Arugula

Arugula seedlings

Arugula (also called "Rocket" and "Rucola" among other names) is a peppery green rich in vitamins. This year's arugula, leaf lettuce, beets and radishes have sprouted and it won't be long before we have these veggies ready to sell at One Love Farm!

When we were in Italy several years ago, we saw local women gathering wild arugula in the folds of their aprons and dresses on the roadside. If you have ever had arugula and enjoyed its strong flavor, wild arugula is even more intense.

We have been growing it at One Love Farm for years and it is very popular at Farmer's Markets. It is so popular, in fact, that we often sell out early.

Arugula loves cold weather, so we plant it in early spring (early to mid April). Arugula will bolt (flower) in hot weather and become stringy and bitter so it is important to plant arugula in the spring to get a good harvest before the hot months of summer. Because arugula is cold weather loving, it is often one of the first crops availble in the New England.

Other spring crops grown at One Love Farm include several varieties of leaf lettuce, radish and beets. This year we are experimenting with new varieties of beets and radishes that we hope will offer new flavors for our customers.

Bulbs!

Daffodils and Hyacinth

Here in New England, crocus are the first bulbs to bloom. They bloom so early that they are often surrounded by snow. While I welcome their arrival, it isn't until daffodils and hyacinth bloom that we can be sure that spring has finally arrived. With several 70 degree days at One Love Farm in the past week, the bulbs are definately blooming and shrubs and trees are leafing out. Spring is surely here!

Greenhouse - completed (finally)

After weeks of experimenting I have come to the conclusion that with regular 40-50mph spring winds, we cannot have a greenhouse made of PVC at One Love Farm. Even with all the steps I took to solidify the greenhouse, the PVC pipes were still vulnerable at the connections. During the last big wind storm several joints failed and I had to take down the greenhouse for good. The only viable solution will be to use a steel or wood frame, which I will consider next year.

In the meantime, I have used the 6mil greenhouse plastic and shorter PVC hoops to cover raised beds. This is a good solution, but with the much shorter hoops I will not be able to walk into the hoop houses and watering seedlings under the plastic will be quite a chore. However, I do have lots of space for seedlings and overall am very happy with this temporary solution.