Rain Finally

Gracie chillin in front of a fan
Baby zukes are surviving drought, later it finally RAINED, for 5 days
Emily digging Carola taters

Beautiful, freshly dug potatoes.

Hot, Dry and Struggling

Red cabbage, still tiny.
Early Jersey Wakefield, a strange cone shape distinguishes this variety. As you can see the Cabbage Looper has already visited for a few snack bites.
Boothby heirloom cukes are ready, too bad I wasn't ready with the hortonova trellis!
Dill and cukes go hand in hand for pickles. These are particularly huge heads.
Rosalind broccoli was to be the star of the share bag this week. What a disappointment to realize they had "buttoned". This phenomena occurs when temperatures spike for several days, along with uneven water. The heads remain button size and sometimes leaves grow up through the head. Aaargh!
Solar power electric fence charger runs poultry netting to keep out predators.
Ahh, farming is really hard on shoes. SHOE-GOO to the rescue! The whole side had come apart but a few dollars and 24 hours will get another 6 months out of this pair.

We have not had rain for weeks. BAD. Thursday we put a few hundred peppers in the ground and 4 varieties of okra. Yea I know, way late. Celeraic, rutabaga and turnips were seeded in flats for fall root crops. Summer squash and beans are on the way. Work, gotta plant everyday. The temps have been in the 90's last few and I sure feel wilty.

A load of stone was delivered for the new outside post harvest wash area. No more mud holes!
Early Freezer peas are in shares this week. They are short vined, prolific and tasty.
A chicken was killed while we were out for a few hours, this being the second loss. The attacker left only feathers. I put up electric poultry netting but the birds feathers act as insulators. They need to grow larger to keep from slipping through the net.
Last week at market for radishes. Their bed has already been replanted to salad mix.
Garlic scapes, which at 50 cents each, folks complained were too costly! Let them bend over in 93 degree weather and clip each one.

Emily washing and bunching radishes.
War on weeds, part 1! Black groundcloth to suppress tenacious Canadian Thistle. We are over run with these horrors in one section of our plot. Thick rye cover crop did not make a dent in this enemy. I am hoping groundcloth will kill the intruder. Any suggestions? one week after this photo the uncovered chopped rye on the right is a living thistle carpet!

Planting

Despite the cold, trees are greening up at a fast pace.
Mushroom soil will be spread on the new garden. Note the bare trees just a few weeks ago.
This is a shot from early May.
Soon enough the weeds came and we had the annual battle commence.

Cold, Rain, Crops, Poultry

The birds are finally able to run around! The geese especially needed to have more room.
After one week wing feathers are appearing, at 2 weeks tail feathers.
This is a heritage turkey, not sure which breed. You can see the snood starting above the beak.
One of the stranger looking chicks, the Naked Neck or Turken.
They come in a box with holes. It was terribly cold and rainy that morning, so we blasted the heater in the van. These are an assortment of brown egg layers.
This is the local post office, it is quite rural and homey.

Whew! We have the new ground planted. The other plot is partially planted, due to a late rye cover crop and our BCS has been in the shop. It has been unseasonably cold, as in frost at night cold. Our furnace has kicked on despite our having turned it "off". Our fields have been a soggy mud hole. Mix in the sporadic 88 degree day and you can imagine the plants are confused.

Rural living has its quirks. Since March I have not had internet, and this has proved a blessing and a frustration. I need to be able to send out notices to CSA members, look up information and update web pages. Trying to accomplish this on a bargain cell phone does not cut it. Anyway, the online glow is emanating once again from the screen.

Raising poultry is a new enterprise for us. As Joel Salatin sagely advises in his Pastured Poultry Profits; get the pen made before you order the birds as research and development will invariably cause delays, resulting in the birds outgrowing their brooder facilities. Umm, tell me about it. Today we moved our chicks outside. They have been so fascinating to watch. I think they grow so fast you can see new feathers every morning!

How hard could it possibly be to build the simplest pen??? Arrgh..........don't ask. I had no clue and no blueprint. Suffice it to say after trial and error the pen is finished. It needs a few extra features for convenience but that would have added 2 more days to the project.

New Growing Location

Aaron clearing off the front yard.
Hoops set in place, still need row cover and sandbags.
Johnny's hoop bender.
Half way to planting.
The neighbor came back the next day with his tiller.
A three bottom plow, a miracle worker compared to a shovel and my biceps!
My neighbor offered to plow up my field. Farmers are some of the most honest, generous folks on earth.
The front of the trailer. It is just the right size for our needs. Afew flower beds will make it cheery.
The backyard!
Gracie making herself at home. The loom settled, much to the relief of those lifting her.
Too big for the front door, the sliding glass entry works. Below, taking her off the truck.

Big Changes For 2010

No posts recently for a very good reason..........we are expanding our farm. Now instead of just teensy, we're tiny. Lots of opportunity for better infrastructure, water, buildings and an increase in land. A bigger bonus is less commuting, less petro.

This barn is going to be our new post harvest wash/pack area. March to do list is long! I'm so excited about having water and a pack area, finally, that work will be a pleasure. Seeds and paper mulch arrived today.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for 2010 CSA. We still have slots open.