The Plan for the year

Planting Plan

As happens each year, all the vegetables will be moved around in the field, so as to get the most benefit.

• Brassicas didn't do well again. I will try a smaller selection and concentrate on those that were good (especially kale).
• I would like to grow a small selection of more unusual potatoes, alongside the early varieties we did last year.
• Even less selleri!
• Plan the inside growing so that we use as little heat as possible. This means seeding and planting a few weeks later (seed around end of Feb, plant to kasvihuone towards the end of April. Shares will start a bit later and the indoor crop will not go on as long. However, I hope that the overall quantity is not too much down.
• I will try to get more early greens planted to the glasshouse. Even without heat, there should be reasonable growing if the light is OK.
• A bit more of everything, to use up all the space.
• In order to improve overall quality, this year we will try to get the soil better prepared and fertilised. There was also too much damage from pests (big (eg. Janis) and small (eg. flea beetle)), so I will try to be more proactive in preventing them and tacking them if they do appear. If there is enough money, I will also install a field watering system so that crops can be watered in the field during dry spells.

Gardening work

Based on the experience of the last couple of years, we can now be more precise with the work schedule. However, as usual, it depends on the weather.

• The first seeding will be the tomatoes. I will do this myself in Eevas glasshouse at the end of February. Tomatoes will be transferred to our glasshouse in mid to late April, when I start work properly. I also plan to seed a second, smaller, batch of tomatoes in May so as to be able to replace weaker plants and fill gaps.
• To begin, salad will be seeded in Eeva's glasshouse to be ready to plant in ours in mid-March, to try for an early crop. Thereafter, there will be a regular seeding of different salad varieties.
• Seeding for herbs and some of the field veg will begin in mid-March.
• Last years cucumber planting worked quite well, so this years will be a bit the same. Early season will not be affected by the kasvihuone being heated later, but the length of season will likely be shorter by a week or so.
• Assuming the field is ready to use by the beginning of May, the first tasks again will be to rake the couch grass root off and to clear around the Autumn planted garlic. Hopefully Mikko can also rake the field a few times with the tractor.
• In part depending on what the future on the field is, I will get Mikko to spread more manure to fertilise the field better.
• As soon as the weather allows, I will get Mikko to begin making the beds. They should be made in stages so that they are planted into as soon as they are ready. This is when we we have the first talkoot tasks: to plant onions, some beans, transplant salads to field, potato sets. Last year the Steiner Koulu helped with this and I think they would like to come back again.
• Last year we had our first community talkoot in mid-April. I think this was a bit early. If we wait until mid-May (perhaps coinciding with Ravintola päivä!) there will likely be more work. This talkoot could also be a festive gathering (a new season starting!) and biodynamic preparation spreading.
• Once the planting starts, so too does the weeding. Certainly for the whole of June and July and August there will be a need for continuous weeding talkoot. If there is enough help with this, then I can get on with the further seedings and plantings, glasshouse care, etc. As the season progresses, we could arrange a few community talkoot days to help stay ahead of the weeds. Times will depend on the season, but likely in July and August.
• The other main talkoot work will be later in the year, when we will hopefully have big harvests to collect.
• Last year, the season ended at the end of October. This was OK, I think.

Finally, in relation to the gardening work, we hope to be in a position to hire a part-time trainee. This will ideally be someone with a keen interest in biodynamic/organic gardening and some amount of experience. Perhaps, someone currently on a training course. If anyone knows of a suitable candidate, they could let someone on the board know.

Planting Chart

ROK Pelto 2016

ROK Pelto	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct
Avomaan kurkku				SI	PO	H
Fenkoli				SI	PO		H
Härkäpapu				SO			H
Herne				SO			H
Kesäkurpitsä				SI	PO	H
Kurpitsat				SI	PO		H
Mangoldi				SI	PO	H
Nauris				SO		H
Palsternakka				SO					H
Pensaspapu				SO				H
Persilja			SI	PO	H
Pinaatti				SI	PO	H
Porkkana				SO				H
Punajuuri				SO			H
Purjo		SI			PO		H
Selleri		SI			PO		H
Sipuli				PO		H
Tilli			SI	PO	H
Valkosipuli						H			SO (2015)
Varsiselleri		SI			PO		H
Peruna (early)				PO	H
Kaalit (mixed)			SI	PO			H
Tomaati	SI		PO		H
Kurkku		SI		PO	H
SI Sow in			Notes
SO Sow out			Salaatti, retiisi and yrtit in small plots and kasvihuone
PO Plant out
H Harvest