Planting before the rainstorm
The first seeds in the greenhouse have grown up and are ready to be planted in the field. They should already be planted since they are at the necessary size and rapidly growing.
The massive rainstorm that we received two weekends ago of 4.5 inches of rain has been keeping the tractor out of the field so it can’t prep the area needed.
We were hoping for some more wind after the which combined with the sun would allow us to get in the field sooner. it hasn’t been that sunny or windy but we were able to get in the field yesterday to prep the areas we needed.
Today we are planting as much as we can before the rain is forecasted to start around noon and we will probably continue planting through some light rain since we are only planting by hand.
Kale, collards, broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower, lettuce and bok choy are what we are hoping to get transplanted.
Additionally we hope to get our potato seed in the ground. Last we went up to Full Belly to pick up Sifra potato seed and it would be great to get them in the ground before the rain. The variety is a delicious white potato that has a creamy flavor and it is the variety we have grown the last two years.
What makes it even more important to get as much as we can planted today is that there is forecasted to be a rainstorm this weekend, It could bring over four inches of rain to the farm and would delay more field work.
Many farms in the area have thousands and thousands of plants they need to get into the ground but the soil is too wet still for the tractor to get in.
One of our main goals of farming is helping more people have access to good quality fruits and vegetables which we can play a tiny role in.
A major program in California for people to get produce at farmers market who otherwise wouldn’t is the Market Match program which is for people in the CalFresh program. That is the name California used for the federal food program that used to be known as Food Stamps and is now called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Customers who use CalFresh/EBT benefits at framers markets are able to get an extra $10-20 dollars to spend on fresh produce at the market through California’s MarketMatch program.
So if they use $15 of their benefits at the farmers market through this program they will get an additional $15 to spend at the market. It helps incentivize the purchase of fruits and vegetables and support small farms. $33.2 million of the $35 million in the three year budget is proposed to be cut by the governor, which would end the program. There is lots more information on the Save Market Match website along with a petition.
