On Tour

May 13, 2026

We just wrapped up three tours in three weeks. The first was a cover crop workshop on April 25, during which Long Island growers (including former apprentice Thomas Lennon!) got to see stands of overwintered winter peas, winter rye, and hairy vetch, as well as newly-germinated oats and field peas. A big thank you to Teddy Tomao from NOFA-NY and Melissa Phillips from the Real Organic Project for organizing. Two days later, Dan mowed down a big stand of winter peas in advance of winter squash. He wanted to do it sooner, but I asked him to hold off for the sake of the tour. Now we’re hosting a rock hunt on May 16 at 10am to clear the field. If you want a good laugh, pull up a chair and watch a bunch of toddlers tumble around like puppies as they search for rocks. The event is free and open to the public, and big kids are welcome, too.

 

The following week, we participated in a farm-to-table for schools workshop at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration. The event was hosted by the Agricultural Society of Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties, the Long Island Farm Bureau, and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Over 100 educators from 50 Long Island school districts attended, with the hope of seeding a K-12 food and nutrition program at OBVR. Afterward, Dan and I toured attendees around Restoration Farm and shared our own experiences trying to incorporate education at the farm.

Finally, we had our annual Mother's Day weekend plant sale and field tour. Having recently attended a J.V. baseball game where some players never left the bench, I made a sports analogy to explain why the snap peas in New Pond Field were looking a little yellow. In an important game, coaches lean on their best players, but when the stakes are low, they give the B players a shot. Similarly, farmers reserve their best fields for high stakes plantings, and the lesser fields for low-stakes plantings. This year’s peas qualify as low stakes, since we only need enough for the farm stand (previously we grew for both CSA and farm stand). As such, we assigned the peas to New Pond, where we only broke ground three years ago. It's at a 16-year disadvantage in terms of soil-building, so it came as no surprise—or cause for concern—when the peas started looking pale. Leafy greens should be green, but fruit crops should be abundant, and lucky for us, a stressed plant is faster to set seed (i.e. fruit) than a healthy plant that thinks it has all the time in the world. So it could be that we break even—or even come out ahead—by planting the peas in New Pond. More importantly, by investing in the field through cash crops, cover crops, compost, and mulch, we’re giving New Pond a chance to make it to the A team someday.

I don’t want to jinx it, but this might be the year we knock the ball out of the park when it comes to stale seed bedding. A holy grail among small-scale growers, this practice involves preparing a bed weeks in advance in order to germinate and flush out weeds in the top 6 inches of soil. Once the seed bed is “stale” (free of weed seeds), not much follow-up cultivation is needed. This is especially helpful for direct-seeded crops like carrots and radishes, which take days or weeks to germinate. But really, it’s helpful for all crops. As anyone who’s vacuumed a house knows, the job is a lot more pleasant when the floor is clear. By pushing our CSA start date back by two weeks, we freed up time to prioritize stale seed bedding, and I can’t wait to see how much time that frees up in July. More time for sunflowers, perhaps. 

We have a new neighbor! Two weeks ago, while our crew planted the usual 400-500 feet of strawberries, Glenn planted an additional 800 feet immediately to the south. It’s been years since he produced a viable crop in the orchard, no thanks to the deer, and when we realized we would have extra beds and plants this year, we invited him to join us inside the deer fence. I haven’t worked alongside Glenn since we were at Sophia Garden in Amityville, so it’s been fun to trade notes and jokes as we work our respective beds. He’s taught the crew the value of controlling runners, and we’ve taught him how to install drip irrigation. Perhaps next spring we’ll run a blind taste test to see who raised the sweeter berries.

 

On the topic of berries, we’re piloting a new, pick-your-own share this season. Members can pick a weekly allotment of berries, herbs, and flowers from late-May to mid-September. Shares are limited and will be available first-come, first-serve. Details and registration are available here.

 

The calendar says we should be planting tomatoes this week, but the thermometer says I don’t think so. So we’re chomping at the bit, waiting for the heat to arrive. That could happen at any moment, and when it does, we’ll be ready—and happy for the stale seed bedding that got done in the meantime.

 

Thanks for reading and see you at the farm.

—Caroline