|
Everywhere you look there is a sea of green. The grass is green. The trees are green. The field is green. And the rows of veggies and flowers are green but not all the green is good. While all that grass is great in the field and I can't wait to whack at it with my scythe and make some old fashioned hand-cut hay (even a farmer can have weird hobbies :) ), it is not so great (or easy) to get rid of where I don't want it, namely my planting rows. Each year I use a few new tactics to try to manage it and this year it is my ultimate goal (always gotta have a goal right?). I'm tackling it with tarps (to block the light it needs to grow), tillage (to whack it back), weed fabric (to stop it from growing while the plants have their own little spaces and since the other methods don't work while growing in that space), solarization (covering with clear plastic to 'burn' it out), and sometime just yanking it in frustration! Hopefully this year will be it's downfall! mwahahaha!!!! but really, I need it to go just from my planting beds. It can have the field all to itself!  A sea of green under gray skies. All the rain makes the grass grow taller and taller which the chickens and ducks like.  Another sea of green but not the kind I was hoping for! All that grass likes to grow everywhere, even to engulf my rows of veggies and flowers. Sometimes the best thing is to whack it all down, a light till, and cover with weed fabric before take two with new transplants.  Before all those weeds and smothered crops get whacked down, I cut some baby greens that will be available this week.  The first butter lettuce heads are ready! They (mostly) won the battle against the grasses with the help of some weed fabric.  The next crops are growing fast and the grass is beaten back in their rows (for now)  The weed fabric doing it's job with some nice rows of young flower plants and head lettuce. I am a very 'live and let grow' kinda gardener and always had a ramble of veggies and flowers in my home gardens, but farming requires a bit more strictness, efficiency, and tough love when it comes to what you let grow where.  The grazers are on the grass  Hella helps find lots of things in the long grass, including tiny (and some not so tiny) gophers. You get' em girl before they gobble everything up! There has been a lot out here already this year. What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm!
0 Comments
Since most of the week has featured yet more planting and transplanting, I'm featuring the highlights of microgreens production. Basically, it's put some seeds on soil, water them, and watch them grow, but there are a few quirky bits that I went 'hmm' to when I first grew them. They have so many good qualities (low maintenance, quick to grow, quick to harvest, tasty!, and especially, they are super duper packed with nutrients!). Imagine all the nutrients a full size plant has and pack the bulk of it into two tiny leaves and a skinny stem! On the flower front, the Tulips of the Week are Fostery King (a bold red petal with bright golden center) and Rasta Parrot (a rainbow of Caribbean colors on curly petals).   Next they are stacked! Yep, right on top of one another. Even the tippy top one gets a cover of an overturned humidity dome weighted with rooted cuttings. This is an important step that helps those surface-strewn seeds grip into the thin layer of soil.   Longer stems make them easier to cut and harvest! Sowing them really dense and not giving them the too much light helps with that!  Only 14 days after sowing, they have grown to the right size and are heading to be harvested! A short cart ride from the Dragon Dome greenhouse to the shiny & new carport washing & packing area, they are cut, mixed, and bagged up. The remaining soil, stem ends, and roots are dumped into the field and chicken runs for the hens to enjoy and make tidy work of cleaning up! Talk about zero waste!  And the shiny, new washing & packing area is finally shiny! With the electrical work all done and connected, I can finally see everything and have lots of space to work on many projects at once as I try to finish them in a frenzy to get them all done before the full harvest season starts when the field crops are ready  This weeks tulips are the bold and beautiful Fostery King and the otherworldly Rasta Parrot! Ya man, they be jammin! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm! The crush to get the plants in the ground at the right time is on! I can't prep beds fast enough for all the seedlings that are ready to go in, even though some have to wait until I know it won't get too cold. I will get frosts throughout the summer (the longest the farm goes without a frost is 3 weeks), but the earlier and later in the year the harder the frosts and little tunnels of fabric and plastic can only provide so much protection. For most growers they are considered season extension supplies, but for me they make growing in my little valley possible and without them I would be limited to spinach, radishes, and kale. It was a great market last week and I will be there again this week (and every week) with all the flowers, micros, and eggs (and soon more flowers and veg) rain or shine! Now back to bed prep and planting!  Lots of baby plants got to go into their forever homes this week (and many more the next few weeks too). One bed of flowers. One bed of lettuce and greens. One bed of direct seeded flowers and beets!  Right after their planting, a protective cover of frost cloth will keep them safe through the chilly nights. The direct seeded ones need a little chilliness and frost to help wake them up and make them pop!  Some of the neighbors dropped by while I was planting but they weren't very chatty  The duck nest is just a ring of fluffy straw with most eggs in the center but a few like to hide under the fluff, so each egg collection means a slightly rumpled nest remains.  The hens favorite time to roam is after a good rain. The bugs are up and out still and the hens won't get wet anymore. Num num grubs!  Hella was happy to help while rolling in the mowed straw, even if she didn't get much work done  The daffodils continue as the first varieties finish but the next begin to bloom. It feels like every bunch I collect and hold up to the sun is like a salute to spring!  The same goes for the tulips. The mellow yellow Akebonos are finishing up but the Candy Pinks are just starting. These beauties will satisfy a different kind of sweet tooth! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at the Farmers Market at Libby, this Thursday from 3-7pm! I'll be at the Troy Farmers Market, this Friday from 330-630pm! It's the first week of markets! Both The Farmers Market at Libby (Thursday 3-7pm)and the Troy Farmers Market (Friday 330-630pm) start up this week. Both markets are altering layout and vendor setup to accommodate social distancing. We are also encouraging non-cash payments, like cards or tokens, but cash is still welcome, and I thank everyone for their patience as hands are washed or sanitized between each transaction. If you order online and are picking up at Libby, you can opt for a no-contact pickup by using the markets drive-thru lane. Just give your name (or the name on the order) to the gatekeepers at the Market Manager tent and they will let you thru! The online store will open every Wednesday at 8am and close every Thursday at 10am, to give me enough time to prep the last orders for the markets. (If you want to pickup at Troy Farmers Market, please let me know in the 'Note to Seller' box at the end of checkout or forward the confirmation email to me at dragonsbreathfarm@gmail.com. The website is giving me some issues with multiple pickup sites and inventory, but I *hope* to have it fixed soon) Everyone is welcome to walk in and shop as well. It will be nice to see everyone's smiling (even if behind masks) faces and even if from 6ft away! I'll have the usual eggs and microgreens as well as daffodil bunches and spring bouquets with daffodils and the first tulips of the year! I'll also have some everlasting wreaths made from last years dried flowers and foliage and some handwoven scarves that kept me busy in the winter. And don't forget about Mother's Day this weekend! It is very much spring on the farm as everything begins to green up and grow tall! Here's to a great market season with healthy, local food and flowers that help the food security of the community, supports small farmers, makers, and bakers, and the health of me, you, and all the other creatures we share the world with! Yay for all the farmers, markets, and shoppers that keep us going! Thank you!!!  The tomatoes are planted in the greenhouse in their boxes, safe to enjoy the warmth during the day and survive the frosty nights.  And while the tomatoes have their designated space, everything else is jam packed in there! It's tiptoe room only, which makes watering an interesting endeavor. Most are flowers that will be planted out over the next few weeks!  The daffodils are popping this week! And the first tulips are busting open! Yay for spring flowering bulbs. They are like a little bank account you bury in fall and it grows and grows all winter, hidden under the snow, and pops up to make your withdrawal in spring!  Markets (both at Libby and Troy) start this week! Both will have modified layouts and vendor setups to accommodate social distancing, hand washing, and sanitizing. I've been practicing and fine-tuning the setup which will shift as different crops are harvested. Here, foot shoppers would be on the right with me in the middle and the produce and flowers behind. Behind (on the left) there will be a sign to indicate the area for picking up your online order with no contact in the drive-thru lane.  Soon all the farm goodies will be riding in style! It's been insulated to keep everything chilled and cool on the way to market and while they are waiting to be put on display!   They say the camera adds ten pounds. True, but so does a human being fully trained to fill the empty bowl with every meow until the vet says to stop. Naughty human! Portion control and chicken chasing is the phrase of the day! Meow all you want Hella. No free refills!!! What's available this week?
|
AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
October 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
