the Howdy Farm! Howdy! Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Joshua Johnson and I am a senior Horticulture major at Texas A&M University. I also have a minor in Plant Breeding which is the career I want to eventually end up in. I love pretty much every aspect of plants but have a real passion for gardening. Now! Let me tell you about what I have been doing this week. Well this week has been wonderful due to the fact that it is our first one back from Winter Vacation. I'm sure we are all having a great time getting back into the swing of things that encompass school work and life. I am actually really excited about this semester because it is my last and I get to do an internship at the Howdy Farm! I have always been involved with the Howdy farm being a member my freshman year and then just volunteering for the rest of my college years. I honestly didn't even know about the Howdy Farm internship until my friends told me about it and I knew it would be a great fit for me! This week at my internship was mainly just planning ahead and finalizing the idea for my project at the Howdy Farm. We have decided to go ahead with the Hydroponic Tomatoes idea where we will be test which disease resistances are more advantageous to have when think about Hydroponics. Since I am so intrigued with disease resistance and I absolutely love growing tomatoes I thought that this idea Michael brought up was fantastic. This week I mostly weeded some rows to get ready for new plants, as you can see in the photos above. I also got to meet some new people that have all seemed very kind and have a passion for the outdoors. We ended the week by harvesting some leafy greens to sell at the Farmer Market on Saturday, as you can see below.
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AuthorHowdy! My name is Joshua Johnson and I am a senior Horticulture Major. I love everything that has to do with plants and one day aspire to be a Plant Breeder. If you ever want to talk about plants, come visit me at the Howdy Farm! Archives
April 2019
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The Howdy Farm at Texas A&M University | Josh's Blog |