Here are answers to last week’s quiz:
1. How many trees are there in the 3 1/2-acre orchard of peaches, pears and quince that we planted at Full Belly this winter? Answer: We planted 720 trees in our new 3-acre orchard. In a few years, some of the fruit from this orchard will be in your CSA boxes!
2. Which of these plants is NOT currently growing at Full Belly (bamboo, hops, spearmint and rhubarb)? The answer is rhubarb – we would love to grow it, but it really isn’t well suited to our soil conditions and climate. Photo below shows hops climbing the trellis.
3. Full Belly finished our first planting of tomatoes last week. How tall are the tomato plants one week later? Our first tomato seedlings were almost 4-inches tall when we planted them. They stay nice and warm with their roots under the black plastic that we place on the soil and the row cover tunnels that cover the beds and protect them from potential frosts. One week after we planted them, many of them had already grown a couple of inches.
4. Full Belly is past our last potential frost date – True or False? False – The last potential frost date is the full moon in April.
5. How many lambs were born at Full Belly Farm this spring? The answer is 114. We have 80 mama-ewes and many of them give birth to twins and triplets.
6. What was the highest recorded temperature of the year as of 4/18/16 at Full Belly Farm? The answer: 91º F. We are preparing for a lot more hot weather on the way.
7. How many employees at Full Belly as of 4/15 (including the owners, office workers and counselors for kids classes)? Answer: 81. We will be hiring additional field workers and this number may rise to almost 90 people in a few weeks.
8. What direction do the strongest winds usually come from at Full Belly? The answer: North – we often have some strong north winds here at the farm.
9. How many school groups will Full Belly host from January through the end of May 2016? (Note, this includes tours as well as overnight visits). Answer: 23! That seems like a lot to us as well.
10. How many acres of grain are we growing at Full Belly (wheat, oat, milo, dry corn, barley)? This question came up recently in a meeting of the Full Belly owners and even we didn’t know the correct answer until we sat down with a pencil and paper. We have been involved in the effort to bring back heirloom whole-wheat grains. We also grow a lot of grains for our animals because it is very expensive to buy organic animal feed. The answer: 48 acres!
11. How many bunches of flowers (maximum) can we make in one busy Spring day at Full Belly Farm? Last year for Mother’s Day, we picked, bunched and packed almost 1,200 flower bouquets. We are already taking pre-orders for Mother’s Day 2016.
12. How many weddings are going to take place on Full Belly Farm in 2016? The answer: 8
