March's Orders = April's Arrivals

March always brings with it a flurry of planning activity.  Just seeing the spinach begin to grow in the cold frame sparks garden fever.  The seed and chick orders are finalized and placed, and bee packages have been ordered.  As March is for planning, April will be for arrivals.  With Sidney's growing passion for cooking she took a special interest in the seed selection this year so that we could grow what is most tempting her culinary appetite.

Sadly, we lost our hive, so this week we harvested all of the remaining honey stores.  It left us with just over 2 gallons of fresh honey to use for the next year, which is a sweet reward for a sad outcome. Such is the circle of life, that teaches us unending appreciation for all of the hard work our busy bees do in helping our garden grow.

#100HappyDays :: Day 55

This pile consisted of 10 cubic yards of 3/8" chipped limestone.  A major project undertaking that ran fairly smoothly.

We had enough of the black fabric that we use for row covers to line 3/4 of the garden paths.  Thank goodness we have the tractor!  B was able to dump buckets on the edges or use it to fill the wheel barrow.  Happily it was a pretty easy material to spread with our metal rakes, and provided quite the upper body workout.

After about six hours of work we had finished the bulk of it, and could go no further without more landscape fabric to line the final two path lengths.  B's estimate was perfect as we had enough limestone to back fill around the pool as well and with what we have left should be able to finish the final paths with ease.  A hard days work that will save us hours of time in the long run.  We can check off the list trying to keep all of the weeds and grass pulled from the paths, and it doesn't look too shabby either!

Spring Farm Weekend

As the weather begins to cooperate more and more, we are beginning to feel the soreness in our core muscles that comes from the hard work that is spring on the farm.   We completed last weekends hoop house adventure by finishing the planting and installation of the second one.  We filled it with three varieties of garbanzo beans, and giant Salanova lettuce heads that should be farm bag pleasers.  We also seeded Summer Crisp lettuce, kale and spinach to the cold frame by the house.  The garlic has just poked its green shoots above the straw and seems to be coming up abundantly.

We also laid down some landscape fabric over a grassy strip adjacent to the berry beds where our newly grafted baby apple trees will go in about a month or so.  We segmented out about 40 feet and plan to espalier them in that row.  I can not wait to see how many of them we can get to take!

We are really beginning to feel the absence of the other house in that we are more freely and actively dreaming of what we can do here now.  We have plotted out all of the areas that need clearing and begun to make a plan for getting it all done.  A couple of years ago we pulled out a number of large overbearing green hedges from the South and East sides of the house.  Last summer we barked it all in and planted the area with hostas.  Yesterday, with the help of a big chain and the tractor, we pulled out all of the leggy hedges that were encroaching on the North side of the house.  Now all of our irises and hostas on that side will have a space to shine without being choked out.

We also managed to retrofit the chicken tractor in preparation for a small flock of meat chickens and ducks that will free range the summer away.

I love spring farm weekends because we relish in being outside and are kept company by the abundance of birds and sounds of people out and about.   While it is still bare, buds just verging on greenness, we have the opportunity to visualize what will come next.  To top it off, we have a mass of energy bottled up from an exceptionally cold winter indoors to make those visions come to fruition.

A perfect example of how each child approaches a sunny 54 degree day differently! How was your weekend?

White Smoke

One minute we have rain, the next light snow.  Each time I feel a flow of spring like writing, we get a dusting, and this morning does not seem to be an exception to that.  Yesterday afternoon there was that ethereal feel in the air.  As I was running errands it was predominantly blue sky overhead while snowing intermittent sparkling flakes.  It seemed to show the struggle of seasons, and left me wondering which one would win out the day.

The garden has been on our minds as we inventory seeds, make lists, and peek in our cold frames to find the hardiest of hardy still plugging along.  A few months ago I joined the planning committee for the Eco-Justice Center (check it out!)  It is a wonderful organization and we have attended events there for years.  As EJC continues to spread its wings, based on their mission of Community, Contemplation, Creativity, and Cultivation, it seemed to be a natural extension of our homestead goals to become a part of this group.  Next week there will be an equinox celebration complete with a blessing of the seeds.  Somehow this feels perfect as we celebrate both the birth of the new season and our fifteenth wedding anniversary, as the snow dissipates into the white smoke announcing spring.

Ahead of the Curve

What to do on a final long weekend of summer that we have no plans??  Yes, that's what I said, nothing, I think a first all summer long.  Once in a while when we begin farm tasks we will have a single, super productive day, that makes us wonder how we could have gotten that all done.  Well this non-committed weekend was four full days of just that!

It is now only September fourth, and I feel like we are well on our way to having our Fall farm prep not only under control, but in several areas complete.  Many of the chores that we got done, we are normally still struggling with come November and the turn to colder weather.  It was hot and muggy, but we got the chicken coop mucked out and B expanded and got everything incorporated into the compost area.  A large portion, our biggest yet, will be ready to top dress all of the beds later this fall when we put them to sleep for winter.  All we need are the fall leaves and we will have next years compost well under way! 

We harvested about a quarter of the tomatoes and they are finishing a final ripening on the porch table to be processed and canned this week in the evenings.  While B was turning compost, I closed down the front porch, just leaving our fall items and the table.  As you can see we are set for all of the fall loveliness.  The honey collecting supplies, mums, decorative gourds, and egg collection baskets, and oh that fall light is starting to appear!

If you noticed something in the background of the last shot, it is the new raised kitchen herb bed.  we got it finished this weekend and will be planting herbs and spinach in it in the next week.  Now we can transplant what we want from the former herb garden and work on the foundation of the greenhouse. We decided that if we completed the foundation of the greenhouse this fall along with all of the other harvest and garden wrap up chores, that we would work on the structure itself this winter in the barn and hopefully have it up February/March (depending on this year's snowfall).

Before

Finally, we removed all of the overgrown hedges from around the front of the house.  It's amazing how much larger that made the house look!  The next step is weed barrier and bark all the way around the porch.  Then next spring we will divide our hostas and plant them strategically around the porch.

After

So, I'd say that we are well into prepping for fall, and I am very excited that we are running ahead of the curve this year... I wonder what else we'll get accomplished?

And The Kale Has Returned

 What is this?  Just when we dream at night of sowing seeds, we receive a week of unseasonably warm weather, and the extended forecast promises more of the same.  Not that it will not change, but after this amazingly warm winter, I allow myself to grin in contemplation. 

We spent a little time weeding in the garden tonight.  Yes weeding!  It is hard to believe.  Even harder?  Well the last minute greens that we harvested, late last fall, down to their stumps and left in the ground to deal with during our spring preparations......They. Are. All. Growing. Again!

So though I have not voiced it, in fear of being a jinx to myself.....I declare this garden season open!!  Yes, yes, we may get an errant March snow, but it promises to melt immediately and I'm OK with that!  I am so happy that the spontaneous greens have been re-awakened, and the kale has returned!

 Kale Returning

Salad Greens & Spinach 

Rhubarb Crowning

Re-Grouped

After a week of emotional ups and downs, we disappeared for a couple of days this week to Lake Geneva.  We were able to take advantage of a great mid-week special at the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa.  Two days and two nights of non-stop activities for the kids and R & R for mom and dad.  It was just what this families collective soul needed to re-group.  We were thrilled to find such a gem so close to us and hope to make another get away over the summer when the outdoor activities are in abundance.   We are getting ready to spring forward and are taking that opportunity inventory our seeds,  pour over catalogs,  and put a farm bag 2012 game plan together.  Happy Friday!