Shaping Beds & Planting Peppers

Village Farm Team,

Though we cultivated the South Field back in June, the rains that persisted immediately afterwards made it impossible to plant any of our fall crops. Luckily the soil was dry enough for us to try again this week but all of the rain had caused a lot of weed re-growth. So, we went back in to turn over the weeds and shape the beds in preparation for planting. If the weather cooperates we will be able to direct-seed our winter squashes as early as Monday. With some hard work and a little good luck, the crops we plant on the South Field should end up being a successful pumpkin patch just in time for Harvest Fest in November!

Since most of our tomatoes have been removed from our covered beds on the North Field, we have quite a bit of real estate to work with for the second round of summer crops. Bastan peppers (a variety of Poblano), jalapenos peppers, and serrano peppers are currently being transplanted into the covered beds. In order to give these chili peppers adequate space and oxygen flow, each bed has two rows of plants spaced two feet apart. Ever wonder why they are called “chili peppers”? Originating in Central Mexico, “chilli” was the name given to these spicy members of the nightshade family in the Nahuatl language spoken by the Aztecs. Once Christopher Columbus encountered the “chilli” he began calling them “peppers” as they were spicy like the black pepper (Piper nigrum) he was familiar with.

Our chicks are growing so fast it’s hard to even call them chicks anymore! They have about two to three more weeks before they will be added to the run with the rest of our flock. In the meantime they are enjoying being together in their Chicken Chateau where they can curiously watch the outside world. They are particularly fond of the ice Farm Educator Bonnie has been giving them to help them brave the heat. They love to sit on top of it to cool themselves off.