Thinning

The GREENHOUSE is almost finished!!! Steven and Summer Moon have been working very hard, the next thing to figure out is how to get the sides to roll up so we can get some ventilation going on.

In the fields, the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, it's a happy place to be!

Since the last post, Summer Moon planted more cruciferous around the greenhouse, with tomatoes and peppers inside the greenhouse. She and I have also planted a few rows of summer squash and winter zucchini. And Steven and I have been replanting the chinese cabbage (which was demolished by beetles) and spinach (which are bolting in the heat) with various brassicas. Steven has a few more plants to get in the ground - cucumbers for one. But the weather is very cooperative. The plants seem very happy and healthy. Some broccoli are already starting to head-up! We have had beautiful, warm days and then a few overcast days, then back to sunshine. We are hoping for a good, heavy rain sometime this year.

Today, I thinned beets and carrots just enough so that the next thinning will hopefully net us a nice bunch of baby root vegetables. Wireworm damage is almost zero (I pulled 13 total worms, but they were only on two plants).

Planting as of now

Three rows of Kabocha Squash were planted yesterday.

So now in the annual beds we've sown:
Cabbage, kale, spinach, lettuce
Peas, carrots, beets, chard
Corn, garlic, onions, potatoes.

The perennial beds are full of:
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, other misc berries
Artichokes, asparagus, rhubarb, all kinds of flowers
Medicinal herbs of many kinds (maybe Summer or Steven can enumerate more).

Even more exciting is THE GREENHOUSE!!!
Yesterday was also a workparty for assembling the greenhouse.
The frame was mostly up by the time I left - it's huge!!!

note: flea beetles especially love Chinese Cabbage, and Valerian makes beautiful flowers.

McWeeWhoo is Here!!

May first seems to be the day that squashes propagated outside will sprout. So it is safe to direct sow our squashes.

The little migratory bird who says "McWeeWhoo!", brings the fortuitous sign that warm days are ahead. He has officially arrived, so summer, here we come!!!

Next year, we will have to see if these two signs occur simultaneously around May 1st.

March 2015

So far it has been a warm, wet spring, no chance of working the soil with equipment, the soil would compact and we would regret it all season. We have been transplanting trees and berries however.