Aller Farm Update

Its time for an update on the Aller Farm. If you remember last fall we started an urban farm by taking 1/5 of our back yard and putting in 8 3x6 flower beds. (Since then we put in an herb patch, two more veggie beds measuring 3x8, and then a fence all around it to keep the dog and kids out).

 Over the winter we grew four different varieties of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, two varieties of cauliflower, three different kinds of kale, swiss chard, and garlic. We harvested everything in early spring but the garlic (which will be done growing in July) and planted more broccoli and cauliflower, spinach and lettuce. We harvested these two more times and then planted our late spring /summer goodies!

We have ten different varieties of tomato, corn, herbs, radishes, beans, peas, asparagus, onions, garlic, carrots, 8 varieties of cucumber, zucchini, squash (3 different varieties),  peppers (bell, chili, and jalapeno), a raspberry patch and two blueberry bushes. We also have over 100 different varieties of flowers (marigolds, poppies, and sunflowers have been planted between vegetables, to add color, attract bees, and in the case of the marigolds keep the bad bugs away).

We added five chickens to the farm a few weeks back, two full grown egg laying hens and three chicks. Our hens Yulie and Ulga have a cute little coop in the back and free range of the yard. They eat our bugs and leave some nutritious poop throughout the garden. Unfortunately they started taking dirt baths in my flowers so we had to install bamboo spears with deer netting over them to keep the ladies out.

The chicken protection wasn’t the only thing we got to build. We have been experimenting with different kinds of trellises. We have teepees, square trellises, and wall trellises all of which have been strung up differently (so we can figure out which style works the best), and is all 100% compostable.

In the next month our radishes will be harvested and the next grouping should start to sprout. The onions and garlic will be pulled and dried in the next month, and the tomatoes are starting to turn red! We will keep you updated throughout the summer on how the big harvests go!

-Amanda