Farm Report: May 2006
by Erica Renaud

Flowering columbines, California poppies, and blue flax blooms are sure signs of spring. While we weed and transplant into the perennial gardens, the random blooms catch our attention and remind us to take notice while they display their ephemeral beauty. All the while, the moist scents of spring air and flowering blooms mixed with rich compost engage us with the outdoor rapture of the planting season. With just a few weeks left to seed melons and cucumbers and to transplant tomatoes, peppers, and flowers, we are all too familiar with what these last few weeks mean to the rest of the growing season. 2006 will be another year in which the Seeds of Change Research Farm grows more than 1,500 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs that will lead to the expansion of our offerings and to learning what our customers want us to add to our 2007 seed list. With more than 100 possible new introductions to the 2007 catalog, we trial all of the varieties here on the farm, take data on them, photograph them, and bring the best to you and your gardens.

Explorations into new and old sustainable agricultural techniques are being practiced here at the Research Farm. Kelle Carter, Field Coordinator, has researched the use of biodegradable black plastic mulch to cover a selection of our beds in order to increase heat for higher yields of melons, while simultaneously suppressing weeds. The staff is also experimenting with red plastic mulch in our tomato variety trials. According to Clemson University and Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers, red plastic has boosted tomato yields in research plots by up to 20 percent while conserving water and controlling weeds. Red plastic mulch reflects higher amounts of certain growth-enhancing light waves from sunlight. In three years of ARS field tests, red mulch boosted tomato size and weight by increasing the plant's, particularly the fruit's, growth above the ground. Joe Martinez and Erazmo Marquez are practicing the finer art of mulch laying (or the frustrations therein) by applying the mulch as best as possible with the new mulch layer. Time of planting, rotation, companion planting, and intercropping with beneficial-insect-attracting plants continue to be fundamental components of our farming system. Direct-seeded Chinese greens such as mustards, mizuna, pak choi, and chrysanthemum have been interplanted with Ammi visnaga, dill, cilantro, and sweet alyssum in order to attract parasitic wasps and flies that will help to control aphids, cabbageworms, and loopers (Lepidopteran pests).

More than 100 varieties of tomatoes and 80 varieties of peppers recently departed the greenhouse for the hardening off tent. Greenhouse Coordinator Emily Gatch continues to focus on the greenhouse fertility program by applying compost tea, fishmeal, kelpmeal, and Earthjuice products to ensure that valuable macro- and micro- nutrients are provided to the seedlings. Great success has been achieved in 2006 due to Emily's fine tunings and modifications to the farm's potting mix and fertility program. As a result, we will have the opportunity to evaluate, among other things, several new field and greenhouse varieties of slicing tomatoes collected from around the world.

Will Emmett has joined the farm staff for the summer, bringing with him several years of horticultural experience at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Moving from New York to New Mexico has been an interesting transition for Will as he tackles the restoration of a ramshackle adobe and an immediate addition to his family with Alby, a stray dog that has taken Will on as his mate. Transitions are not new for Will, however, as he has been a resident of the U.S. only for the last ten years, after moving from his home in Australia. We're hoping that the fact that New Mexico resembles the outback will make the adaptation easy for him. Regardless, Will has jumped right in as resident pruner (and of course weeder). Will's arrival coincided with Jay Bost's return from Kew Gardens in England where for part of the winter he was researching jewelry made from seeds. Jay has returned with renewed enthusiasm; in this eNewsletter, he shares with you his love of beans in his informative article on tepary beans.

As the intensity of the soon-to-be-summer sun heats up, so does our tendency to construct shade structures. An array of lettuce varieties are seeded three times during the course of the summer under 50% shade—a big help with New Mexico sunshine beaming down on them. The shade cloth allows for fuller, greener (or in some cases purpler) leaf to develop. To inhibit the tendency of spinach to bolt, we plant it under shade cloth as well, but a lower level. We do only two succession plantings of spinach a season (early spring and late fall). Our first succession of radishes is ready to harvest and evaluate, thus providing us one of the early rewards of a spring garden.

Joy of planting to you this spring!
From Erica Renaud, Research & Farm Manager,
and the Staff of the Seeds of Change Research Farm

Photo Captions: (1) California poppies in bloom (2) Close-up of McKanna's Columbine in bloom