Thinning

Spent the better part of the morning thinning the carrot bed with the entire farm crew. We too have thinned out a bit--we number at five now that two have departed over the weekend. Pictured is volunteer Vanessa, whose stint on the farm runs through August.

Carrots and other root crops (e.g. beets, turnips) are sown directly into the ground, rather than being sown in the greenhouse and then transplanted into the field at a later time. Generally these particular crops fare better when not put through the traumatic event of transplantation. Because of the process by which they are sown, many of the seeds (and hence the plants) end up too close together and eventually the beds have to be thinned--as well as (in the case of the delicate young carrots) weeded--by hand. The carrot beds are long and the work precise, so after a few hours the five of us were able to thin and cultivate almost one whole row of the total six. It's a lot of work and only through sustained effort will it yield the gorgeous and healthy produce this farm prides itself on.