On the Table

  In the Garden

Early Season:

Technology Can Be Your Friend

My first encounter on the farm, and I hardly played in the dirt. The 1st day on the job we played with the tractors - rigging the seed boxes according to the rows and spacing set up on the ground. As most people know, different varieties of veggies/fruits/etc. require different amounts of spacing. The tractor was previously owned, and had been set according to corn planting - surprise surprise. Most of farming that goes on in the US produces corn and soy. But Abbondanza specialize in an abundance of plant varieties, which means great things for consumers. But it doesn't come easy.

It took several hours to properly rig the attachment to the tractor (i dont know the tech name), and accurately measure and position the seed boxes for planting. - This day we were doing peas. Once the machinery was ready, it was only a matter of driving - in a matter of speaking.       

Planting Potatoes:

An Educational Affair

This Tuesday I helped plant a wide range of potatoes with Abbondanza. But I wasn't alone. A group of high school students from New Vista H.S. in Boulder spent two days volunteering at Abbondanza as part of their "Four Days in May" program. The program provides students with four consecutive days to volunteer with pretty much any business or organization they like. By the time I got to the farm, I was needed a lesson from them as to the proper way of planting potatoes. Because the rows had been dug by the tractor, my job was to place potatoes in the rows according to correct spacing. See the pics with the stake. 12 inches - thats the magic number. Like I wrote earlier, Abbondanza is all about variety in their produce. German Butterball, Yukon Gold, and Nicola were just a few we planted.