Spring Planting Has Begun!

Well, yesterday was a beautiful day and we were able to get much accomplished! We cultivated the soil and got it ready to plant, then we planted shelling peas, sugar snap peas, onions, scallions, garlic, chard, spinach, kale, kohlrabi, turnip greens, and potatoes (red new potatoes, Red Norland, and Yukon Gold). The rain today was perfect timing to water it all in too! Hopefully we will have a few more dry days next week to plant some more. So far things are looking good to start CSA deliveries Mid-May. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate with us!

We are also painting our honey bee hives and getting ready for the new bees to arrive in the next couple of weeks...that and finishing up and painting the new chicken coop. A few of our chickens are scheduled to arrive around April 20th, with the remainder arriving in June. Spring has finally arrived after such a long Winter, and I am thankful for it!

An Update

Well, I tried to get some pictures on here and it's not working, so I will try again soon. Anyway, we have been having some nice weather (with some rain too) and have been able to get outside and get some work done! We set up our greenhouse and I have green cabbage, baby bok choi, broccoli, and napa cabbage starts going. I am going to get my head-type lettuces in there today as well. We have been working on getting grass seed down in our yard, which is currently mud! And, the chicken coop is coming right along...we almost have it finished...hopefully I will be able to post pics when it's done. We are looking forward to next weekend (Good Friday)... weather permitting, we'll get our potatoes and some onions in the ground!

MUD!

The snow has melted, yay! But in it's place: MUD. The frontyard, backyard, garden, driveway...all mud. But, I am not going to complain because Winter seems to be over and the temps are going up. We can't wait for it to dry up so we can start working in the garden. Yesterday was beautiful, so we spent the afternoon working on the chicken coop and pruning our fruit trees. I brought the trimmings from the trees inside and put them in water, hoping to force the branches into bloom. If it works I'll post a picture. I also need to post pics of the coop, but my digital camera is giving me fits...I think it is time for a new one. Next on the agenda for this week...buying grass seed and more rock for the driveway. Hopefully we can get rid of some of this mud!

Is Spring in the Air?

I am hopeful that Spring will be here soon! They are saying temps should be in the 40's and 50's by the end of the week...such good news. I think everyone I speak to has been tired of winter for quite some time now.

In farm related news, we are starting to build our portable chicken coop. I will post some pictures when it starts looking like a coop. Our chickens will be arriving on the farm around April 20th. We are ordering pullets that will be about ready to lay once they get here. We are also working out our planting rotation and where everything will be going...and we just purchased a small greenhouse, so hopefully we can get that up with some of this nice weather and be ready to start some seedlings in the next few weeks. We also have plans to try growing some cool weather crops in it this fall and see how long we can extend the growing season. We would really like to purchase a large high tunnel (when money allows) to be able to extend our growing season for the CSA. Some CSA's provide a summer share and a winter share (through December anyway)...we would like to get there someday! More pictures will be coming soon...

Seeds!

We received our order from Pinetree Garden Seeds last week, and I'm dreaming of spring planting time! The following are the types of seeds we ordered:

green beans

yellow beans

beets

broccoli

cabbage/chinese cabbage/pak choi

carrot

swiss chard

cucumber

kale

kohlrabi

lettuces

greens

melons/watermelons

okra

english peas

sugar snap peas

pumpkins

popcorn

radish

spinach

micro greens

summer squash

winter squash

basil,parsley,cilantro, dill

asters

calendula

cosmos

sunflowers

zinnias

We will also be planting sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), eggplant, strawberries, asparagus, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, berries (blueberries, raspberries, and gooseberries), peaches, and plums. I look at this list and think...we have A LOT of work to do, but we are excited to get outside in the warm sunshine and get some work done!

(If any of our customers would like a certain variety planted, now is the time to let us know...we can try to find it before spring arrives) :)

Winter...Will It Ever End?

Only with winter patience can we bring the deep-desired, long awaited spring.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh


I am trying to be patient for this winter to be over, but it is getting more difficult with each new winter storm. I am tired of SNOW! Please Lord, bring the spring quickly!!!!

***Edited to add:
On the news last night they said we have gotten 52" of snow so far this season, breaking an old record set in the 1880's...with more snow expected on Saturday:(

Farm Fresh Eggs

Anyone interested in purchasing farm fresh free-range eggs? We have a few pullets (hens that are just about ready to lay) that are arriving on the farm in April. They will provide us with some eggs for our Summer CSA season, but we are thinking of expanding our egg production by purchasing chicks at the end of this Summer/Fall to raise over winter so that they would be laying by next Spring. We need to get an idea of how much interest there is to determine how many chickens we'll need. Anyone interested can email us at the link to the right.