We are moving into the very best time of the year. The unpredictable month of April is behind us and the forecast for 80 degree temps is consistent. Jason Wood will be planting field corn this week which will include roughly 2 acres of sweet corn surrounding our home. The reason for putting the sweet corn so close to the house is with the hope that my useless dogs will keep the deer away. I did not know this previously but deer don't care much for tasteless field corn but will decimate the corn you and I like to eat. More than likely I will be the one protecting the sweet corn while the dogs sleep.
The mushrooms are popping, the high tunnel is flourishing and Josh could not have enough hours in a day to do all that needs to be done. I hope to have produce within the next two weeks which will make me happy to not need Giant for the majority of my groceries. If only we could grow avocados.
We are finishing up our web site for the Mountainside CSA and farmers markets start on the 17th. We might actually be able to start paying the company back for all this stuff within the next 2 weeks. Having said that, our farm operation is still very much a labor I love.
For me the most exciting goings on at the farm is all of our visitors. Last week we had a local High School magnet program out to install rain gardens, two elementary schools doing stream studies, our harvest clubs out every afternoon, youth from the Frederick County department of social services spending the weekend, all adding to Mountainside After School club children and the local little baseball and lacrosse league on our ball fields. Oh yeah we also had a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday evening. More and more people are seeing the potential benefits Mountainside has to offer and Summer camp is still 6 weeks away.
The High School students are part of a Magnet program that focuses on Global Ecology. They were studying the potential benefits of rain gardens but had no place to actually try to install one. The very best way to learn is by doing. Of the many topics we teach, "Slowing the Flow" of storm water into our wetlands is one of my favorites. We showed the students the conventional storm water management practices that were implemented at Mountainside when it was initially constructed and why those practices are failing to protect our watershed. Then we dam up some culverts and trenches and we planted blueberries and asparagus. It was a fantastic opportunity for these students with the prospect of doing dozens more in the coming years. Included is a time lapse.
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