The old saying about perennial crops is that in their "first year, they sleep; second year, they creep; third year, they leap" in the first three years of being established. Just like perennials in their third
growth year, the farm is about to leap. In 2015, Root Bottom Farm is trying out some new vegetables, expanding to new, larger fields, and celebrating bumper perennial crops coming into their prime.
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| I found a sweet desk in someone's trash pile on the street last week. Farm planning game changer. |
Winter is halfway over and our desk is covered with graph paper, highlighters, colored pencils and spread sheets. We are expanding some of our successful
vegetable crops and adding ground cherries, Brussels sprouts, leeks,
and new varieties of old favorites to the mix. We are
also establishing hardy kiwis and more asparagus. This will be the
first Spring that we aren't establishing multiple perennial
crops on the farm. Instead we will celebrate our hard work with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries,
blueberries, herbs, and asparagus overflowing in their harvest baskets.
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| Upper berry field with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. This year we have over 350 strawberry plants ready to blow up this Spring. |
On the flower side of things, I am planting 21 types/39 varieties of annuals (16 new varieties) in the cutting garden and 63 types/83 varieties of perennials (32 new varieties). This year will be another large year for flowers with over
600 plants started by seed for ten new garden beds designed and
built around the property. The hundreds of perennial flowers
established last year will be proudly showing their colors off this
season.
Below are two new gardens. Cool vs Hot. |
| Cool garden near our cabin. Viola, perrywinkle, lavender, aubrieta, veronica, forget me not, daisy, columbine, catmint, agathashe, chamomile, hyssop, pyrethrum, liatris, gaillardia, penstemon, dianthus, ageratum, nigella, gomphrena, delphinium, salvia, scabiosa, echinacea, feverfew, verbena, globe flower, bee balm, sea holly, foxglove, lisanthus, ammi, cosmos, zinnias & a planting of existing red hot pokers. This is right next to the 'cool' spiral bulb garden coming up in Spring. That giant bed is only purples, blues, whites and a few yellows. |
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| Hot garden around the intern house. Forget me not, echinacea, gaillardia, allysum, daisies, lavender, chamomile, coreopsis, Siberian wallflower, columbine, salvia, scabiosa, rudebekia and a few annuals planted along existing red hot pokers, lilies, mums & forsythia bushes. |
It is going to be a busy and fantastic
season ahead. We are stoked to have our friend, Justin, on the farm team again. He is a farm ninja and a huge asset to this crazy ride. In May, we are having a barn work weekend to
fix up our old tobacco barn. And we are very excited to announce our farm dinner series this Summer in July, August & September. Stay tuned for more details to
follow.
2015. Grow. Expand. And eat
great food.
