Mulching the new strawberry beds at the farm!

Getting ready for next year's crops - already!

This was our last trip to the farm in 2014 and we learned we would be doing important work for the 2015 growing season - mulching the new strawberry beds!

 Mulching is a multi-step process. The beds where the strawberries will grow are raised and covered in plastic. The drip irrigation lines had already been laid down. Our job was to mulch in the furrows to keep weeds and pests at bay. Here, you can see us beginning to lay down recycled cardboard in the furrows.

Once the cardboard was down, covering every inch of bare soil, we laid damp straw on the top. This double layer of mulch will - we hope prevent weeds from growing. As we have spent many hours weeding in the beds, tackling thistles and all kinds of tough weeds, we hope these efforts will work!

Here. you can see the finished beds. Bags of dirt are placed on the tops of the beds to help make sure that the plastic sheeting doesn't blow away. The prevailing wind is strong off the ocean and can pick up in teh afternoons, blowing anything that isn't tied down across the entire farm.

Cayle cut up pieces of recycled boxes to fit into the furrows. 

After we were done, there were lots of small pieces of cardboard that had to be gathered and put into the recycling bin. Maggie helped us get it all in there! 

We then went up to the top field to feed the new pigs!! They have lots of room to run around and often hide in the bushes and under the trees. As soon as they knew that we would give them food, they cam running to the fence.