Plant it and Pullet: Weeding, and the chicken coop is built!

We had another very productive weekend on the farm. I knew that it was time to finally face weeding, as this past week saw tremendous growth in my weed population. My seedlings have also grown enough that, for the most part, I can tell my vegetables from the weeds (although I did accidentally pull out some bok choy, which was unfortunate because the bugs already did a number on that crop). Mike occupied Lily while I weeded on Saturday, and I managed to get through about half of the garden. Emotionally, weeding my garden is a bit of a roller coaster. I finish a bed and feel quite accomplished and satisfied, and then I look up and realize there are so very many beds left. I saw this coming, but it still stings.

I also had to do some serious maintenance on both my onions and my leeks. We went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning to buy some veggies and more seedlings, and as we were waiting to pay at one stall, I overheard a man animatedly debating various leek planting techniques with a farmer. They were talking about trenching versus digging individual holes, and I started to get a little concerned. After way too much thought, I realized that of course, leeks need to be planted deeply in order to get that nice long white part. Also, of course they're planted deep in dirt - that's why you have to wash them so thoroughly. I had planted my leek seedlings about an inch deep, which is not even close to sufficient. So I dug them all out, then made 6 inch holes and re-planted them. Onions, too, were an area where common sense and research did not inform my original planting decisions. As I was weeding, I noticed that I had planted clumps of 3-4 (sometimes far more) in places where only one onion should have gone. I had also bought even more onions at the farmer's market, so I had a lot of onions to (re)plant. I finally got them all sorted out by Sunday afternoon, and can safely say that I do not need to buy any more onion seedlings. Now they are occupying corners in almost every bed. At least we like onions.

I also planted more carrot seeds and radish seeds as part of my plan to have continuous harvests of these crops over the summer. The plants have grown so much in the past week, and Mike and I both agree that it's actually starting to look like a real garden now. I still have more weeding to do, but I think that the beds actually look tended now, which is a vast improvement over how they looked on Friday.

Speaking of vast improvements, Mike mulched the walkways of the garden, and they look lovely now. He did landscape paper, covered with straw, covered with mulch. It looks nice and neat, and hopefully this will keep the walkways weed free.

I think I may also be done adding new veggies to the farm. I bought several different kinds of eggplant at the farmer's market (hansel, gretel, rosa bianca and apple green), although I have low expectations for their survival given my track record with eggplant. I also now need to officially be done buying new seedlings, because given my onion re-organization, I am out of room at last.

While I was weeding and planting, Mike, Taperman and Lily were hard at work readying the chicken coop for the girls. They built an outdoor run with 6 foot chicken wire fencing (there was much marveling over the fact that 6 foot chicken wire even exists), and Taperman fashioned a pulley-operated door so that the girls can have access to the run from their coop. We are now ready for the girls to arrive on Sunday. We still need to put in a roost and laying boxes, but the roost can easily be done next weekend, and we still have time before they start to lay.

Lily tested out the door (no picture, unfortunately), and confirmed that it works fine. Perhaps she's part mastiff, part chicken?

Above, close up of a tomato plant (6-12). Look how nice and green the leaves are! I think they're happy. Taperman also showed me how to pull of the suckers (new branches that distract the plant from forming good roots).

Below, peppers, tomatoes and marigolds (6-12)