Laughing Stock Farm, Freeport, Maine

May 2003

May is an incredibly busy month.  We need to get the fields planted with the short term crops like lettuce that will only be in place for 6 to 8 weeks as well as the long term crops like brussel sprouts that will be in place until October.  This requires preparing large sections of the fields, planting, and transplanting while continuing to harvest for our wholesale accounts.  These photos were taken during the first week of June and show the progress during May. 

Indoors

The indoor activities are a mix of starting seedlings for the farm; finishing the last of the winter greens; and setting the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and melons for the summer. 

Seedlings - The seedlings transition from an indoor activity to a completely outdoor activity by mid June.  

Herbs, Two Week Lettuce, Four Week Lettuce 

Greenhouse Greens - The winter growing continues until the greens are well established outside, usually in June.  By late May we are finishing the last of the indoor greens.  The weeds we started to see during April will take over during May if not controlled.  This control includes a mix of tilling with the walk behind tractor and hand pulling.  Either way, it is very labor intensive.

Last of the Greenhouse Greens, Unheated Polyhouse with Broccoli Raab    

Tomatoes - We grow most of our tomatoes in the greenhouses during the summer.  The seedling we started to set during April are up to five feet tall by the end of May.  As you can see below, some of the cherry tomatoes have developed clusters, and even the heirlooms and reds have set fruit.

Cherry Tomato Cluster; Heirlooms, Plums, and Reds Hung; Green Heirloom Tomato

Chickens - Our replacement egg layers and meat birds arrived the third week of May this year.  We order a different breed of egg layer every year.  After almost a year of growth, they produce well for two years.  Changing breeds every year provides a color code system so we know who is scheduled for "retirement."  The black and white feather footed hen is a Light Bramha.  Exiting the hen house is Fabio, our Buff Orpington rooster.  We order our chicks from the Murry McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa.  One of the fun things about these folks is that they send samples of rare and fancy breeds with large orders.  We generally get about 100 chicks every spring, and last year they sent the Crested Polish below who we call Chrysanthemum. 

Reddish Egg Layers and White Meat Birds, One of Each, Light Bramha

Fabio, Chrysanthemum

Outdoors

The outdoor activities depend as much in May as in April on keeping a close eye on the weather.  This May was fairly wet so we've had to take advantage of the dry times to prep and plant.

Herbs - Most of the perennial herbs have recovered well after the extended and extreme cold of this past winter.  As you can see the chives did especially well.  Almost everything did fine, although we did lose some thyme and rosemary where it was more exposed to the cold.  The mint  looks great too.

Trimmed Chives, Chive Bed, Mint

Field Crops - May is an intense outdoor planting time.  Some of the young plants like squash, mesclun, and kale are susceptible to insect damage like squash bugs and flea beetles so they are covered with reusable floating row covers.  This strong yet sheer white synthetic fabric keeps the bugs out, increases soil temperature slightly, and also protects from light frost.   

Seedlings -

Brassicas, Flowers, Lettuce

Fennel, Onion, Red Chard

Scallions, Squash covered, Squash uncovered

Seed - Many vegetables are grown in the field from seed.  Below are photos of the status of our seeded crops.  Everything but the mesclun is planted with the Plant Jr. planters.  The mesclun is planted with a hand held precision seeder that plants the tiny lettuce and mustard seed in 6 rows 1-1/2 inches apart.  Four passes plants a 3 foot wide row as shown below. 

Beets, Bull's Blood Beets, Golden Beets

Carrots, Jiffy Pop Veggies, Peas

Potatoes, Mesclun    

Peonies - During May the peonies are cultivated, and soil amendments are applied before the plants are more than about 6 inches.  It is important to apply these materials early so the foliage isn't stained or damaged since clean foliage is important for cut flowers.  By the end of May the plants will be fully formed, but not fully grown.  During this time cultivation shifts from the tractor to walk behind tractors with rototillers to prevent damage cosmetic or structural to the stems and foliage.  There will be a page dedicated to our peonies by late June with photos of many of the different flower shapes and colors. 

Lower Field, Individual Plant, Flower Buds

Send mail to lisa@laughingstockfarm.com with questions or comments about our farm

Send to ralph@rturner.com with questions or comments about our energy project. 

Copyright 2008, Laughing Stock Farm
Last modified: February 01, 2008