This was a whirlwind of a week! We got our grant last week and so we started hiring young adults from the
community to be a part of the professional development program this week. We got a lot of interest, and by Friday, we have 4 people in the program! It has been amazing to get to know them and their stories and learn alongside them about how to run an urban farm. It has been a challenge to manage four people who don’t have much gardening experience but it has been very rewarding. They have all been such an amazing help and we have made so much progress on the farm! This week, we completed preparing all 19 of the beds, planted ground cherries, tomatillos, eggplant, peppers, parsley, okra, broccoli, kohl rabi, beets, lettuce, spinach, kale, collards, potatoes, onions, beans, shallots, swiss chard, cowpeas, cucumbers, mustard greens, arugula, pak choi, and fennel. So yes, we’ve been very busy! With all that planting we are more than 75% planted! We started mulching with a large hay bale that we had delivered, and plan to continue that as plants get bigger.