After a full winter off farming this year, I’m feeling more recharged then ever, and so stoked to get back in the dirt. We’ve been having an incredibly warm late winter this year, which is perfect, because it’s allowed us to get some critical things done before I take off again to teach a series of workshops in BC, California, and Mexico. I know, poor me right. 

 A lot of what’s happening at this time is greenhouse prep that includes forking and tilling beds in the greenhouses, and the starting of some early nursery stock like tomatoes, peppers, and kale. 

 For my greenhouse prep, I’m forking beds in some of them with a no-til technique. It’s essentially the same as using a broad fork, except I don’t have one yet. Got one being made for this year. I amend the soil with some organic fertilizer and compost by raking it in, then water the beds heavily, then cover them in tarps. This is for a stale seed bed, to encourage weed growth, so that in a couple weeks, I’ll flame weed these beds, and direct seed my first early spring crops into them. The same was done on my other greenhouse, but for these ones I used the tiller. The soil in these ones was a lot more compacted from the previous year, as we had tomatoes in them. So, I rototilled them, then did the same with the stale seed bed approach. 

 This is also the time of year where I bring back my temporary indoor nursery. A shelving unit that I set up in my kitchen that can hold 48 flats for my first early plantings. For the size of my operation, and since I only do a small amount of nursery stock, I prefer to keep these inside as long as possible. It’s cheaper for me to have them in my house, as I’m already paying to heat my house anyways. By about late April, they’ll all go out into my greenhouse, as we’ll need a lot more room to pot up tomatoes and other summer crops. 

 Also, at this time, I’ll start tearing off the tarps at a new plot that I’ll be developing this year. Stay tuned for how all of that unfolds!

 Happy planting, or shovelling snow, wherever you are in the world!

 #theurbanfarmer 

Curtis Stone