Week 7, Spring ‘21
By Remi Welbel
It’s our seventh week here and we are feeling rooted like our newly planted saplings.
On Monday, we came together to establish our goals for the week and make our best effort at aligning our planting schedule with the weather. Then we set to work! Inside, we prepared for the Food and Farm Week of Action hosted by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance. We contacted our local representative and are in the process of setting up a meeting during the official Lobby Day of Action! This lobbying effort will support growing the number of farmers and local food businesses in Illinois, revitalizing our communities, protecting our soil and water, and keeping food dollars local. See the 2021 State Policy Agenda here. Outside, we made our watering rounds, finished constructing our three-bin composting structure, began transplanting some of our plants from the greenhouse to larger pots and continued cleaning out and organizing the shed. In the evening, our policy working group joined a Lobby Day Leader Zoom call to learn more about our role and meet some other folks working on the initiative.
For dinner, Tuomas and Jesse made sauteed broccoli and mushrooms with peanut sauce, brown rice, tofu noodles, and salad.
On Tuesday, we transplanted our beets from the greenhouse to the Miracle Garden and seeded the newly empty flats with asparagus, kale, and tomatoes. We planted arugula next to our spinach bed outside the greenhouse. Over in our Miracle Garden and emerging food forest, we planted Asian pear trees and more apple trees. We also worked on digging out raised beds in what will be our “Goat Garden.”
For dinner, Hannah and Sophia made a chickpea, carrot curry with quinoa, and roasted asparagus.
On Wednesday, we made our watering rounds and got to work on digging the raised beds in the Goat Garden. Then we prepared our potato patch and began planting potatoes, onions, and wildflowers. Back in our food forest, we finished planting our Asian pear trees. In the evening, Jesse led our Context Conversation. We watched “Chico Mendes: Voice of the Amazon” and then were so fortunate to have a Zoom conversation with Miranda Smith, the woman who produced and directed the documentary. The documentary offered us an in-depth perspective on Chico Mendes’ life and tragic end as a leading activist in protecting and stewarding the Amazonian rainforest.
For dinner, Brendan and Lilly made vegan palak paneer, rice, and roasted chickpeas.
On Thursday, we gathered around the table to map out all the outdoor work and research work we needed to accomplish and got to it! Inside, we ordered squash, kale, pepper, cucumber, green beans, eggplant, and potatoes to plant across the road! We decided that these are going to be the main horticultural crops we grow and sell. Outside we took soil samples from our basalt test plots and brought them back inside where we weighed them, prepped them, and pulled microrhizones (microrhizones are small tubes that extract water from the soil). Meanwhile, others made our watering rounds and worked on preparing the raised beds in the Goat Garden. Then we planted carrots, radishes, and swiss chard in the beds and used straw and ripped up cardboard boxes to mulch between the beds. Across the road, we finished planting potatoes and planted Aronia berries. In the food forest, we planted peach trees, apricot trees, and nectarine trees. Our hazelnut trees arrived in the mail and we will be planting them in our shelterbelt. In the greenhouse, we transplanted our tomato plants and took inventory of our remaining seeds.
For dinner, Gavi and I made spicy spaghetti squash peanut noodles, grilled tofu, and stir-fried kohlrabi, daikon, and cabbage.
On Friday, we greeted the brisk day with hot cups of coffee and got to work! Outside, we used our flux chamber to measure methane and carbon dioxide emissions from our basalt test plots in the corn and hayfields. Then we returned to the house to conduct alkalinity titrations on the water samples we extracted using our microrhizones. Titrating involves adding a strong acid to the water sample until it reaches a target pH. Using this technique allows us to determine the alkalinity of our samples. After finishing our titrations, we went to the strawberry test plots to take pH measurements. Across the road, we watered our newly planted potatoes and began measuring all the beds to map out all the planting that will happen in the coming weeks. In the greenhouse, we took inventory of all the seedlings growing to determine what needs to get transplanted when, and where everything will ultimately end up. We also cut more potatoes to plant on Monday. Later, our policy working group met to discuss the Lobby Day meeting we have with our representative Tom Bennet on Tuesday.
At night, we had a slumber-party-themed Shabbat and all came to the living room dressed in pajamas and sat in a circle on the floor. For dinner, Tuomas and Lilly made vegan mac and cheese, spicy fried tofu, sauteed swiss chard, and challah.