Fresh off a holiday weekend and the kickoff of the market season, thank you for tuning into my Micro-Minute once again. Here I report weekly the gardening projects I have strewn over Western Mass and Connecticut.
And it’s a pleasure to share, review, refresh and reiterate what I’ve accomplished since the previous week. It keeps me focused and is the only way to possibly keep track of it all. Recording the season week by week I’m sure will continue to prove insightful as I look back. Hopefully, you can glean some value as well.
Well, I’ve had more things to write about with less time to get it all down, so let’s just jump right into the recap. I need to get a good rest tonight to prepare for another early morning and full day.
The Micro
Microgreens are growing well, consistent and abundant. Nothing eventful to report on this front other than they sold pretty well at the opening market. Things started slow but certainly picked up over the course of the day.
We even sold a few shots of wheatgrass juice. It was a relief and an excitement to serve up that sweet cup of grass to a handful of gracious customers. I have a feeling they’ll be coming back for more. Who knows, it just may catch on!
A lot of leftover greens were the result of my zeal for being back at market and an overestimation of sales I suppose. But too much greens can’t be a bad problem, especially when you have a juicer.
Today I took this whole heap of sunnies through the juicer and ended with more than a pint of potent green juice. It isn’t sweet like wheatgrass, but nutty, smooth and pleasant tasting nonetheless. And packed with unbelievable amounts of protein, amino acids, enzymes, chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals.
Utilizing the on-hand greens, we got creative this week in the kitchen.
If the green slaw salad or sunnie smoothie piques your interest, let me know. I’ll gladly shoot you the recipes.
As for this week, I’ve decided to run back the same varieties. The old faithfuls; sunnies and pea shoots, wheatgrass for juicing and radish and mustard to toss together for the popular spicy mix, which was probably my best seller at the market.
I reduced the number of total trays this week. It should make everything a little more manageable, I just hope there’s enough in the end.
The Macro
There was much to do this week to prepare for market, yet I couldn’t let my other priorities just fall by the wayside either.
At my client’s I dug big holes for dahlias and planted them later in the week after it warmed up a bit. I sure hope to see them sprouting when I go back over tomorrow. What a spectacular flower they are, I’ll be anxiously anticipating their arrival.
We mulched another garden bed and I planted onions and weeded and watered the potato patch, where sprouts have begun to peek up.
I think there was more going on over there, there always is, but I struggle to recall at the moment.
At my Aunt’s house, I weed-whacked everything. A job that is deeply satisfying to me. Getting rid of scraggly weeds along the fence and bed borders to achieve a neat, tidy look just makes my heart sing.
And we pulled a lot of weeds that were starting to engulf the berry bushes and canes. Then dropped lots of mulch to hopefully smother them out for the foreseeable future.
We didn’t get around to planting out the veggies in the garden, maybe she finished it over the weekend.
All growing things there finally seem under control and the property looks great, if I say so myself.
Lastly, I made it to the orchard only yesterday with the intention of planting all of my tomatoes in the open field we used for a garden last year. But with dubious soil quality and difficulty with devising an efficient watering system, I pivoted and decided to plant all the tomatoes in containers at our place.
It will cost a little more upfront, buying good soil, amendments and some grow bags, but the convenience and ease of maintenance and care will save me tons of time, ultimately leading to much better quality fruit.
I’m actually excited and hopeful for outstanding results with this approach.
And I spent a lot of time outside transplanting today. However long it takes to transplant 36 tomatoes, and a couple herbs. That got me about halfway done.
This was before I got started, there’s no after picture because it was well dark by the time I finished. Just gotta make sure they survive the transplant before sharing pictures next week!
But, I do believe the process went well. I incorporated feather meal and crab shell meal into the potting mix. And just before transplanting, I added a dusting of mycorrhizae for good measure. Should be a winning combination that produces some bomber tomato plants.
It will be quite enjoyable to watch the variety of varieties grow, progress and produce. This year I’ll have 10 different types of tomatoes:
Ox heart, San Marzano and Rose that I started from seed and Amish paste, lemon boy, supersweet 100, Cherokee purple, Berkley pink tie dye, red Brandywine and one more that escapes me at the moment.
Later this week I’ll finish the transplanting and most likely plant cukes and squash as well as adding some different herbs to my collection.
So keep an eye out for some bright colors and unique flavors of exceptional quality fruits this Summer. I’m sure to be ranting and raving all about them.
El Mercado
The Otis Farmers’ Market resumed over the weekend, welcomed in with perfect weather. We couldn’t have asked for finer temperatures or climate.
It was a pleasure to see all the vendors again. There wasn’t much time to mingle and catch up, but there will be over the course of the season.
A lot of folks from the community turned out, plenty of familiar faces. The slow start gave way to some steady business and the day finished as an overall success.
I plan on taking that momentum and compounding it through the Summer when we start reaping fruit. By then, fresh produce, the sunny season and market fervor will be at their peak.
I’ve got a profoundly optimistic outlook for the possibilities this year.
What does it hold for us?
Who knows
The most important thing is that we just take it slow and enjoy the ride.
The Outro
So that’s gonna have to suffice for this week. It’s been a long day and I’ve rambled on enough.
Well wishes to all and a big thanks for taking this slow ride with me.
Lean into the curves, brake and reroute for detours and definitely open it up on the straightaways.
May is already gone. June brings with it the high Summer Sun, which will once again begin its descent in just a few short weeks.
Until next time, glow gold and grow green.
Thank you for reading,
Peace!