Farm City

Snug Harbor Heritage Farm

2011-09-26T20:07:00.001-04:00

So here they are: brand-new 5040 Kubota, refurbished John Deere no-till grain drill, subsoiler, box blade, and 20' trailer to make our soil building operation mobile.

5040 Kubota attached to subsoiler.

One acre field after subsoiling.

The spading machine was made in Holland by Imants and sold to us by Autrusa equipment of PA.

Like a tiller but gentler on the soil. Makes a nice planting bed. Best for incorporating cover crops and green manures.

Winter Rye, Hairy Vetch, Field Peas and Oats.

An Active Citizen Project at Amboy Park in Brownsville, Brooklyn.

2011-09-24T16:41:00.000-04:00

Young Padron peppers intercropped with Ruby Streaks Mustard.

New beds established to utilize good sun.

Astro arugula in foreground, pearl onions in back.

An end block of feverfew in each of these three beds.

Bronze fennel, dill, tithonia, yarrow, scabiosa and kale in this border planting.

Red Choi and Astro arugula.

Borage and calendula to attract pollinators.

Lettuce beds behind tithonia.

This bed is full of summer squash and has two canteloupe interplanted.

This large bed is a pepper and tomato nursery. The two beds on the right just had spinach residue incorporated, so I put straw on top to prevent nitrogen from volatilizing.

I started brassicas indoors under lights. Once ready, I transplanted them onto a nursery board with better spacing for further development.

There are easily over 500 broccoli, collards, and kale plants here.

Young spinach.

Brassica seedlings developing nicely - notice the thick stems. Probably two or three weeks from plant out.

This spinach bed is ready to go.

A mesclun bed of five types of greens.

Tom Thumb Butter Head using a plum tree bed.

Tomatoes get ready.

Big bed of beets, five varieties.

A partnership between Active Citizen Project and Kingsborough Community College. A Production Garden in Brooklyn.

2011-09-24T15:44:00.000-04:00

There will be a total of 26 4'x40' raised beds.

Just to give you an idea how rich the soil is.

Intercropping to maximize space.

Red Russian kale about one week from harvest.

Green beans, Red Butter head lettuce intercropped with Sylvetta Arugula, Ruby Streaks Mustard and onions.

Broccoli undersown with cilantro.

It all grew very quickly - lettuce/arugula, green beans, beets, squash and brassicas.

Broccoli and collards in front of me, potatoes behind.

This took a lot of work with the wheel barrow and shovel.

Potatoes peeking out.

Carrot sowing party.

Hand sowing small seeds with precision takes practice.

The estimated value of the center bed, with Red Butter Head and Sylvetta Arugula, is $600.

Ready for harvest.

Ruby Streaks ready to go.

These next five photos courtesy of Andrew Casner, EATS Farm Manager.

A partnership between Active Citizen Project and University Heights High School, Bronx, NY.

2011-09-24T10:22:00.000-04:00

Build a bio pad to prevent your soil from being compromised by petrochemicals.

Wood chips work nicely as a buffer. Remember to consider the slope or direction that tannins will be seeping.

Work party!

Not too many days after the work party...results!

Imani weeding the chard.

Mustards are a portion of the mesclun mix. Here are Ruby Streaks and Green Wave.

With direct seeding comes a lesson in thinning. Even urban radish want their elbow room.

Erica and Imani harvest the mustards.

Making all the bags the same one pound.

Throwing off all the water on the leaves for better keeping.

Head lettuce and onions.

French breakfast radish and onions.

Imani harvesting head lettuce.

Good example of even maturation thanks to thinning.