Week of Firsts

First thing I want to do today is chant "rain rain go away, come again another day"...say maybe in the sweltering heat of August! We need to get into the fields! The worst thing you can do is try to work the soil wet, or harvest when things are soaked. Rain is forecast for us again tomorrow!

First thing I did yesterday was find out where my Bantam hen goes as soon as she eats and preens a bit. I found her (with the help of binoculars) up under an old tree that had fallen on the property, way back inside an area on the ground, where the dirt had eroded to the point of fitting her body perfectly. Either that or she scratched out a place for herself, which is most likely. She is setting on eggs, so before you know it we will have bantam babies, unless a critter gets them. She is a pretty hen and I've heard that the Bantam breed are good mothers.

On the way to feed the chickens yesterday, I spotted my first snake of the season. Spring is truly here! I actually reached down to pick up something from the ground and where the grass was a bit high, I saw something about 3 inches long, that looked like a narrow piece of tire rubber. Then the light went on---it was a black snake. It was ushered back into the trees and left to roam.

We heard yesterday that our two grandsons that live near Huntsville Alabama both made AAU basketball teams for the first time. This was their first try and they are excited-they won't be the least bit bored this summer. They will have two worn out parents though.

We ran out of seedling trays for the first time ever, and hopefully our trays that we ordered will be in today, so we can sow more seeds. Our CSA has grown by leaps and bounds for the summer season, and we are staying quite busy around here.

Every now and then the sun peeks through the clouds, and makes me yearn for sunny days. I will leave you with a favorite quote of mine...
"For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends." ~~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ready for Spring?

The pace at the farm is quickening with the arrival of spring! The greenhouse is bulging with plants soon to be transplanted into the fields and high tunnels. More seeds have been planted and will soon be germinating in the greenhouse. It's fun to see what seedlings are peeking up through the cells in the newly sown trays. Their growth stages are really amazing to me.

John has been lightly tilling the fields in preparation for laying the drip tape and plastic mulch that we use on every raised bed. Yes, we do grow in raised beds and yes that does wonders for your plants. Raised beds warm the soil earlier in the spring, minimize erosion, keep the plants cleaner, and help to keep down weeds. But on our farm and most other Organic farms, weeds are a real issue. We try to stay after them, but what can I say--they always get ahead of us as we don't use anything but vinegar to try to keep them in tow along with a few good hoes, and a good weed eater. No chemicals allowed.

Once we start planting in the fields, we take turns riding the transplanter, for the plants that can be planted this way, the other drives the tractor that pulls the transplanter along. I have a time trying to keep the tractor straight on the plastic beds, but I get through it. Lots of things have to be hand planted here, especially in the tunnels as the tractor and plastic mulch layer cannot get inside. We go in there, shape the beds, fertilize, lay the drip tape, and transplant our plants. Most of the flowers this year will be planted on mulch instead of by hand. All of our herbs will be on plastic mulch so they will be clean when picked. Once things are planted everything has to be tended to until harvest time comes. (fertilized, monitored for pests, hand picking pests, etc) So goes life on the farm!

Thought for today "we can do no great things, only small things with love" Mother Teresa