We started transplanting Peas mid Saturday and it has taken us until early Tuesday to finally finish planting all the starts. I want to thank Kristin Bradford for coming out and helping with the project of transplanting on Saturday and Monday. We are also thankful for Rachael Adair’s help on Monday and Tuesday. Sometimes I would look away to do something and when I turned around I would be amazed at how many plants Rachael had done.

We are planting out the Peas using Grow Biointensive methodology which focus on intensive planting. Four rows of peas are spaced 6 inches apart. The “in row” spacing is three inches. As a comparison and to highlight the intensity of the plant spacing I planted half a section in 6 inch “in-bed” spacing. The entire bed that borders the walk path is full of peas. The area near the path is a little over 160 sq feet. With more starts to transplant, we added another 66 sq feet of peas in our “soon to be” annual section.

While some people were working on the peas others were simultaneously planting out bare-root raspberries and thornless Boysen and Black berries. Two separate beds where made on the most north-east part of the site. Each bed is located five feet from the back fence line and is spaced a few feet from the vehicle access road.

31 bare-root Raspberries have been planted, totaling approximately 130 Sq feet. There are five known varieties of Raspberries including:

- 5-Willamette

- 4-Latham

- 5-Heritiage,

- 4-Amity,

- 4-Indian Summer,

- 8-un-marked raspberries

Likewise, 31 Boysen and Blackberries were put in about 130 Sq feet. Again there is a diverse mix of varieties including:

- 5-Thornless Evergreen Blackberry

- 5-Thornless Dirksen Blackberry

- 5-Thornless Boysenberry

- 5-Kiowa Blackberry

- 4-Black Butte Blackberry

- 4-Olallie Blackberry

- 3-Siskiyou Blackberry

I know this has been mentioned earlier, however, bordering the blackberries are five blueberry plants. They take up about 60 Sq feet and the variety includes:

- 2 Misty Southern Highbush

- 1 Blue Southern Highbush,

- 2 Ozark

Once this berry section starts producing it will be a wonderful addition to the farm. Juices and jams are clear uses, as well as the opportunity for the kids to harvest a healthy snack. The addition of fruit to the CSA boxes will no doubt be great extra for members.

Kristin Transplanting Peas

Rachael Working with a Group of Volunteers and Enjoying the Afternoon

Jason Planting Bare-Root Blackberries

Berry Section Almost Fully Planted Out