MO URBAN FARM AUTUMN UPDATE
March 20th, 2025
As summer draws to a close we always look forward to the cooler mornings which is when we spend most of our time on the farm planting, pruning, fertilising, weeding and mowing.
The change of season also means a crop rotation which is pretty exciting. By this time, most of last seasons crops have run their course and are either half dead, diseased, eaten or no longer producing anything edible. So clearing these out is a pretty good feeling but also bittersweet. We put so much love into these plants and they are so full of goodness it’s a shame to waste them.
Normally, we would cycle the old plants through our compost but this year a couple of bush turkeys have completely taken over the compost and built their nest on top – so that’s a no go zone for now, but when they have finished it will be amazing mulch. (If you didn’t know, old turkey nests are the absolute best mulch).
Most farmers ‘turn in’ their old crops by mulching the plants directly back into the soil they were growing from. This helps regenerate the soil by replenishing organic matter. So we did the same and turned in all our old zucchini, squash and eggplants. Hopefully this will give the new plants a boost for their early life. It feels good to be able to use the old plants in this way knowing how much love we put into them during their peak, they can hopefully return some of that love to the new crop.
In their place we planted beefsteak tomato, basil & rocket lettuce. We also planted more long red chilli to go with some we started last year and complement our range of chilli which includes Scorpion Trinidad, Habanero, Birdseye & Jalapenos. You will find mixed punnets of these at select stores.
Over summer, the wet soil caused a number of our trees to fall over and uproot themselves. Luckily there was no damage caused. We have been planting more natives in their place to keep our blue bum bees happy and attract more birds and native animals to the property.
We love our little plot out here and want to keep it as eco friendly as possible which is why the organic certification means so much more than just a sticker on your produce.
It’s really about how you nurture your surrounds to stay in harmony with nature.
By Your MO Urban Farmers,
Leah Gustavsson and Meghan Perry
