tomatoes! and more, of course.

a sea of tomatoes!

blue house greenhouse farm has tomato starts for sale! We have a number of different varieties: silver fir tree, jaune flamme, orange oxheart, persimmon, and isis candy cherry. You can follow the links to find out more about each variety.  They are a deal at only $2 each! Stop by or contact me if you are interested in getting some tomatoes for your garden!

A lot has been happening at the farm. We've planted out all the brassicas- kale, collards, and broccoli- for this season. Along with planting more rounds of lettuce, carrots, spinach, radishes, beets and chard.  In a week or so we'll be planting out our warmer season crops- tomatoes, peppers, and beans.

We're harvesting more and more. With the warmer sunnier weather the plants are growing quickly!  We've started selling an Asian greens mix, which in my (somewhat biased) opinion is delicious.

supplies from Ernst

This past weekend Jeff and I went to Ernst Irrigation in St. Paul, OR. We bought all the components to set up the T-Tape drip irrigation system, which we will be setting up sometime this week.  I will definitely write a post about the installation.


What else?  The farm has been super lucky to have wonderful volunteers- without whom I couldn't get everything done!  Thanks to them! We've had a lot of great visitors- friendly neighbors, folks from the Community Food Security Coalition Food Policy Conference that just happened by on their walking tour, and the walking club from NARA stop by weekly to check up on the progress of the farm.  For these reasons I appreciate the farm's visibility.  We've also had a super friendly neighborhood cat coming by... maybe she'll keep the crows away?

farm kitty (don't tell winkles)

twice the farming

weed eating the clover

 The vegetable growing space at Blue House Greenhouse Farm just doubled in size!  Last week, after a a dry spell, we tilled in the clover cover crop.

How did we know it was time?  The clover was just beginning to flower and we needed to take advantage of the weather because who knew when it would rain again!

On Wednesday I rented a weed eater from Interstate Rentals to cut the clover down a couple inches.  On Thursday, we rented a tiller. I owe a big thank you to Marc, at Amaranth Organic Gardening, who let us use his truck to haul this beast of a tiller. After a few tries of tilling in the cut clover without luck (the stems were getting caught in the tines), the lovely volunteers, Adam and Amanda, raked up the clover and moved it into a large pile to compost.  And then the tilling really began! Adam and I made two passes over the area to try to chop up the clover stubs. Although the tiller was a bit unwieldy, it did the job and we were able to finish that afternoon.

Adam wielding the tiller

 This spring I debated whether I would dig in the clover by hand or rent a tiller. I weighed time spent digging versus depth and quality of digging.  In the end I chose both!  Now that the tilling is done, we dug pathways and are using a digging fork to loosen the soil deeply in the newly made beds.

In other news, the farm now is also selling to Pizza a Go-Go.  I tried a slice of pizza with our red russian kale-delicious. I also applied for a cost share program through the Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District for a drip irrigation system and was accepted! In the next few weeks I'll be installing the system- this should be really fun.

seedlings and sun and spiders, oh my!

Red Russian Kale seedlings

Calabrese Broccoli seedlings

Rocky Top Lettuce Mix seedlings

Above are a few images of what seedlings are still for sale! In addition there are collard greens and several other varieties of kale and broccoli. Seedlings are $3 for a six-pack.  Come by the farm sometime if you are interested in purchasing any or contact me.  

In other news,  it is wonderful to see the sun!  It's been a cold, wet spring and plants have been growing slowly.  They are beginning pick up with some sunshine, as am I. We've also been transplanting Asian greens in the field, thinning beets, spinach, and radishes, and prepping beds, amongst other things.

Lastly I wanted to share the photos below that were taken in the greenhouse.  If you look at the center of the photo on the left, it looks like a bunch of yellow dots.  But on closer examination (photo on the right), we have baby spiders! I think it's a good omen, don't you?

 

seedlings for sale!

 That's right folks! If you are looking to get some seedlings for your garden, Blue House Greenhouse has some for sale TOMORROW!!  We will be at the farm between 10am-1pm if you can come by for a visit.  We have Cascadian snap peas, Rocky Top lettuce mix, and a variety of broccoli and kale.

We will continue to sell seedlings this spring if you can't come by tomorrow.

These photos are the lovely new additions to the farm that Jeff has made.  Above are three hardy kiwis along the north fence. The photo to the right is the NE corner of the lot- from left to right- artichoke, bay, sage, and persimmon!  I'll post more pictures when it fills out this summer.

venting

window open with the auto vent opener!

The greenhouse of Blue House Greenhouse Farm now has a vent!  This is very exciting news for the seedlings living in the greenhouse--with more air circulating through they will be less susceptible to molds and fungal problems.  As the sun peeks out once in a while the vent will also keep the greenhouse from becoming too warm.  There are many ways one can vent a greenhouse.  A hoop house like the one we have often has the sides of the plastic sheeting  roll up- rolling up the sides during the day and rolling them down at night. 

in the middle of the day...

 Because I don't go to the farm everyday, I wanted a way to vent when I wouldn't be around and a way to do it without electricity- which is something we don't have at the farm. Here's where the Univent Auto Vent Opener comes in, "the opener has a metal cylinder containing a mineral which expands when heated. This pushes a piston that opens the vent. As the temperature cools, the mineral shrinks and a spring closes the vent and resets the piston." Pretty neat, eh? I bought the vent opener, but had to figure out how to install it since I didn't have a window. 

...in the evening!

Again, I found myself lucky to be so close to the ReBuilding Center and was able to find a screen window for one dollar the approximate size of the existing frame on the south end of the greenhouse!  I took out the screen and replaced it with a sheet of plastic. Jasmine, a lovely volunteer who comes most every Tuesday, and I cut and attached wire lock to the frame and refit the plastic to make an opening for the window. The vent looks really great and serving its purpose.  Come by and check it out sometime!


In other news: The tomatoes have sprouted and are doing well under the lights. I've begun selling to another restaurant, DOC, in NE Portland which looks amazing. And this past Sunday we broke a weather record.  This is the longest we've gone in a year without a 60 degree day. sigh. But I think it's supposed to change on Thursday... I'll keep you posted!

first day of spring. yes!

It's seven o'clock on a Monday night and this (photo on the right) is what it looks like outside!  I am really excited about spring at the farm: peas are just coming up, the greenhouse is full of little seedlings, it hails and the sun shines within ten minutes, and I can work later into the afternoon!

 There is a lot of anticipation in spring- little beginnings happening everywhere.

I am also looking forward to Portland drying out a little in the next few days. 30% percent chance of rain means 70% chance of no rain! It's been a wet month. It's already the wettest March in 8 years so says the weather blog Jeff reads. Yikes!







We're staying busy.  We've started more seeds in the greenhouse- rocky top lettuce, peas, asian greens and mustards.  I also set up this fancy indoor system (it was given to me by a friend last season, so I am trying it out) for our nightshades- a variety of peppers and tomatoes. I leave the lights on during the day and turn them off at night.  I've been watering them every two days. So far so good- nothing has happened but it's only been a few days.  I'll keep you all posted on how this system works.

business is growing!

Today I filled my first restaurant order for Ned Ludd, a restaurant a few blocks away from the farm!  It was a small order but a good one.  Although I haven't eaten there, the restaurant and menu look amazing.  Check them out! Soon I will be selling to other local restaurants as well- stay tuned!