Primavera Time

March has been a teasing month, it started off really cold and every now and then it starts to warm up. The weather still requires us to bundle up a bit as we work in the garden, but spring is definitely in the air.This month we were occupied with a plethora of things: the bees, seeding in the greenhouse, laying out irrigation drip lines, fixing the pipes of the hoop-house, weed control in the garden… it’s been eventful to say in the least.Sadly, the bees in our beehives were not able to survive the winter but they did leave behind some honey. We are planning on getting more bees soon and continuing our beehive collective.The trays in the greenhouse are all seeded. We are growing eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes this season. Hopefully it gets warmer sooner than later so we can see these veggies sprout.Professor Dana Elzey’s Design Class design class came out a few times at MKG during spring break and prevented the lull that slows down production when students are gone. A class of 20 students helped us clear some beds and put out compost for seeding. They were able to complete the kale seeding for UVA dining for Earth Week, clear three beds in the hoop-house, and lay out a big plastic sheet to control weeding on our other beds. The sheet will capture heat and efficiently kill the weeds under it so that we can clear up the space and continue seeding. Thanks to them, we came back from spring break ready to transition into the spring season.The hoop-house structure is looking good. It was difficult to re-position the pipes and add a new plastic over, but we managed to do it. Now we are seeding in the hoop-house!As we continue with the hard work, we look forward to the sunnier days ahead of us. April is going to be a busy month with all the Earth Week preparations. We'll keep you updated with our weekly newsletter.