11/2: The season's coming to an end. I clean up, I prepare beds for garlic to be planted in, I help with the great project of re-roofing our 300 year old house, I try to figure out how to assemble the greenhouse I bought... I watch the weather carefully to make sure the last of the root-crops get as much time in the field growing as they can before it gets too cold and I have to pull them in. I try to figure out exactly how and where I will store the storage root-crops once I do pull them in...  

8/10: I am really too busy to update the news too much... But here's a little blurb anyways. I'm working hard to keep weeds down and veggies growing. The chill weather seems to keep tomatoes from growing too much, but at least my fields don't show any signs of the dread late blight... I'm worried, though. But I am finally seeing some harvest come out of the field - squashes aplenty, along with peas (unseasonably late), lettuces, and lots of other stuff.

The dogs continue to behave, the cat hunts rodents as cats do, the 200 or so hills of pumpkins/winter squashes are growing, and all else is well... I must out in the field and weed, plant, harvest, irrigate, and work...

7/7: I'll start by stating the obvious: We've had a lot of rain lately. I was getting worried this weekend, what with three days of sunshine in a row, that I would have to turn on the irrigation system, but the weather has returned to normal again: Solid grey downpour. So I'll leave the irrigation system off for now.

Things seem to be going along here at the farm, there really isn't much to tell as far as vegies are concerned... Fortunately they aren't dying, but then again, due to lack of sun, they sure aren't growing lots either. Well, in due time, I imagine we'll have sunshine. And until then, we wait and keep up our good cheer.

I'm planting for an awesome fall, to make up for the not so awesome spring. I'm planning on blue pumpkins, red fairytale pumpkins, and lots of delicious winter-squashes: Acorn, butternut, delicata, spaghetti, and the sweet asian red kuris. And I've planted a very late second round of spinach. Normally, spinach doesn't even want to germinate this time of year because of heat and lack of water, but this batch seems to be doing a lot better than the first batch I planted, so there it is. We should have baby spinach in soon enough...

The only really upsetting news is that Hobbes, our sweet red dog has been skunked. Right in the mouth. We washed him lots with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, but in humid and wet weather there's still a faint but unmistakable odor. We air out and wait for him to shed his skunky fur...

5/28: Things are growing! Peas, arugula, spinach, onions, mustard greens, scallions, radishes, collard greens, and tons of lettuces, carrots, and beets are allready peeking their first little leaves up above the ground. And thanks to this rain we've been having, I've had a couple of wonderfully muddy days in the field. I've been transplanting zucchini-seedlings in neat little rows, lettuces in not so neat little rows, and putting in carrot and lettuce seeds, as I do every week or so.

I've been experimenting with lasagna-gardening, a method of gardening where you simply pile layers and layers of different mulches (leaves, grass, straw, compost, and other organic matter) on top of each other to make your beds. It's been really interesting! I have been able to place beds right on top of the lawn by starting with a layer of newspaper, and the knee-high piles of stuff I made in the fall have become much smaller beds, as the mulches have become soil over the winter. So far it seems to work pretty well, I planted bulbs in one of my experimental beds this fall, and they all came up this spring. Here's a picture of a snowdrop, one of the very first bulbs to flower in early February... Beneath are a few points to observe about lasagna-beds:

#1: It is working! I was a little sceptical and worried (I planted a lot of my garlic plants in one of the experimental beds), but the mulches are actually turning into a loose, light soil. Amazing! PHIEW! The plants seem to be doing fine - actually, they were up a little early - and so far no nasty surprises.

#2: The lasagna beds have an amazing level of worms (and other critters) in them. This is supposedly really good for your soil, as the worms convert your layers of mulch to earth and increase the nutrition for the plants to soak up. It might be due to high levels of nutrition and a good habitat, but I wonder if it's also due to higher temperature, as the composting of the mulches heats up the bed.

#3: No weeds is a pretty big advantage. The few weeds that grow in my newly made beds are easy to pull out due to the really light nature of the soil/mulchy stuff.

#4: As I said above, the beds sort of shrink in height when the ulches torn to siol, so bulbs have to be a little deeper than normally called for in order to compensate.

So if this has made you curious, or excited to try it for your self, please feel free to ask more questions, I'll be happy to answer!

5/11: I am really trying to keep up with things here and keep this post somewhat updated, but it turns out that the weather pretty much cooperates with me and keeps me working outside, so I seem to not end up spending time working on the computer very much... However, big things are happening on the farm!

We have finally gotten the field all tilled up and ready for planting, so now we are preparing to plant onions, beets, leeks, arugula, lettuces, peas, and lots of other stuff! And Jared is working on making me a proper farm-stand: He's cleaned out the interior and fetched a great old slate-sink which his mother has been saving for him for years from her old home - it will become the veggie-processing-sink. The greenhouse smells wonderful, as I have been transplanting tomatoes, and the grapes are all pruned into shape, as are the raspberries. Asparagus and rhubarb are up allready!  

Our two huge dogs are getting used to living with us - and with the help of a wonderful trainer, Jess, they've learned lots of new tricks and good manners! Feral still isn't convinced we should have them around - but she does enjoy sharing their food, which seems to taste better to her than her own...

4/8: This past month has zipped by! The porch is now a greenhouse, with several kinds of seeds growing on a variety of improvised tables. I had some trouble keeping it warm at night, but with the gracious help and advice from friendly farmers, I figured out how to solve the problems. Now all I am wainting for is some sunlight to help convince my seedlings it really is spring, and they should start growing!

Things are happening outside, too. I have started peas, radishes, lettuces, and spinach in newly made beds, and I have weeded the rhubarb, which is allready peeking up through its cozy layer of pine-needles. The field is still too wet to tilll, but it won't be long now before that can be done. Once tilling is accomplished, I can really get planting...

Other news on the farm include two new additions to our little family: We have adopted two wonderful and enormous dogs! Our bird, Moscow, has accepted their arrival very gracously: She likes the commotion they create. Our kitty, Feral, however, is not so sure about the dogs yet. She thinks they are too noisy, smelly, large, and silly. And she is quite concerned that there won't be enough love to go around. But I think we made progress yesterday: she shared a treat of mayo with the dogs... 

2/27: Seeds are coming to my mailbox almost daily! I am in the midst of planning out where to plant what and when. There are lots of factors to take into account - some plants like shade, others need full sun, some shouldn't be next to each other, and some like to go together. It's like making seating arrangements for a great family dinner! Time-consuming as it is, I like this activity... It's rather nice to think springy thoughts this time of year.

Next week will be devoted to the conversion of my porch to greenhouse for the spring: Stall-mats will insulate the flor and function as a heat-sink, and a grow-light will ensure that my seedlings won't get leggy and tilt to one side. As soon as that's done, I think I will be ready to start the first seedlings out there...