Transplanting Celery

Look how long and tall these baby celery plants are....more often they are about half this height when they are move out of the greenhouse to find new home in the field for the season of growth. This is a prime example of a "leggy" plant, or something that has been greenhouse grown. It may remind you of a nursery plant that looks big, lush and green, but also seems to lack the strength and vigor of a more hardened off specimen that might better endure the challenges of nature that the outdoors is bound to introduce. Either way, these plants were going into the ground yesterday. Lee could only hope that the next few days of environmental conditions would not damage the perfect little celery plants, loved and coddled for weeks in her greenhouse. Celery is always a focal point as it is a nice staple for the CSA....additionally, Lee is always trying to time the harvest to correspond with Thanksgiving (good in stuffing and other harvest season recipes).


Here the celery is placed in a bed just north of the chiles. If you walk far enough into the field you will find them and may observe their progress along with all else. This is just one of many phases of planting, we were working in the greenhouse with a younger generation of plants yesterday too.

Lee and Jose follow the tractor driven by Pablo here. An attachment that draws duel furrows in the bed as Palo slowly drives creates space for the plants to be inserted quickly in the ground, soil falling back over them as the tractor proceeds forward. Transplanting at Tierra is one of my many favorite activities to observe...mechanically efficient on a small/large farm scale versus the back breaking methods I might employ in my own garden.

Harvest morning spring field tour

Head lettuce transplants....things are getting set in the ground one after another right now as it is likely frost has passed and beds have finally dried out enough to access much of the farm. Here are upcoming heads of lettuce, the butterheads are covered to keep off leafhopping insect pests that might eat your lettuce before we ever got to harvesting it out of the ground.

Strawberries with grit. We have had to rinse the berries a bit with the initial harvest as they had not yet been given their straw mulch and much of this rain has splashed dirt back on them....we might have prevented this by laying out a plastic mulch when planting, but Tierra simply does not appreciate having to do things like use up acres of plastic that will simply turn into garbage at the end of a season and seeks alternative methods of mulching and cultivating that are less resource intensive.

Jesus. The youngest of our field crew, but has also been with us for many years, Jesus is the go-to guy for many details around the farm. Always available and willing to respond to your needs and ours, he does an incredible job day in and out. Here he drives in your Saturday morning harvest-on time!

Swiss Chard will go to seed soon. Planted in fall it then starts to flower and set seed when too much heat kicks in. It is still harvesting beautifully for the time being and thank goodness for it when all else runs out at the end of the day in the farm stand. It's days are numbered though. Savor it while it lasts.

Here is the fall onion crop. Utah Jumbo or something similar. A big storage onion that will hopefully take us into the depths of winter. We still have to harvest and enjoy our fall planted onions before we even get close to harvesting this crop, but it is out in the field to enjoy it's season of maturity now. Go find it!


Snap peas coming along wonderfully! This will be a sweet delicacy when it finally comes to harvest...although back breaking for the harvest crew.

You may have realized the winter carrots ran out this week...a tragedy when Tierra is without carrots, but not for long. This is the current status of the upcoming spring crop and I am certain it will be presented for sales ASAP! A couple/few more weeks. Have patience, enjoy strawberries in the meantime.

Eggplant into the Field

As I suspected, the eggplant got moved outdoors along with the remainder of the chiles. This wave of transplanting is now completed and a relatively empty greenhouse is full of space to be filled with seedings and seedlings of future cabbages, broccolis, lettuces, etc... A huge amount of planting will continue outdoors in the next couple of weeks too including cucumbers, melons, winter squash, beans, etc... When you grow a little of everything and do it in Sonoma County, a grower's paradise, there really is no end to what can be done, hence another example that the farmer's job never ends.

A variety of eggplant await their turn to be let loose to the wild conditions of the farm fields.

Chile Planting Time!

From the greenhouse to the field, the chiles are currently amidst a major transition in their annual lifetime. Let us follow them from their cushy home in the greenhouse (note the cleared out spaces of chile trays in the image to the left) where they may be running out of root space in their little pots to the field where plenty of root space and soil nutrition is available in abundance, but the outdoor environment could offer new challenges for survival (including wind, temperature fluctuations, water variability, pest exposure, etc...)

An important component of this operation that occurs during transportation is keeping track of all the varieties. Tierra grows so many types peppers and chiles that the subcategories bewilder me each time I go hunting for a particular variety. There are sweet peppers, pimientos, chipotle types, drying chiles, New Mexicos, frying chiles and peppers, the really hot Chinenese types and so many more. I'd have to consult the lists to recite them all. So this is another place in the system where record-keeping is a key element. With careful records, we are able to easily consult the inventory without having to hunt through tray after tray of plants. Unfotunately, some of this data was missing as the chiles were organized for their places in the field, causing a bit of wasted time and extra work. I'm sure we will get it perfect next season.

Row after row is planted into the windy weather we are currently having. This is not great on the freshly transplanted chiles, but that is why you spend days in the greenhouse insuring strong and healthy plants with thick stems. Similar varieties are placed together for convenience of harvest or cultivation, whatever takes priority. Chiles and peppers always get a front row spot in the vicinity of the farm stand when possible for the enjoyment of all you who take the time to visit and tour the fields.

Similar to other transplanting methods throughout the farm, Kara and Lee follow Wayne in the tractor as they place the chiles in the soil by hand in the furrow the tractor has created as they progress down the row. Timing and spacing are the considerations that keep one focused during this task. This is not difficult if all goes smoothly, but occasionally big clods of dirt stop everyone or a few plants that are root bound to one another can disturb the operation.

The chile planting is currently in progress. It is best to do this work in waves so you don't break your back over too much transplanting. Also, running a business, getting to market, harvesting a specialty spring bounty, and going home and resting at the end of the day tend to interfere with getting hundreds of chiles all in the ground at once. This is an ideal time to come out and see the farm fields. I highly recommend a visit once again.

In the Field: Planting Onions

Most of the onions that were planted yesterday in the field were seeded in February. The onion transplants were then dug out of their seed bed by Lee and Kara the evening prior to planting. After being transported to the farm fields, the onions need sorting and preparing for the actual planting. Only the largest and most likely to survive onion transplants were selected to go into the ground. The roots are trimmed when planting onions, sometimes the tops too. When working with hundreds of onion transplants, this task can become a full day's work. Kara diligently took on this task to assist the guys in the field at getting in as many onions as possible yesterday.

Meanwhile, I was lucky to get to assist in transplanting celery into the field that I'd started from seed weeks back and then planting a few rows of potatoes in the afternoon. The more help, the more you are able to do...

These onions will harvest in the late summer to fall and are intended to extend the onion supplies as late into fall and winter as possible. This is when varieties that are supposed to be "long keepers" are especially useful. Last fall Tierra Vegetables had the giant sweet yellow onions that many of you and us became quite dependent upon for our cooking needs. A few varieties have been planted in order to ensure diversity, an extended harvest, and just in case some onions store longer than others. Diversity is key to be sure you have what people might want and to have back-ups in case of crop failures. This is one of the keys to success for diversified small farming.
Pablo, Jose and Diego worked most of the day on this project. The field work in farming tends to stick you in one spot for a while as you toil to complete a single project or priority. Once started, the project really ought to get completed for various concerns such as the state of the transplants, watering considerations for the entire field, and everything else that must happen the next day. The hard work of these men contributes greatly to the well being of the farm. The place is beautiful right now, weeds are under control, plants look healthy and Tierra Vegetables seems to be off to a great start this season. The field manager, Pablo, has really whipped the place into shape since he returned this spring.

Kara's work space nestled between the irrigation lines and boxes full of onion transplants. This is a nice example of the satisfying, tedious and meditative work of farming.

Plenty more planting coming up this week! It is hard to catch up after losing an entire week to late spring rains.

In the Field-Spring Transplanting

The first spring brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli) are nestled in the ground. The plants were brought out to the breezy field from their lush greenhouse environment. Wayne, Lee and myself proceeded to plant, exposing the seedlings to the more harsh conditions of the outdoors including wind, water needs, possible pests, etc... Utilizing the tractor to create furrows, the transplants are then placed in the ground by hand, immediately following the tines where timing and ease create an efficient and semi-large scale system of the project. My first exposure to this sort of operation, I am enlightened and delighted by the learning experience it offers to a striving young grower like myself. Immediately after completing the transplanting process, water became a priority, especially with the light spring winds drying out the soil.

To the right is an overview of the newest spring crop of brassicas placed next to the end of the cauliflower crop that was planted last fall and is still now being harvested for beautiful purple cauliflower sales.

Finally, thanks to Wayne for patiently taking the time to help me work in some initial tractor hours. Driving the tractor is not hard, but simply takes some time and experience to become accustomed to it's uses and capabilities.