I completed my first week at Urban Futures Farm managed by TJ Johnson. Urban Futures Farm is located in East Olympia in the Eastside neighborhood. It is surrounded by small family homes and is the only farm in Olympia classified as an urban farm. TJ and his partner and wife Stephanie initially participated in a community garden at the current farm’s location called the Wendell Berry Community Garden. It was a communal garden in which members planned the garden together, harvested together, and took part in the growing of food together. In 2015, they purchased the 3.5 acre property and began growing local, sustainable produce to feed their surrounding community.
They currently have a 29 person CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) as well as run a donation-based flower stand. They predominantly grow produce, but also have a flock of hens for eggs and a flock of broiler turkeys for personal use. They also have a large flower garden that goes toward the creation of bouquets they have implemented into their CSA this year.
I will be working at the farm ten hours a week, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s. The other ten hours of my internship will be for compost research. The following are my goals for this internship:
- To further my knowledge on sustainable agricultural practices specific to the Pacific Northwest. Urban Futures Farm is not organically certified but only use organic practices and even expands upon what sustainable agriculture means.
- To increase my speed and accuracy when planting, weeding, harvesting, etc. This is something I would like to get much better at this summer. It is especially important for finding employment after I graduate from Evergreen.
- To construct a composting system unique to the needs of Urban Futures Farm and learn more about composting through this process. This will be further addressed in my other blog post on compost systems.
Tuesday:
On Tuesday, we got right to work planting three rows of collard greens. TJ uses an amendment mixture that is primarily components high in micronutrients as his organic matter content is already so high (around 9%). Approximately half a tablespoon is thrown in with each planting. He also throws sluggo around plantings as slugs seem to be one the largest pests on the farm.
For the rest of the day on Tuesday, we weeded pathways with scuffle hoes and weeded under the high tunnel. Many of the beds have a compostable corn starch mulch from Organix that minimizes weed pressure which eliminates the need for consistent weeding. But, the mulch is only in its experimental phase at Urban Futures and is not used for all beds. Some of the concerns include if the black mulch will scorch plant roots.
The biggest weedy culprits on the farm appear to be purslane, various grasses, and some sort of sphagnum moss that isn’t difficult to pull out but takes over areas quickly.
Wednesday:
Wednesday are CSA days on the farm, so for the first couple of hours we harvested produce. This included romaine lettuce, kale, fennel, peas, and basil. Produce is dunked, rinsed, and then air-dried and put into the walk-in cooler. Various volunteers come and help out on Wednesday’s, primarily previous Evergreen students who help out in exchange for produce.
Next, TJ and I started to construct the carport that will be go over the new composting system. It is an easy construction, but slightly time consuming as it requires screwing in numerous bolts with an impact driver. The carport will be open facing the northern side and walled in on the southern facing side in order to reduce weather factors. The compost will be adjacent to the southern side in order to hopefully help radiate it.