by Diane Diffenderfer, Education Director

The first seeds are well on their way and the farmers have been working every day, getting ready for the 2015 season.  It's not too late to re-up for your CSA share!  You can sign up at our website. 

One of the most important aspects of seeding is to place the seeds in the optimum growing medium.  At Pennypack, the farmers follow a time-tested recipe, based on Chapter 14 of Eliot Coleman's book The New Organic Grower,  for mixing the seed-starting mix.  The recipe is tacked up inside the greenhouse.  According to the farmers, one change to the posted recipe is that coir has replaced peat moss.  Coir is shredded coconut husks - at the farm, we purchase compressed blocks of coir, hydrate them in tubs of water, then spread it to dry before adding it to the mix.

Most of the materials used in the seedling mix are familiar; however, one interesting component is green sand.  When I opened the metal trash can containing the green sand, I was immediately reminded of the material provided at golf courses for fixing divots!  At the golf course, it's a mixture of fertilizer and grass seed, at the farm green sand is used as a source of potash and to enhance water retention of the soil mixture.

Once the seeding mixture is prepared, it's spread into the seed trays and the seeding begins!  Next time you find yourself at the farm and it's still light, ask if you can do inside the greenhouse and see the seeding operation.  It's pretty cool and definitely worth the ask!

Have a good couple weeks, our first summer pickup will be here before you know it!