Work It

Spring has sprung and did a back flip just to show off. I imagine we are all a little hyper about this amazing weather coming so early. After a very mild winter, I am feeling pretty spoiled right now. Most of this week I was in a tank top. We enjoyed eating lunch on the porch every day and the doors are open on the cabin letting through some much needed fresh air.

It is a little bittersweet to see the acres of woods start to fill in again. I do love green but it is really nice to be able to walk anywhere in our woods through the winter. I’m hoping to carve out some time to keep our trails clear. But, who has time?

Time is my biggest issue 90% of the (eh hem) time. I’m working on not whining so much but I REALLY want my garden to kick granola ass this year. I started early by working with another farm (Leaning Willow Farm) on Wednesdays in their greenhouse. Next week that turns into field work instead of greenhouse work.  I have learned a lot from sweet Eliza.  In exchange for my ‘labor’ I get to take home some seedlings and they through in some nice potting soil last week too. It has given me more confidence in using our greenhouse and with organic gardening in general.

 Other projects have included potting up some of our perennials hopefully to sale in May and June. My tentative plan is to set up a booth on weeks when the perennials look thier best. I’m not ready for a season membership at the farmers market. And if I can’t get my act together to do a few booth weekends, then we will invite folks to buy them from us directly at the farm.

On to foodddddd gardening!

Most of our early spring crops are in. I still have a few more to seed but a lot of progress has been made. A biggggg shout out to Matt for getting the garden spaced tilled. Also, Pegi has been slaving away with me several times a week. I feel a bit bossy out there and she takes it really well. She knows a lot more about plants than I do. I just ‘play’ farmer at this point. I actually drew up a plan this year but I’m not sure why now. I change it as soon as I stick my boots in the dirt.

Jasper is handling all of this garden time pretty well. Since he is mobile, he doesn’t really like to be carried as much. The problem is that he is quick and it makes progress slow for this Mama.  Plant a seedling…grab rock out of child’s mouth…plant a seedling…divert child away from garlic plants, etc. I do think he likes it in the garden. Actually I think he likes to play in the dirt. This year he begins to understand the relationship of the plants and what ends up on his plate. Or not. He may still be too young but he surprises me everyday with his level of understanding.

I took a bunch of photos of the wildflowers popping up. I will try and blog about those soon too. For now…Mama duty calls. 

Happy Spring everyone!

Farming

There are few things that make a farm a farm. I think we are getting there! Here is my list and where we stand...

A garden - Our third farm garden will start being prepared this weekend when we turn the soil over. I have been working with another farm once a week in thier greenhouse. I'm the unofficial intern. They are giving me lots of seedlings as a trade. I'm learning a lot but I think farming is a endless education. We have also done our seed inventory and have been working on the garden lay out. Snow peas go in first...next week!

Something for sale-  I have also been working hard to get the daylily beds in order. We will have some to sell and I'm really out of excuses not to sell them. They will start bloomig in May. I have also started some other flower/herb seeds in the green house. We will see how those 'come up' before we decide if we will sell those too.

A tractor- Bob bought a beautiful tractor. He and Matt have mastered using it. It makes a lot of tasks so much easier. I still need to learn how to drive it myself. Jasper got his first tractor ride last week! He loved it but I think he loves being with his Daddy the most.

Livestock - Our first round of chicks are coming in on April 9th! This will be a whole new experience for us. I'm pretty excited about it. We are getting 20 chicks to start our flock. 10 Buff Orpingtons and 10 Light Brahmas. Matt has a beautiful coop designed. Look for photos soon!

It is a start. My back hurts.
:)

Farm Life

Talk about an overdue blog! If I told you I have been a little busy that would be a huge understatement. The move from Charlotte to Marshall nearly killed us. Only a slight exaggeration I assure you. Matt worked ridiculous hours and I managed to pack our house up with a 4-month-old baby on my hip. A special thanks to our family and friends whom helped with Jasper for a few precious hours so that I could pack. Also, a special thanks to our friends and family that helped pack up the truck and waved lovingly goodbye!

As I drove down I-40 West, in Matt’s truck, hauling a trailer, with two cats in the back, Jasper beside me and feeding him a bottle while driving J, I was finally beginning to feel the tension in my jaw release. We were welcomed by three new friends that helped us unload the truck and shared with us their own farming adventures. We ended that very long day having a well-earned cold beer with Marshall locals.

The weeks following our move are an utter blur. A joyful blur though. We had constant guests (we still do!). I attempted to make our cabin an efficient living space. It is small but very comfortable. We tilled and ‘de-stoned’ the gardens. It was back breaking work. I managed to plant ¾ of the large garden space. Matt cleaned up the basement to make it suitable for guests.  Matt also has done all sorts of farm work using the tractor, John Deer mower, his incredible ingenuity… I watched him unload a building from the other side of the property essentially by himself using the tractor as his ‘extra’ hands. It was really amazing.

The one thing we are learning is that we don’t have to do it ALL now. There are endless projects that need to be done or that we want to tackle. My primary focus has been to grow food. I don’t know if that will ever change for me. Matt and the other owners all have different interest and some basic shared interests as well. When we all got together, everyone tackled something different. It was kind of interesting to see what everyone was concerned with. I hope that when everyone has built their homes we can tackle projects quickly and efficiently as a group. That isn’t to say that we haven’t had group efforts, for instance… the fire pit was a hot mess and the group took care of it quickly in an afternoon.

I have to admit my veggie garden ‘plans’ went out the window. I had to hastily plant seeds during Jasper’s naps. I’m pretty pleased with what has been accomplished and the soil here is INCREDIBLE. But it isn’t a picture perfect layout by any means. Also…weeds are hard for me to keep up with. The most important thing is that we are eating from the garden now. Just this morning alone I harvested zucchini, squash, small bell peppers, a bunch of green beans and a few small carrots that needed thinning. It has been like that all of this week. We have also had ridiculous amounts of radish, blueberries, blackberries, cherries and strawberries. So, I can’t whine too much about our first summer garden season so far. I just have hopes for better planning for our fall and subsequent gardens.

We are in discussions about what type of business to run from the farm. There are various crops we are learning about. I think we will have to work as a group to make some definitive decisions on that matter. Suggestions are welcomed.

What I am enjoying the most right now is being a Mother and “farm wife”. We are living a very rural life. We don’t watch any TV, it is 20 minutes to the store, we have no Internet and our lives are richer being unplugged. I find myself reading field guides and gardening books; and Matt reads fishing books and car manuals. We are pretty much up and down with the sun.  I love going to the mailbox again.

I also really enjoy sharing the farm with guests. People transform here. The farm is the best blood pressure medicine I know of. People gawk at our lilies in disbelief. They are truly breathtaking. I find people talking about simplifying their lives at home…wherever they are visiting from. One of my favorite things to do is to stand by the blueberry bushes snacking with friends.

I know this all sounds like a commercial for ecotopia but I assure you there are moments where my skinned fingers and insect bitten ankles crave a spa day. I am human after all. But this is the way of life I was meant to live. I feel it in my bones. Literally…my bones ache!

Matt’s folks broke ground on their new house a few weeks after we moved. It proceeded to rain for two weeks and progress slowed tremendously.  I feel like we are in for a good dry spell now which should help gets things underway. Their home site is a few hundred feet away through the woods. Lucky Jasper will have grandparents in skipping distance some time in the Winter.

Sweet Jasper Finn just turned 6 months old. He is our dream realized in a little spirit. I can already tell he will be our farm muse. I find we do everything with his future days here in mind. He brings so much joy.

That is the news from the farm.

Work Zone Ahead

In my last blog post, I was gearing up for the big garden plan. I was hoping we would have made lots of progress by now. Alas, Life happens. Between the new baby, Matt wrapping up his Charlotte jobs, important weddings of some of our best friends, bad weather, and packing...we just haven't been up to the farm. We did FINALLY make a trip up there last weekend. We move in at the end of next week and we are SO excited.

Last weekend was magic for us. As we drove onto the farm, I was shocked at how different it looked as Spring has made a major appearance. Everything is so lush and rich. The rain has been so good to the land. Our family picked up tons of junk and trash that had been left by the previous owners too. What a difference that made! My Mom hired a neighbor to turn over three large garden plots by the greenhouse.

I believe after spending some time mulling it over, I have a plan for these three areas.

Mom defined this area as the asparagus garden. I plan to fill half of the area with corn. Did I mention that Mom bought 100 one year old asparagus crowns?

Matt and I about broke our backs getting 1/3 of them in the ground.

Madison county has some major rocky soil. Check out the size of some of those stones. It's going to take a lot of work de-stoning the gardens. But, the soil is SOOO rich! It's worth the work.

For this large section I want to plant a Store and Can garden. This will be food we put up for year round enjoyment. And, this smaller bed right beside the green house I want to use for seasonal produce. I feel really behind on planting but, I know the greenhouse will help us catch up.

The previous owner had a lot of herbs already planted. It will take us a while to identify all that is there. When I was pregnant, my midwives recommended I find some comfrey tea to use for swelling (use your imagination why). It was actually hard to come by and a friend ended up giving me some. Well guess what is growing on the farm in full force? Lots of comfrey!
* Note* Do not drink comfrey tea. Use it as a topical cure only!

We also have strawberries and blueberries that Mom planted and some that were already residents on the farm. I also found lots of blackberry and raspberry bushes scattered around.  It should be a great cobbler season.

There is so much to look forward to and a TON of work to be done. I can't express how overwhelming it is to stand in this dirt and know that it is yours to work. We have time, we have...forever. Matt, Jasper and I enjoyed a sunset together. We watched the sun say goodnight over the trees to the West. It was a sweet feeling to be with each other looking over the fields, together. 

A dream come true.