Peas and Spinach

compost

My second full day of farming in Moab was totally beautiful!  I could really get used to February days being so sunny and warm!  We started the day by building a new compost pile.  Once we got into the rhythm of it, it was rather enjoyable.  Our next task was to get a row in the field ready to plant in.    First, we spread out two carloads of compost on top of the soil.  Then, Chris came and tiled the row.  Our next step was to spread out some fertilizer, then mix it into the soil with rakes.  After we raked the row fairly flat, we took this large roller with a handle and squished the dirt down with it.  Then, after marking where each row would be, we were ready to plant!  We planted two rows of spinach and two rows of peas (with three types of peas in each pea row).  After planting, we got the watering mechanisms set up.  Then, we put a bunch of metal hoops along the row and covered it with a piece of cloth to protect the row from the low night temperatures.  It was really fun to get to be part of the process of going from having a section of field that is not ready to be planted on to the point when it has four rows of seeds in it!  

An overwintered row of spinach