by Jeffry Goodrum
Our first Hart’s Mill farming effort for the season is underway! Earlier this spring a quarter acre of ground was plowed and harrowed, limed and fertilized. Our first crop will be potatoes because they are a good introductory crop on new ground with acidic soil, are not bothered by deer and other critters, and take minimal care. Gratitude goes to Mark Ellenbogen who donated 100 pounds of organic seed potatoes!
On Saturday, March 25, Paul Voss and Jeffry Goodrum dug the furrows with a furrow plow and shoveled compost into each furrow. Then on Sunday, March 26, Anthony Weston, Jeffry Goodrum, Margret Mueller, and Catherine Dibble gathered to plant our first crop – 50 lbs each of organic Dark Red Norland, and Yukon Gold potatoes. We cut the potatoes into sections, each with at least one eye, and then placed these pieces into the prepared furrows. The potatoes were then covered with a disc bedder.
If all goes well, we will harvest potatoes in June!