Quiche Cookoff and Other News At the Garden

Hi everyone! It’s Gabriel with another weekly segment of the news from the garden with a little extra this week from Bellair farm.We have had a relatively quiet week at the garden.  While we did get a lot done, it was not as hectic as last week with the film crew, garlic harvesting, and the first week of the CSA.  The garden might have been quiet because the interns took a field trip to Bellair Farm on Tuesday. Bellair Farm is a certified organic farm located about 7 miles from Morven Farm.  Bellair farms about 50 acres of land but only plants about 10 acres each season to give each plot a rest. This visit gave the interns a look into larger scale organic farming, and an introduction to raising livestock like chickens, rabbits, and pigs. Bellair farm also has a CSA that runs for 22 weeks and if you are looking for a place to get locally sourced chicken, pork, and eggs to eat with the fresh veggies we supply, this would be the perfect place to go.Speaking of farm fresh eggs, the interns were lucky enough to get a dozen from Jamie, the Bellair Farm manager, for their hard work. John and Julia decided to have a quiche cookoff, or a quicheoff if you will, to determine who was the superior Chef. Using ingredients from the garden, both chefs labored over their meals the night before and brought them in for us to enjoy. Our farm manager, Stephanie, was the judge of this competition and relished every last bite of each competitor’s dish. In the end she decided that both of them were winners.  How could anyone lose while making and eating such great food?        Besides field trips and eating, we’ve worked a lot too. This week we are tilling beds and seeding crops to get ready for the late summer and early fall. We recently seeded one bed with three varieties of lettuce, which take about 50 days to grow to maturity; another bed with radishes, which take less than 30 days to grow to maturity; and two other beds with butternut and spaghetti squash, which take about 100 and 88 days respectively to grow to maturity. Along with all of these, we plan on planting sweet potatoes as well as sunflowers next week.When seeding or transplanting, it is always a good idea to grow other plants next to your crops to help with pests and pollination. This is called companion planting. One example of companion planting we are currently implementing is the pairing of our winter squash with buckwheat. Despite buckwheat’s name it is not related to the wheat or grass family, it is actually the seed of a flowering fruit which makes it a great gluten free alternative to wheat. The biggest pest problems that squash tend to have are viruses transmitted by aphids and white flies. By planting buckwheat in the beds adjacent to the squash we are hoping to attract beneficial insects that use the buckwheat for nectar and pollen. These insects can be predators to the aphids and white flies and can pollinate our squash as it grows. Many other organic methods can be used to control pests such as organic sprays, row cover, and sticky traps.  All these methods can be used in home gardening.        Speaking of pollinators, the interns were lucky enough to be invited to suit up with our resident beekeeper, and past summer intern, Kaitlyn Elliot. She was generous enough to give us a tour of the colonies and let us watch her handle the bees.  We had a great time and learned a lot about bees and beekeeping. While I thought that blowing smoke on the hives made the bees sleepy, it actually tricks the bees into thinking that their hive is burning. The bees then retreat into their hive to eat all their honey to store up on energy so they can go and create a new hive before their current one burns down. While they are panicking for their lives inside, the beekeeper can handle the frames without getting stung too much while checking on the honey production and the overall health of the bee colony.         It was great to meet and deliver food last week to all of you signed up for our CSA.  We can’t wait to do it again this week! If you would like more information about Bellair Farm here is a link to their website.