After a fairly mild and somewhat disappointing winter, March has been unseasonably warm! With temperatures more than 30 degrees over the average for this time of year, we have had quite a bit to do to get ready for the next growing season. The wet winter and the hot sun so far this month have encouraged the trees to begin putting out buds in mid-March. For that reason, one of our first priorities became pruning our fruit trees and grapes. While it may seem counter-intuitive to clip off possible fruit-bearing branches, it is actually essential to increase the production and life of the tree. New shoots usually grow straight up and, if let unattended, can break under the weight of the fruit. Through pruning, one can develop a strong framework that will be able to support loads of fruit. Another important reason for pruning is to allow light to reach all parts of the tree. A tree that has a very thick canopy of leaves may actually produce less fruit due to the limited sunlight that reaches the lower branches.

Another important springtime activity at Merry Lea is the proscribed burning of parts of our restored tall grass prairie. Burning is an important and natural method of managing prairies. Grassland fires occur even without human interaction and have many benefits. The spring burning removes much of the old biomass from the prairie, which allows for the new growth. Also, the fire helps to knock back invasive species, allowing the native prairie plants to get a head start. Plants native to tall grass prairies often have roots that extend 5 to 15 feet into the soil. Therefore, the burning of the plant above the ground has no effect on the life-sustaining root system below the soil. With the use of water-filled backpack sprayers and rubber mat swatters, we are able to control the path of the fire and protect areas that should not be burned.

Earlier this month we had the opportunity to assist in the burning of the pocket prairies in and around Rieth Village. The picture above shows Rieth Village with the flames in the foreground. The other photo shows me using a backpack sprayer full of water to protect one of our apple trees from the extreme heat of the flames.

Though the winter has been too cold for growing plants outside, we have been keeping busy with other projects here at Rieth Village.

One of those projects has been season extension. In our greenhouse, the lives of many of our plants were extended well into the winter. In fact, our final tomato harvest of 2011 took place on December 1st! The picture shows a Sungold Tomato plant thriving and producing fruit with snow on the roof of the greenhouse. Also, thanks to our newly constructed hoophouse, we were able to pull some red kale all the way through the winter season. The plants are still providing us with lush, beautiful leaves!

Late in the last growing season, we had started a few pepper plants in the greenhouse. Once the nights began to get too cold for the delicate plantlets, we brought them indoors and placed them on a south-facing window sill. With a little t.l.c. throughout the winter, all six of the plants survived! The picture shows the first pepper blossom that opened on a snowy, winter’s day. In the absence of insect pollinators we needed to pollinate the flowers ourselves. At this point, each plant has one to three peppers developing.

Another project in which we’ve invested time is vermicomposting, or composting done by worms. Since composting plays such a vital role in the work that we do, we thought that introducing vermicomposting would be a great addition to overall education of the students who live and learn at Rieth Village. A worm bin had been created at another of our sites using a 10 gallon, plastic storage container into which holes were cut for ventilation.

The worms were given to us and we revamped the bin a bit, improving drainage. We created layers with strips of newspaper, soil, peat, kitchen scraps and worms. The dry materials help to soak up the extra moisture created by the kitchen scraps. The worms

(pictured here) most often recommended for vermicomposting are Red Wigglers. This is because of their habit of foraging for food closer to the surface of the soil (as opposed to earthworms that prefer to burrow much deeper). Since the renovation of their home, the worms have been happily working away at turning our kitchen scraps into the most wonderful, nutrient-rich compost that will greatly benefit us in the coming growing season.