The seeds have been ordered!

Spring can't be too far away, because the seeds have been ordered! Dan and I sat down this afternoon and scoured the Johnny's catalogue for all the vegetables and flowers we've been dreaming of. The Johnny's site crashed a few times and between crashes it operated about as fast as cohosh germinates (which is to say VERY SLOWLY!), so six hours later we were done. I figured that this would just be a quick task and that we'd finish in an hour or so! I learned a lesson here - unrealistic optimism isn't always very conducive to gardening.

Dan and I went for variety in ordering. Our main focus this summer is producing vegetables for the cafeteria to serve, so we picked three vegetables that they use frequently - eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. Since a diversity of crops and varieties is key, we plan on planting at least three different varieties of each vegetable. Along with our three main crops, we also ordered many other veggie seeds to grow for personal consumption, like broccoli, a sweet purple cauliflower variety, carrots, lettuce, and kale (my favorite).

Mixed in with the veggie order, we also will be getting an Earthway seeder for direct seeding our carrots, salad mix, radishes, and spinach.

Purchases in the near future : a Glaser 8" wheel hoe, soil mix, transplanting trays, and a greenhouse!

STOGROW Tiller

Dan and I made a trip to Rochester, MN yesterday to check out a 1982 Troy-Built 7hp rear tine tiller. After taking a "test drive" of sorts, we decided it was a good deal and made the purchase! We paid $595 for the tiller, which was about $1,200 new back when he bought it.

Even though it's more than 20 years old, I took one look at the horticulture professor's garage (EVERYTHING had a place and was sparkling clean) and knew that tiller had probably been cared for in a similar fashion. We'll be using this tiller for bed preparation throughout the season after Ray Larson tills our land for the first time with a larger implement. Picture of the new tiller coming soon....

STOGROW Farm's First Meeting!

Come to the first STOGROW Farm meeting this Wednesday at 8pm in Buntrock 144.

The St. Olaf Pond

First Post

This is the STOGROW blog. Welcome!