Seed Planting Season

I started the seed planting season yesterday! I went up to the greenhouse, and planted mega seeds. I told Elliot I would probably do about 20 flats (each flat holds 96 seedlings). I ended up doing over 40. I just couldn't stop! My cousin lent me her manual on SPIN farming (Small Plot INtensive), and now I am all over-enthused. My theory is this: I can't make the sales, if I don't have the product! I am just going to grow as much as I can cram into my gardens, and keep cramming stuff in until I make the sales I need to.

This time, I planted leeks, a few onions, mesculin, several different lettuces, spinach, lavender, tarragon, italian parsley, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.  I will go up about every 2 weeks to plant more. And more. And more. :-)

I also planted my fava beans outside this week.

Does this mean it's spring??!!

ATTACK of the slugs!

HELP!
Yesterday morning, I was walking the gardens, checking everything over, making sure all was ok. I was so pleased by what I saw for the most part. Little lettuces, all green and growing, little carrots and peas and cabbages, all looking fantastic. I had a brief moment of pride there.... then it ended. My gorgeous arugula, which was looking fabulous the day before had disappeared. Gone. Vanished in the night. Was it birds? Was it slugs? Was it deer? I was looking forward to my first harvest in just a few weeks. I checked the beer slug traps. In them were hundreds and hundreds of little dead slug bodies. So, I thought Great! My little traps are doing their job, and I guess I'll just replant the arugula.

Then it started to rain. Crap! Within minutes, THOUSANDS of slugs were all over the place. I was madly hand picking them, and dropping them into a deep bucket of water with dish soap in it to drown them. I was out there for over 2 hours, until it got too dark to see the little bastards. I'm pretty certain trap or no trap, slugs were what got my arugula. It was an invasion! You've seriously never seen so many slugs in one place in your life.

This morning, I went to the liquor store, and bought a bunch more beer. I made a ton more traps, and set them up. I emptied the old ones of all the dead little bodies and refilled the beer. I am on a MISSION, folks. I refuse to let the beasties eat all my profits before I even get a crop. I'm all for sharing, but this is ridiculous! I plan on going out tonite to hand pick what the traps don't get. My only long term hope is that once all the grass and weeds between the beds are killed, the slugs won't have as much to eat, and maybe they will think my garden is just to far to go for a meal. Luckily, the weatherman says it will get hot and sunny for the next week, so hopefully I will have a chance to replant and get my little lettuces and arugulas going again before the next invasion.

Here's to hoping.

Crazy Days of Spring!

Well, spring is proceeding with it's usual undecidedness. Warm and sunny one day, frost the next night, and pouring rain next. You never know what the weather will bring!
Things are progressing in the garden very well for the most part. Broad beans, peas, some lettuce, arugula and carrots are popping up. A few lettuce varieties I planted haven't shown up yet... not sure what is up with that. I'm going to wait until it warms a bit, then try replanting them. I need those early crops!
I am stoked to report I finished all 50 of my garden beds on March 26. It was 11 days later than my goal, but that's ok... I got it done, and am feeling quite proud of that fact. Most beds are planted now, but I've saved a few beds to plant assorted beans into later this month when it gets warmer. I've also been working on doing yet another business plan... I am applying to the government for a grant, to see if I can get further funding so I can put the rest of the garden beds in, as well as finish my orchard and berry patch. I also want to build a few new chicken coops, so I can rotate their pasture, and the chickens will always have fresh pasture to forage in. After this winter, the chicken runs look like giant mud patties. I can't imagine that it's the healthiest thing for chickens to walk around on.
A friend of a friend gave me 30 laying hens a few weeks ago. They are just the regular laying hens, which give you huge eggs, but I still love my Dorkings the best. The new layers just drop dead every once in a while... they are definitely not as hardy as the heritage breeds.
Here is a sample of the difference in the eggs:

Even though the Dorking eggs are smaller, the birds win the contest for overall hardiness and ease of keeping. I am keeping my fingers crossed right now.... 5 of my hens are broody, and I am hoping for some little Dorking chicks soon!

Here is a pic of my new layers. There were 30 of them, but Reckless ate 2, and 4 died spotaneously.

I am also taking part in a challenge- it's called the Nourished Kitchen. It's teaching people how to eat traditionally, like we did 100 years ago and more - BEFORE we had tooth decay, and everyone got chubby. It's the direction I've wanted to go anyway, but didn't really know how to start- alot of the things we used to do to eat have been lost in the mass of processed foods we eat these days. So, I am learning how to make my own sourdough bread (and pancakes!) at the moment. It's really interesting! Things I didn't know: sourdough bread is WAY healthier for you, plus it keeps your blood sugar levels even, and is especially good for diabetics. This is the link if you are thinking of doing the same thing: http://nourishedkitchen.com/
I am looking for a cow to buy shares in, so I can get ahold of raw milk, and learn to make my own butter and yogurt products. It's so exciting to try all this stuff! The best part since I've been eating these foods is this:
I AM NOT GETTING THE TREMENDOUS SUGAR CRAVINGS I NORMALLY HAVE. I have been a junk food junky all my life, and every time I've tried to 'eat healthy' in the past (low fat, blah, blah, blah) I've had sugar cravings that have almost killed me. This week, I bought a chocolate bar and put it into my fridge. For anyone who knows me, that bar would usually have been gone the day, no, the minute I bought it. It has been 4 days, and it is still in my fridge. I've had a couple of bites, but that little bit was all I needed. I am so excited to try some new traditional recipes, and see where it takes me...

The cherry blossoms are out and I just had to take a picture of my little Aaron cherry tree all dressed up. Can't wait for those cherries this summer!

I also have 2 new arrivals at the farm. Katrina, who owns the horse that boards with me got 2 little Shetland ponies- Babe and Lenny. They are so cute, and a joy to have at the farm!

I went to a meeting a couple of weeks ago for people who raise heritage turkeys. You know how much I hated those damn turkeys....
Well, I am going to try again. There was some really awesome people there, and one of the ladies is going to come over and help me clip the turkey wings, so I don't have escapes every 10 seconds. In theory, it should be a little less stressful this time around...
We are also getting a new food made for the turkeys and chickens, which mimics closer the feed we used to give these birds. We should get faster growth out of them... it will be interesting to try it, and see what the difference is!

It's Officially Spring...;-)

Oops... haven't updated in a while! My dogboarding business has had the busiest 3 continuous months, and I've been up to my neck in dogs day after day. This is NOT a complaint! I've loved every moment of it. I am finding I am getting better and better and nicer and nicer dogs in here all the time. This week is a slow week, so I am using the few days I have to try to catch up on everything else in my life. Not an easy task!

Let's see.... what is new? I've been going gangbusters on the garden beds, and I now have 46 beds made, with the lumber for 3 more. I just have to go to the lumber store one more time to get the rest of what I need. Yay! I'm so stoked I got this much done, considering how busy I've been. I have a small load of compost coming in on Monday, so I will use that to start filling the empty beds. The load I'm getting won't get them all done by any stretch, but it will make a good dent in it.

Yesterday was March 1st. In Kelly Land, this is officially spring. I don't care what the calendar says, I don't care what the weather is doing. March 1st comes, and I want to be in the garden. Well, this year, I am! I started planting yesterday after checking the weather for the next week. There is no frost expected in that time, so I have been busy turning over the fall rye, and weeding and planting all the beds that are ready. I've got in 2 varieties of peas, 3 varieties of beets, arugula, several lettuces, walla walla onions, mesculin mix, and a couple of herbs- rosemary and oregano. If I think it's going to get cold, I will just cover the beds with newspaper to insulate the little seedlings. I also went to a friend's place who has several greenhouses, and planted basil, cabbages, tomatoes, and peppers, to be ready for me when it warms up. Very cool of him to let me do that... it will definitely give me a head start, and everything can be grown organically so I can keep my Certified Naturally Grown status.

I had to mow the lawn last week for the first time this year.... a huge bit earlier than last year! The mower started up just fine, and I got it all done just before it started raining again. I guess if it dries out a bit here and there, it will be my weekly chore again. So much to mow... I do almost 2 acres each time, all hand mowed... no ride 'em mower for me! I used to hate it, but now I don't mind so much. It's good exercise, and a great time to just plan what I want to do next.

There are green things coming out of trees all over the place, and the cherry blossoms are starting to come out. I think Mother Nature agrees with me that it should be spring now... !!