Review of January actions

January 11, 2010

Meeting with E. Focus of production to be on salad mix: primarily this would be types of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onion and red onion. Secondary could be chives, dill, cilantro, additional salad greens.

Goal to clear out piles of old building materials, old cars and rubbish.
Cattle fence needs to be secured.


January 14-

Worked with T. on re-filling the large worm bin, demonstrating how to use cardboard and waste paper to create layers.  T. had done an excellent job clearing trash out of worm bin. Demonstrated how to use vermicompost as planting medium.

January 19-

I marked out dimensions for two raised beds and T. and J. began clearing grass and digging soil.
I seeded lettuce and green onions in vermicompost on trays in nursery.

Cows got out, jumped through loose wires in fence.
K. is to come back to assist Tl. to work on fence. It is agreed that if K. is working on farm he must be under direct supervision.

January 20-

E. and K. walked about farm and discussed future plans. K. will email grower about vetiver grass. E. considering obtaining pigs and re-building pig pens.
Discussed renting tiller as J. and T. having difficulty with grass.

January 21-

T. and K. transplanted seedlings of unknown variety to the first raised bed. Might be from cabbage family. Onions and peppers were transplanted between the pineapple rows. The beds K. made were dismantled and the toxic materials removed and bagged for disposal.

January 22-

T. and K. transplanted tomatoes and cucumbers to second and third beds. K. supplied dill and chive seedlings that she had grown, transplanted to third and fourth bed.

January 23-

Tl. finished with frames for raised beds in house area. Need to obtain mulch and composted manure to fill these frames and top off seedling beds in nursery.

January 26-

K. supplied lettuce seedlings from her stock to place in aquaponics tray.
K. explained time sheet process to T. and J. Asked Tl. to sign off on K. time sheets.

January 27-

Small amount of wind damage, plants ok. Strip of roofing material blew off shed and landed on nursery fence. Bent but repairable.
J. collapsed in garden. Unaware that he had fallen, was slightly disorientated for a few minutes.

January 28-

Rain began during the night and remains constant. Moved seedling trays to sheltered space. Set T. and J. on sweeping and organizing shed, then they moved to filling in more sections of worm bin. T. will plant papaya. Also, K. gave T. flower seeds to scatter about. Learned that J. had fallen again the previous evening. Learned that neither had health insurance.
Spoke with C, checked hours and dates, T. and J. need to be added to health insurance, required by state law as the thirty day grace period is almost pau.

January 30-

Spoke with E. on phone, because of the constant rain, T. & J. given day off, can work Monday instead.
Said I would be down to check on flooding. E said she may be out on errands.
I arrived and as walking down lane could see that nursery gate was standing wide open.  The rock that holds the gate shut had been moved off to the side. When I entered it was immediately clear that the cows had gotten out and wandered through the open gate and walked through the seedling beds. Damage to the tomatos, a little damage to peppers. The bed they did the most damage to had not yet been seeded, so that was lucky.  Need to emphasis to all that nursery gates must be secure.
Walked along section of fence, but no cows were out at that time and could not determine where they had crossed the fence.
I then checked the raised garden beds. The flooding was not unexpected. The first bed remained above the water. The tomato bed was mostly above water, one or two plants were partially submerged. The edges of beds three and four will have to be re-shaped and deeper trenches dug. Bed five was flattened by the rain and luckily nothing had been planted there. Bed six, with the beans, was ok. The pineapple rows were half submerged, however most of the onions and peppers were above the water line. The tomatoes I had planted previously were above the flood area. However, this is where the cows had done the most damage. I had noticed the cow tracks but luckily the tracks avoided most of the garden beds. However, the tomato plants suffered damage as did some onion, pineapple and peppers. Overall, damage was minimal.