Harvesting Chinese Cabbage & Increased Egg Production

Village Farm Team,

We harvested the first heads of our Chinese cabbage this past weekend. We noticed that their beautifully crinkled leaves were pretty much void of pest damage from the usual cabbage loopers and yellow margin leaf beetles. Thanks to our diligence in treating these veggies with Ocean’s Harvest fertilizer we’ve been able to foster very healthy plant growth. Though we have organic pesticide Bt on hand to address potential pest issues with our crops, good plant health leads to natural pest resistance.

The daylight hours have slowly been increasing since the end of December which means our flock’s egg production has been increasing as well. In addition to daylight, temperature and stress levels can affect egg production. Though it’s still rather chilly out, our hens have been able to forage more regularly outside their run. This helps to decrease their stress levels, diversify their diets, and provide enrichment. We are currently averaging 10 eggs per day which means we will soon be able to offer them at the veggie wagon on Saturdays.

The intense winds we experienced this past weekend were not very kind to our greenhouse! A panel from the top of the greenhouse blew off on Saturday leading to an emergency repair. Thanks to the help of farm club members Scott Jones, Rob Broekhuis, and Mark and Debbie Thomas we were able to temporarily repair the hole with plastic sheeting. Due to this mishap, we haven’t been able to heat the greenhouse adequately so we are noticing slower, uneven germination among our tomatoes. Once we get the panel replaced we will be back on track with temperature regulation and even germination.