our cover crop peas sprouting a week after planting (maybe soaking them first helped, but the rain sure hasn't hurt!)
Yes, both our latest round of pea cover crop and now this year's potato seed are in the ground and sprouting!
A total of 14.5 rows with approximately 65 plants each have no doubt benefited from the subsequent rains (weatherwise, our timing was blessed!) and before we know it our first hilling will be necessary. So please stay tuned for our next field day announcement.
As you can see by the above photos, the potato seed we planted was long and leggy! We had even slowed down the sprouting by storing them in Rod and Vlasta's apple barn over the last month, as we were waiting for the soil to dry out enough for a tilling in the field.
At the planting last Saturday it was agreed that on Monday, May 31st at 7:00 pm, all members interested and able to attend would gather to plan for next steps and ongoing field management requirements. It's a busy time of the year, but do come if you can. Every member's input is valuable to our co-operative endeavour so please take a moment to look over the proposed agenda below.
Herb, Veronica and Jan at work planting our spring potato seed. A reminder for new or renewing members: membership in SPUDS only requires a commitment of four or five gatherings in the field over the course of the growing season, so folks who don't have the time or interest in participating in additional meetings are not required to do so. However the shared leadership inherent in our recent adoption of consensus process provides everyone interested in helping coordinate SPUDS infastructure the opportunity to engage in this important aspect of the co-op. With our Basis of Unity in place to guide us as an egalitarian community and a four year crop rotation now underway, our next meeting agenda is likely to look something like the following (and please note the proposal at the bottom of the list!):
basic AGENDA so far:
Old Business
-field updates
- book keeping
-communications
New Business
1) Fundraising (baked potatoes at the Fall Faire?!, etc)
2) Field management including....
-cutting the volunteer rye before it reseeds
-First Hilling
-Second Hilling
-Mulching
-Water sistern adaptation
-Water system Installation
-Watering schedule
-Fall cover crop ordering
-Potato Harvest/celebration
-Fall tilling and cover crop planting
3) Proposal for adoption of a field management sub-committee*
* Proposal: that the membership strike a SPUDS sub committee mandated to oversee field management organization and keep the membership fully apprised with regular updates.
Anyone with thoughts, ideas or concerns is invited to provide input regarding the proposal, or any other item on the agenda, as well as to add other items. If no one in your family/group membership was available to participate in the field on or around planting day, you'll see there are other ways to pitch in!
Below are a few excerpts to do with the consensus process model SPUDS recently adopted, from the Seeds for Change website also listed under the LINKS column on the right hand side of this blog. New and old members are invited to visit the link for further information about the shared leadership approach in SPUDS evolving co-operative adventure!
Last but not least, the meeting on Monday, May 31st will take place on the farmhouse veranda at 2910 Northwest Road, (on the other side of the road from Lone Pine Farm The date is so soon due to immediate requirements in the field. Thankyou in advance for your RSVP!
Scroll down for more photos!
Madigan Wright, our second youngest SPUDs family member (sister Ivy is in a photo with Madigan and mom below) shows off a sprouting potato seed about to be planted by papa Vern...........................................................
Notes on Consensus Process- from Seeds for Change
-In contrast to majority voting consensus decision-making is about finding common ground and solutions that are acceptable to all. Decisions are reached in a dialogue between equals, who take each other seriously and who recognise each other's equal rights.
-Another benefit of consensus is that all members agree to the final decision and therefore are much more committed to actually turning this decision into reality. -Nobody must be afraid to express their ideas and opinions. Remember that we all have different values and opinions, different behaviours, different areas and thresholds of distress.
-Not every decision needs to involve the whole group. Set up working groups on different areas, such as publicity, fund-raising, research. These sub-groups can then decide the nitty-gritty business that they are responsible for, within certain limits that the group has defined beforehand.
-Consensus is about participation and equalising power. It can also be a very powerful process for building communities and empowering individuals. Don't be discouraged if the going gets rough. For most of us consensus is a completely new way of making decisions. It takes time to unlearn the patterns of behaviour we have been brought up to accept as the norm. Consensus does get easier with practice and it's definitely worth giving a good try!
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Kevin entertains in the field.
The spuds were all planted in alignment (mostly!) with the strings that marked each row, exactly 18 inches apart. (each row is a tight squeeze of only two feet apart, which should suppress weeds inbetween the rows, and help conserve water)
Visiting family members help supervise the planting!
Rae deadheads self-seeded rye in the upper half of the field to help prevent it from reseeding where we don't want it anymore!
a big pot of organic veggie chili warming up in the Hermitage barn for the workers to chow down on with organic cornbread and refreshments after their hard work planting in the field.
chili salute from the 2010 Spring planting brigade: Veronica, Herb, deNeen, Sheila, Bob, Ron, Mike, Rae, Kevin, Jan, Lyndsey, Barb, Vern and Karl. Missing from photo: Fireweed (the photographer- and your devoted blog mistress!), and Herb's son who also pitched in a helping hand. Mike helped plant the pea cover crop a few days earlier with Charlie, Bill and Susan Marie. (along with non-member supporter Derek T, as well as myself, Rae and Karl)
and for a little more fun...
http://www.petitiononline.com/spudlove/petition.html
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