Sustainable Farm Journal

Today, I transplanted one-month old greens starters into Bato buckets of perlite in a small greenhouse. There are 11 buckets total. From left to right, I have: Bucket 1 3 calabrese broccoli Bucket 2 2 calabrese broccoli Bucket 3 2 georgia collard greens Bucket 4 3 georgia collard greens Bucket 5 3 japanese red mustard Bucket 6 3 japanese red mustard Bucket 7 4 japanese red mustard Bucket 8 4 mizuna mustard Bucket 9 4 mizuna mustard Bucket 10 4 dwarf blue scotch curly kale Bucket 11 4 dwarf blue scotch curly kale

Today, I was mowing and then came across a sight that made me stop, turn everything off and skip mowing for the rest of the day. First, there are flowers blooming like goldenrod, asters, and a nighttime blooming flower called boneset. There are also butterfly caterpillars feeding on milkweed. And to top it off, butterflies have made chrysalises in the grass.

The flower tables that I started over the summer have been a success. The zinnias started blooming by the end of September, and the marigolds began blooming in the first week of October and are now flush with flowers. I used Bato strawberry troughs and Beekenkamp strawberry troughs. The shallow root zones have not provided adequate anchoring in high winds, but if I support the stems and foliage next year, I should be able to correct the issue.

Today, I started 50 cells of winter greens in rockwool. They are: 10 broccoli calabrese 10 Georgia southern collard greens 10 Japanese giant red mustard 10 dwarf blue curled Scotch kale 10 mizuna mustard The collard greens and kale are from seed that was purchased in 2017. The rest of the seed was purchased this year. I topped the rockwool with fine vermiculite and placed the tray in my house because the temperatures are still in the high '80s.

Today, I finally finished a shallow hydroponics table for flowers that I've had in mind for several months. It has about 45 feet of planting space, or room for about 90 zinnia plants spaced six inches apart.