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!!
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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! |
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 |