Josh's Strawberries

Josh arrived home last night with this pint of strawberries. All of our hands were going for them. Today he harvested 24 pints. Unfortuneately there were not enough for our baskets this week. But I hope that you too will enjoy this sweet red treat next week.

With thanks for the weather

(though the abundant rain and warm temperatures are as good for the weeds as for the chard...)

A sunny end to the day

A few picture on May 18th

Picture 1: Left to right - Spinach, Romaine, Dill, Spinach

Picture 2: Celery ready to be planted in the ground

Picture 3: Calvin and Gerald transplanting. We are nearly finished planting in this field.

Monday again - a few odds and ends

We've just finished lunch. Fried egg, steamed asparagus and a piece of cheese. Yum.

On the weekend I cultivated and formed up 4 more herb beds. We also started getting some land ready on the other side of our drive way. We will plant the flowers in that space.

The new tunnels are planted with tomatoes. We use something called trickle irrigation to water the tomatoes. The trickle goes under the plastic mulch and is hooked up at the base of the tunnel. We got that all hooked up this weekend too.

Today Nicole is seeding lettuces and greens into trays to get a head start in the green house, Calvin and Gerald have been planting broccoli, cauliflower, celery and a few other things.

The trees are blossoming, the peepers are peeping and the grass is very green. It is a lovely time here on the farm.

A glimpse from my window.

Lily helping Gerald plant onions while Calvin is prepping land for the continuous plantings of beet greens, swiss chard, beets, etc.
Frank has joined in to help. Gerry and Bob are busy building our farm stand that will be open soon for all to stop and pick-up fresh veggies from the farm.

Nettles?!

Bravo to all who have ventured to put nettles on their plate this week! We've received plenty of comments about the nettles and would encourage everyone to check the recipe blog for more ideas on how to enjoy the wild greens. For me, there is something beyond taste to the experience of foraged foods - something to do with harvesting and being nourished by what was unplanned and freely given.

Covering More Ground

As you saw from the zucchini pic last week, some of the plants in the greenhouse are ready for more space. This week, we put up three more tunnels for tomatoes (including several heirloom varieties!) First, 3-foot anchors were driven into the ground to hold the arches. Then, the arches were set in place and today, the plastic was hauled up and secured. What a change to the landscape!

What Grows in the Greenhouse

As the seedlings in the greenhouse grow, they're transplanted into bigger and bigger pots. Most of the plants will go out to the fields and tunnels before they produce fruit, but the zucchinis are apparently doing just fine where they are! The question is, how do we share out the three zucchinis ready for picking amongst so many members??

A New Home for Chickens

These chickens had a good start in the basement of the house, but now they've got an address of their own. The new coop is roomy and bright, as you can see, and the chickens are growing at a great rate.