Farmer’s Perspective: April 2025

Spring has come to us in Houston, lush and green as ever. At the Skyfarm, the fields bloom with all kinds of native wildflowers and medicinal plants alongside our cultivated
crops. The thyme and chives bloom as the first round of tomatoes and roselle are planted in the ‘ground’- three stories up, in Downtown Houston. Our days recently have been intensely windy, as Spring generally is for the Skyfarm, and filled with the quiet thrums of insects coming out of hibernation.

The recent rain, which I anticipate will continue through the month of April, paired with Houston’s never ending humidity has called all manner of plant life to leap up through the soil and toward the sun. At the Skyfarm, Spring is an important season for selective weed pressure and resource renewal. The time that we are not spending planting seed
or harvesting is dedicated to pulling weeds we know to be noxious and making way for those which have value to the pollinators, and us!

The massive accumulation of green, organic matter is paramount at the Skyfarm, where we mow down many plants instead of clearing the fields. This mowing allows for the resources drawn from the soil to be replenished, no nutrients going to waste. The moisture retained in the soil by this green mulch is essential to our preparation for summertime where temperatures will regularly hit over 100 F. Keeping the soil covered and mulched in this way means we will be able to use water more efficiently and ensures that we are constantly feeding the soil. Because our soil was manufactured, it lacked the
organisms that are crucial for maintaining plant health and soil integrity, such as decomposers. Now that we have populations of decomposers, aided by the addition of local compost, it is part of our job as farmers to care for and nurture their populations in the ways we can.

For April, we will be harvesting our cabbages and sending them back to our Landfarm to be made into kimchi. Herbs such as cilantro and dill will also be harvested and then allowed to go to seed so that we may grow the healthiest plants possible next season. Our onions and garlic will continue in their growth until the early Summer, during which
time they will be pulled from the fields and dried, cured. All of these spaces will be followed up with a round of Summer cover crop in order to replenish nutrients used by the production crops.

As the farmer, the renewal of Spring finds me grateful for all our relatives that come to visit us at the farm. As the weather warms, bees and wasps, beetles and butterflies come into their next stages of life, floating through the flowers on the Skyfarm. Summer is my favorite season, but it is a time that requires great fortitude. During the summer, we grow only that which we know is strong enough to survive and prove fruitful. April is a wonderful time to plant okra and roselle seed, cucumber and zucchini, basil and beans for they are strong.

Next week, our Open Farm Day will discuss Calendula, which is a vibrant and attractive plant that makes a great addition to a Texas garden. Our lesson for 4/16 will be our Spring Herbal Tea Lesson and Harvest!

Join us each week for seasonal, activity based plant and sustainability lessons at the Skyfarm, Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:30pm; always free and open to the public.

Check out our full event calendar.