05/09/2026
First flowers and first trellis string on the Hightunnel tomatoes. In spite of the chilly spring they’re coming along nicely🌱🤞🏻 …And a quick walk back in time on the Hightunnel cucumbers. We planted cukes yesterday into amended no-till beds. Just a couple days prior we cut and laid down the 5 foot tall fully flowering tops of what was our winter kale. The last pic is that kale post final harvest on March 4th. We could pull, till and prep those beds and in some cases and for some crops we do. However leaving them accomplishes a few things. We always hope for a chance to harvest the delectable spring treat “kale raab” which is the freshly emerged unopened flower shoots.(it’s a hit or miss proposition which did not pan out this spring due to damage from extreme cold). However leaving the kale creates value in other ways. As you can see from the preceding photos the kale flowers profusely in the Hightunnel in spring. This early and abundant pollen and nectar source is an incredibly valuable resource for a huge array of beneficial insects. We then cut those kale plants and lay them down and it creates a w**d suppressive and moisture retaining mulch for our cucumbers that also helps support a bunch of ground dwelling and soil borne allies. It’s a different type of management approach, that does present some challenges, but it ultimately supports so much life in so many forms and the value in that is quite immeasurable.