Winter Montage

Here is a montage of some of the farm activities that have kept us busy this winter:

We finished and installed the last of the worm bins. The farm now has a total of 16 bins ready for worms and fresh compost to be turned into vermiculture. The resulting vermiculture is added to the plant beds to nourish the growing vegetables and herbs.

Yes, the hoophouses are warm enough during the winter that weeding still needs to be done in the middle of January!

When it comes to weeding, it’s no fun unless everyone pitches in.

Since plants take almost three times as long to mature during the winter, this is a good time to concentrate on chores that need to get done around the farm.

We continued harvesting during the winter! Here are Adam Schwartz, volunteer coordinator, and a volunteer, harvesting kale for a restaurant-buyer.

A shock of green in the winter! Even though it’s called “spring” mix, that doesn’t mean it can’t be grown in winter.

During the winter months, sunflower and pea sprouts were kept in ECO City Farms’ office, because it was a bit too cold for them in the hoop house.

Here’s a close-up of the delicious sunflower shoots.

Jose Castillo, urban farmer trainee and local beekeeper, completed part one of his beekeeping class in ECO City Farms’ office. It was an informative and fascinating lecture, covering the different kinds of bees, their characters and incredible work ethic, the history of beekeeping, hive equipment and set-up. Stay tuned for part two of the class!

Honeycombs are amazing.
(A light comb means the bees have been using it to store honey, whereas a darker comb means it has been used for eggs.)

We’re hoping for warmer weather in February.
We’ll see you soon!
Natalya and the ECOcrew