We had two teams of enthusiastic volunteers onion planting today- and it went really well!


AM: We arrived on Paul and Doreen’s farm to see our onions looking very well, in their modules. The plants had grown so much Paul thought we may have to shear off the top few inches of growth for them to fit through the planting machine! As it turned out, no haircut was necessary.

Paul had prepared about 1/2 acre of land just before we arrived into 20 beds. Our task was to plant out three onions rows per bed.

The module trays are fitted to the planting machine- a contraption pulled behind the tractor. After a quick demo from Paul we got started- here’s a video of us trying to keep up with the planting machine! The onion plants get put on the conveyor belt by willing volunteers, and taken down to the soil by two metal disks that grab onto the leaves of the plants. Then two broad wheels (the red spoked wheels visible in the video) firm the plants into the soil. Clever stuff!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdpmpf4fd_U

While three volunteers had a lovely time sat on the planting machine, the remaining had to fill in the gaps in the rows of onions and check the planting machines progress from behind.

PM: After a lunch break, our afternoon team completed the planting in record time. Paul then irrigated the onions to help settle them into their new home, as it is so dry this year.

Congrats everyone! For more pictures see https://picasaweb.google.com/hallo.helen/CambridgeCropShare