Work in the greenhouses continues apace.

Lately, we've been spending most of our time working through the schedule for our certified organic seedlings -- seed, pot, water, repeat. The house is about two-thirds full, and it's nice to see all that new green. The first shipment to our wholesaler is due April 27. We should be at the Fulton Street farmers' market with our share of plants shortly after that.

As activity in that greenhouse levels off, work in the house for the CSA ramps up. The onions, leeks, shallots, and scallions are all up and growing and should be hardy enough to move outside soon. The kale, chard, and bok choy are just starting to sprout. We've seeded the first round of lettuce, as well as celery and celeriac. We've also started a couple of rows-worth of early tomatoes and peppers, as well as some extra potted herbs for sale at the market.

In the organic house, all our plants are started in plastic trays and grown in plastic pots -- a pretty standard way of doing things. In the Trillium house, our method is a little different. For many of our plants, rather than plastic pots, we use soil blocks. We make these blocks by moistening the soil mix, then working it with a special tool that presses out the blocks onto broad trays (like Aaron is doing at right). Once we seed the blocks, we place the trays on the greenhouse benches. Then, at transplanting, we load the trays onto the wagons to take them to the field. 

The main advantage to this method, aside from minimizing the use of nonbiodegradable plastic pots, is that the plants don't ever get rootbound. In a pot, when the plant's roots reach the pot's sides, they keep growing. Left too long in the pot, the roots will form a thick mat. Such a rootbound plant has trouble creating the kind of healthy root structure that allows it to thrive.

Soil blocks, on the other hand, are formed in a way that leaves an airspace between them. When the plant's roots reach this airspace, they simply stop growing, and the plants can be held that way for some time. Upon transplanting, those roots are poised to push down deep into the soil, and the plant will be therefore healthier. And a healthy plant better resists pests and diseases than a stressed one.

By the end of today's work -- seeding cabbages, fennel, and more lettuce -- we neared the Trillium house's capacity. This is the earliest I've seen it this full. It's good incentive for us to start the work of erecting a third house, one of the bigger construction projects Michael has been dreaming of this spring. Well, now we are compelled to start. Tomorrow's plan is for us to plot out the foundation and see if we can't get one or two hoops raised.

But we'll have to get moving, for the soil is now warm and dry enough for us to start the fieldwork.