Despite the lack of blogging, we are farming

Having a newborn makes gardening rather tricky, but we have managed to get our cold weather plants in the ground over the past month, and have started our tomato seedlings as well.  We've figured out that Landon is quite happy to be worn in a wrap, so Mike has been doing the bulk of the actual farming work, while I wear Landon and supervise.  I hope that once I can wear him on my back, I'll be getting my hands dirty more often.  At any rate, a quick run-down of our progress so far this season:

Around April 15, we started the tomato seedlings inside.  We let them go in their starter cells for much longer than we did last year (due to nothing other than parenting induced exhaustion), and just transferred them into larger pots last night.  Right now we have 24 seedlings, and I plan to plant 12 of them in the actual garden, sending the extras off to Taperman and anyone else in need of tomatoes.

Tomato seedlings 4-18

Tomato seedlings 5-6

Tomato seedlings 5-13

The weekend of April 29, we did our first cold weather plantings, getting arugula, mesclun greens, sugarsnax carrots, beets and scallions in the ground.  I had wanted to get more done, but this was my first attempt at leaving the baby inside with his dad while I farmed, and I just couldn't stay outside for longer than an hour.

The next weekend we tag teamed the planting, and got the potatoes, chard, half of the cabbage, broccoli, radishes, carnival blend and koruda carrots all planted.  We've had a nice warm spring with lots of rain, which I'm hoping will be good for the garden.  So far, it's been excellent for the weeds, so we've had to spend about equal time weeding and planting each weekend.  The chickens have been the happy recipients of the weeds, which is the only upside to their presence.

This past weekend we took Landon on his first trip to the farmer's market to pick up leek, shallot, more cabbage, and brussels sprouts seedlings.  We ran into one of his baby buddies from our prenatal group, and even though he slept through the entire outing, I think he enjoyed it.  At least, we enjoyed it!  Mike broke out the rototiller and cultivator attachment for the weed whacker to create some additional space on the northern side of the garden for the brussels sprouts and for sunflowers, and he planted all of the seedlings.  Landon and I supervised (again, Landon slept).  Now we just have the warm weather crops left - eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, bush and pole beans, squash, and zucchini.  I think I'll plant them Memorial Day weekend, and we'll be hitting up the farmer's market one more time before then to get some more seedlings, since we'll need to buy eggplant and pepper seedlings.

Easter egg radishes 5-14

Rhubarb 5-14

Sugar snap pea seedlings 5-14

I'm planning on starting cauliflower seedlings inside once the tomatoes move into the garden, to be planted in July for a fall harvest.  We'll also plant a second row of sugar snap peas for a fall harvest (hopefully this will be different than last year, when I said that we'd plant a second row of peas, but never actually did). 

The fruit trees have been blooming for the last two weeks and are just beautiful.  Right now the apple and crab apple trees are in full bloom.  So lovely.

Finally, the chickens.  They aren't a pretty group.  We've tried giving them extra protein in the form of sunflower seeds, and extra mental stimulation in the form of large seed blocks, but they are still pecking each other to the point of baldness.  I think we only have one or two girls who remain unpecked, and we've given up on trying to protect them from each other.  They're laying very well, producing 12-15 eggs a day, but they certainly aren't much to look at right now. 

As the farming season winds down

First, I have now forgiven bad dogs Bullet and Lily.  We found all of the missing chickens hiding under the coop, and Mike has put up electric netting around the sides of the coop.  Bullet and Lily have both been zapped, and are now steering clear of the coop.  I did have to scoop a barred rock out of the giant pumpkin plant earlier today as she had flown out of the yard, so we still have to deal with the issue of chicken stupidity.  Maybe adding some type of roof to the yard?  I'm not sure.  Bad dogs, predators, and stupid chickens are not a good combination.

Repentant bad dogs

Anyway, before the chicken incident I was set to provide an update on how the farm is doing now that we're nearing the end of the season.  We went to a wedding last weekend out of town, and my parents had dog sitting duty.  Before handing the dogs over, I did a big garden harvest to pawn off as many veggies as possible on my mother.  The chard is still going strong - I am definitely going to continue to grow chard over spinach in the future - the fact that it is still so abundant and hasn't bolted is a huge plus.  Next year I may grow less, but still, chard was a good choice.

Our tomatoes are still producing heavily, too.  It's been fun this year to grow the heirloom mix, but I think next year I'll be a bit more picky about the types of tomatoes that I plant.  I'd like more sauce-type tomatoes, and maybe fewer confusing novelty tomatoes (I just never know when to pick the green striped heirlooms that don't ever change color).

Our eggplants have been a nice surprise.  Most of my gardening books talk about how difficult it is to grow eggplant in northern climates, but my eggplants have been pretty productive and low-maintenance.  I haven't had a tremendous harvest of eggplants, but more than I can use myself.  Growing so many different types was fun, and I love the mix of purples, whites and greens in my eggplants.  For this picking, I had a white eggplant and a dark purple eggplant, both of which went to my mom.

I haven't talked much about leeks since my post admitting my errors in planting them, but I'm happy to say that they've grown up well.  The white parts are still a bit short, so next year I'll have to plant them deeper.  I have to say that I don't really notice much of a flavor difference between leeks and onions, but I think the leeks are pretty so I think I'll grow them again next year.  They were also easier to grow than the onions, which are supposed to be incredibly easy, yet mine mostly just died.

We're getting a nice crop of fall carrots, and the last group that I picked was just gorgeous.  The deep purple carrots are beautiful, and I'm very impressed that most of my carrots ended up growing so straight given the number of clumps of sod in my beds.  These were hardworking carrots, for sure.  The stubby carrots in the bottom photo are supposed to look like that, they're an heirloom variety.  I have to admit that my carrots don't really seem to taste any better than regular carrots, but at least they're prettier.

Chard

Harvest for mom

Lovely carrots

My mom used the veggies to make a hearty soup, so I was glad that they were enjoyed.  I am still completely overwhelmed by the bounty that the garden has yielded, and so I haven't been using the vegetables nearly as much as I'd hoped that I would. 

The giant pumpkin continues to get bigger and bigger, although it hasn't turned color to a deeper orange yet.  I hope this means that it's going to continue to grow, but for all I know, it's just going to be a pale pumpkin.  I really ought to have included something in the below picture for scale - so you can get a better idea of the size, the giant pumpkin is about as long as Lily - so, big.  I'm not sure how we're going to move and weigh it yet, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. 

We've had our first light frost, and several of the plants in the garden, most notably the cucumbers, have folded.  Mike and I harvested most of the remaining squash a few days ago just in case, and we now have the squashes curing in the barn.  The Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins are really lovely.  The last two that we picked aren't as deeply red as the first, but they are nearly perfectly shaped, and I'm quite proud.  My two dinky spaghetti squashes never got much bigger, but we had a good harvest of sweet dumplings, and two very big candy roaster squashes.  My white pumpkin is still on the vine, as I'm hoping it will get a bit bigger and whiter in the next week.  We've left the giant pumpkin on the vine too, to see if it will grow more, and we watch the forecast each night.  I'm not sure when the first real hard frost will come, but based on the chill in the air, it feels like it will be soon.

The girls haven't laid their first egg yet and cobwebs are gathering in the nest boxes.  They are now thoroughly accustomed to me bringing them treats, and they all storm the gate of the fence when I walk up to the yard.  If I show up empty handed, I have a lot of angry chickens to confront.  Below, they attack an overripe tomato.  In the last week, they've expanded their pallets to include mashed potatoes and hummus, both of which are quite funny to watch them eat. 

We've also identified the mystery squash growing out of the compost. It's actually an extremely productive gourd plant!  Our neighbor grew gourds in our back yard last year, so some of the old gourds must have ended up on the compost pile.  They're very pretty, and the plant has produced a ton of them, so we'll have some nice seasonal decorations.  Even though I was hoping that the plant would be another winter squash, I'll happily take bonus gourds.

Gourd 9-16-2011

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)



Below, snow peas (6-12)


Below, radishes and carrots (6-12)


Below, potatoes (6-12)

Below, onions and scallions - they're too tiny to see but I promise they're there (6-12)

Below, swiss chard and onions (6-12)

Below, Mike and Taperman digging the trench for the chicken fence. They buried the fence in the ground for added chicken security.

Below, Lily - our chicken dog.

Below, lettuce (6-12)

Below, eggplant, broccoli and leeks (6-12)

Below, herb bed (6-12)

Below, green beans (6-12)

Below, tomatoes, eggplant, onions, sunburnt marigolds (6-12)

Below, brussels sprouts, arugula, onions, lemon cucumbers (6-12)

Below, broccoli! (6-12)

Below, bok choy (6-12)

Below, beets and bok choy (6-12)

The farm is constructed!

Although we didn't have a tractor this weekend (very, very sad), we still managed to get quite a bit of farm construction done. On Saturday morning, we went to the Portland farmer's market to check out seedlings. We were supposed to go to another plant sale after the farmer's market, but I bought all the seedlings that I needed at the farmer's market, and figured that I would only cause myself spacing issues if I went to the plant sale. At the farmer's market, I bought broccoli, cauliflower, red and green cabbage, leek, several kinds of onion, brussels sprouts, and thai basil seedlings. With the exception of the thai basil, these are all supposed to be cooler weather plants that should hopefully survive outside now, so I planned to transplant them over the weekend. Sadly, one of the thai basil plants is already a goner. We noticed yesterday afternoon that it was quite droopy, and this morning I saw that it had succumbed to damping off. This happens to seedlings sometimes, quite quickly, and kills them. As you can see in the picture, it's not pretty. At least it wasn't a seedling that I grew, so I don't feel responsible, although I am the one who selected it at the market...

We also went to the tractor supply store to buy supplies for the fence. We have lots of wildlife near our house, including deer, so a fence is not optional for the garden. We went with a five foot fence, but have been warned that this may not be high enough to discourage the deer. We'll have to see. Mike worked on putting up the fence (I did provide key assistance in keeping the corner posts straight, and wrestling with the wire fencing, but he did most of the actual hard work). I transplanted most of my seedlings, also adding a few that we picked up at Skillins on the way home, because I really do go there every weekend. On Saturday, I managed to get the strawberries, brussels sprouts, onions, and cabbage planted. We were rained out by 5:00, so I couldn't finish the rest of the seedlings. I wasn't too disapointed though, as I've learned over the last few weeks that 1) I'm really, really not very good at shoveling and 2) gardening involves a lot of shoveling. Because we ran out of compost last week, I had to manually get the manure into the remaining beds. At one point, I had to admit to Mike that I wished we had a tractor. Either that, or I need some serious shoveling lessons and possibly steroids to bulk up faster.

Above from top: Entire garden post-fencing, cauliflower/broccoli bed, start of the herb garden, and strawberry/rhubarb bed

Today, Mike finished the fence, and I put in the rest of the seedlings and was able to plant all of the seeds that I had scheduled to plant this weekend. I had planned out where I wanted to plant everything, and I almost managed to follow my plan - I mixed up my first bed, but got on track after that. I used hot pink string to make rows to follow when planting the seeds, which I'm hoping will help me a bit when I start weeding the beds, so that I don't inadvertantly pull up my plants instead of the weeds. I'm glad that we went with the raised beds, because even though it's rained for what feels like the last two months, the soil in the beds was moist but not soaked, unlike the rest of the yard which has turned into a huge mud pit.

Above from top: cabbage bed, brussels sprouts with arugula seeds, onions/scallions, and leeks/broccoli & cauliflower (I had extra seedlings)

Below - Seedlings taking over the office! The top photo is mostly tomatoes blocking everything else. In the bottom you can see the marigolds, zinnias, peppers, and tomatoes.


Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll start having baby lettuce. It's very exciting to look out onto the garden and see the seedlings and know that I planted seeds - now I hope that it grows! Next weekend I'll plant more of the warmer weather seeds as long as it looks like we won't have another cold spell, and then I'll transplant the tomatoes and peppers and plant my squash in June. We still have to prepare the beds for the squash, and decide exactly where they're going to go, but all of the other garden prep is done. Well, I also have to mulch the walkways in the garden, but it's so gross and muddy in there that I need to wait for it to dry out a bit.