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Published On: Sep 08, 2007 11:33 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 08, 2007 11:33 PM
Farm worries
I always get a bit panicked this time of year,
and while I'm proud of the fact that we pretty much don't buy transplants for
our garden (except to replace "must-haves" that fail from seed) I miss having
the luxury of puttering around getting the dirt ready, knowing that come April
15th I could head down to the garden center and my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants
and leeks would be there ready and waiting for me, healthy, sturdy, and ready to
pop into the ground. What do I worry about? That we don't have enough
grow-lights. About spending money on MORE grow-lights. That I don't have the
pasture tilled under yet. Who am I going to get to till the pasture under. Where
is the farmer's market application? Can I get my egg permit? Will the chickens
ever start going in to roost on their own again? When can we get the new chicken
yard put up? Ad infinitum....
Next year will be slightly less worrisome, since I'll be able to look out on my already established planting beds, and at least know where all these baby plants are going to go, but I'm sure I'll have a whole new crop of worries. I've been wondering if I could make a go of it by cutting out transplants all together- grow beans, squash, asparagus, strawberries, lettuces, carrots and radishes...but then I know we'd still want our tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. I'd still like to strive for less reliance on indoor/greenhouse transplant crops though, especially as we get more involved in farmer's markets, even if that meant maybe movable cold frames and such.
I'm hoping we can get in touch with J tonight, since the chickens are starting to range far and wide - this evening it's the front flower beds, where I'm hoping they are restricting their snacking to bugs and leaving the spring bulbs alone. In better news, the New Farmer's Market is a great book - so glad I found it. A lot of things I already had planned but it's nice to see that some of those ideas have worked for other people - selling starts of tomatoes and lettuces in mixed variety packs to fill out your stall in early spring, asking the board what niches aren't being filled and planting accordingly, etc.
While Gi played I started the rest of the eggplant (Ichiban from last year and Orient Express to try this year), some fast ball mini cabbage, and some broccoli - pac man from last year) Those cell packs will go visit school so the kids can get some hands on growing experience. The soil blocks take up much more room then I thought, but once we have more space I think I'll make better use of them. For now, I think I may get some more sturdy cell packs for basement seed starting. Cookies to be made tonight, and more progress to be made on moving Gi's stuff from my new craft space. Filing to do too....too much! Now that the weather is warming up I ache to get out side and work on the farm the minute I get home, but with sniffly baby and cold winds, I'm left to wait anxiously for E to get home, hoping he gets here before sunset so I can get 15 minutes of time in! I'll figure out this mama/farmer thing eventually. :)
Next year will be slightly less worrisome, since I'll be able to look out on my already established planting beds, and at least know where all these baby plants are going to go, but I'm sure I'll have a whole new crop of worries. I've been wondering if I could make a go of it by cutting out transplants all together- grow beans, squash, asparagus, strawberries, lettuces, carrots and radishes...but then I know we'd still want our tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. I'd still like to strive for less reliance on indoor/greenhouse transplant crops though, especially as we get more involved in farmer's markets, even if that meant maybe movable cold frames and such.
I'm hoping we can get in touch with J tonight, since the chickens are starting to range far and wide - this evening it's the front flower beds, where I'm hoping they are restricting their snacking to bugs and leaving the spring bulbs alone. In better news, the New Farmer's Market is a great book - so glad I found it. A lot of things I already had planned but it's nice to see that some of those ideas have worked for other people - selling starts of tomatoes and lettuces in mixed variety packs to fill out your stall in early spring, asking the board what niches aren't being filled and planting accordingly, etc.
While Gi played I started the rest of the eggplant (Ichiban from last year and Orient Express to try this year), some fast ball mini cabbage, and some broccoli - pac man from last year) Those cell packs will go visit school so the kids can get some hands on growing experience. The soil blocks take up much more room then I thought, but once we have more space I think I'll make better use of them. For now, I think I may get some more sturdy cell packs for basement seed starting. Cookies to be made tonight, and more progress to be made on moving Gi's stuff from my new craft space. Filing to do too....too much! Now that the weather is warming up I ache to get out side and work on the farm the minute I get home, but with sniffly baby and cold winds, I'm left to wait anxiously for E to get home, hoping he gets here before sunset so I can get 15 minutes of time in! I'll figure out this mama/farmer thing eventually. :)
.
Posted: Mon - March 6, 2006 at 06:01 PM