05.29.09

Growing Tadpoles

Posted in Alvin at 5:23 pm by Farmer

growing_tadpoles

We just have too many things to get done in too few sunny days so it seems that we are growing tadpoles!  The picture shows the mud puddle next too our barn that is our “frog and toad incubator”.

 

Ok… I’m certainly glad the drought is over and I am dealing with the fact that we just got 2 years of rain in the last month; however, our peppers, eggplant and winter squash are ready to be transplanted to the field but our ground is too wet to make beds. We had 9.73 inches of rain just in May and 19 inches so far this year. What is a farmer to do? We simply wait for the ground to dry up enough so the soil can be worked. I am thankful that we have peppers and eggplant growing in the greenhouse because these crops might provide us with enough food for the CSA since our field crops are going out later than usual.

Our neighbor Alvin who has been farming their entire life has a famous saying,

“A dry year will scare you to death but a wet year will kill you.”

Right now I am feeling like that saying is ever so true. I am just praying for a reprieve so that we can transplant our peppers, eggplant, summer squash and winter squash out to the field.

On the bright side…. The frogs love this weather and we watched a few tadpoles turn into frogs this past weekend hopping happily away from their mud puddle to hopefully eat some mosquito larva and other bugs! Our spring crops that were transplanted over a month ago are beginning to grow; however our most recently transplanted crops are just waiting for some sunshine

05.13.09

Git-Ur-Done

Posted in Veggies at 5:57 pm by Farmer

Finally our third sunny day in a row…. A brake in rain so we are spending our time getting plants out of the greenhouse and into the fields, our fields plowed and much more…. We are so thankful for the great crew on the farm this year: they are easy going, hard workers, dedicated to a local food system, and always offering to help with whatever chores come up. That is the real reason why we are getting so many things done in just a few sunny days! (I also give a little credit to the double row transplanter that my husband wanted.  Another topic about fine-tuning our farming practices.)

HERE IS EVERYTHING we have done just this week: prepared beds and transplanted broccoli, napa cabbage, lettuce, baby boc choi and kohlrabi to the fields. We have once again re-arranged our propagation greenhouse and have transplanted bell peppers, roasting peppers and paprika peppers into the soil of the greenhouse. Re-arranging the greenhouse is easier said than done… This job requires moving plants started for plant sales to another coldframe, tilling the earth in the propagation house with a tiller, and organizing our propagation benches so all like plants are together.

So tomorrow also promises to be sunny and our hope is to get parsley and a few cut flowers transplanted to the fields! I am dreaming of ripe tomatoes, mint and parsley transformed into a refreshing dish of tabouli salad!

It is those dreams of delicious summer dishes that keep me motivated.