Finally, We are Planting!

Oh, we feel like farmers again. Plants arefinally going into the ground in large quantity instead of being watered ceaselessly in flats.  Over the weekend we were able to put in a quarter acre of asparagus crowns, 600 lbs of potatoes and tens of thousands of onion, shallot and leek plants that we grew from seed.  With these 90 degree days, it doesn't quite feel like spring planting : -), but we'll take it!

Above: Intern Vicki and Forrest are tucking in plants that the  transplanter didn't quite put down well enough. Note that Vicki is wearing heals for this farming task, though by day 2 she had transitioned into bare feet.   Below: A hose connects the front water tank mounted to the tractor to the transplanter and waters exactly the area where the plant is laid. Intern Samantha is pulling each plant from its cell in the flat and dropping it into a rotating cup that opens from beneath and drops the plant in the soil as the angled discs tuck the soil down (95% of the time anyways).