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So many things to get done before everything freezes or get covered in snow! I've been rushing to dig up the Ranunculus tubers as my ground is starting to freeze and they wont survive over winter. The Dahlias are already up but they are always easier as their tubers are much bigger. The Ranunculus are smaller and harder to find among the weeds that encroached in. (If you got Ranunculus tubers from me this spring, you can start diggin them up now. Shake off most of the dirt. Spread them out to dry completely (don't heat them! just let them air dry). Store in a paper bag or box in a cool, dry place until next spring!) The Dragon Dome Greenhouse is being shifted over to Fall/Winter production which means the Cherry Tomatoes are out and the Salad Mix is going in while the perennials that didn't make it into the field get to wait until next spring in their 4" pots. The pasture is getting ready for the Hen huts & runs to get lined up and winterized for their comfort and my convenience. The rows of spent crops are getting mowed and tarped so all that plant matter can be composted down by my wonderful worms and underground organisms to help make healthy soil for next years crops. And everything that has been spread around the field, pasture, and lawn has to be picked up and stored away for winter so there are no surprises under the snow!  The colors of Fall continue to shine! A little bit of ground work on the High Tunnel goes a long way, but prolonged nightly temps in the low teens and measly highs means an extremely small window of unfrozen ground to work with so I may not get as far a long as I hope  All the Cherry Tomatoes have been stripped from the vines, ready or not. Which was a good things as last night the greenhouse got down to 28F and the vines went limp and soggy. It isn't worth heating for the tomatoes in the fall as the sunlight drops too much.  All those newly rotting tomato vines have been severed at the base and pushed aside to make way for the Winter Salad Mix. Once the vines are dry, I'll unclip them from the trellis system and put them on the compost because who wants to touch slimy, squishy tomato vines?  The hens enjoy the bare warmth of the afternoon sun. The next big task is to get all their huts and runs lined up and ready for winter which means all the covers and tie downs to keep the snow off and all the electric cords and heaters to keep them warm and toasty!  There will be so much Salad Mix available this week at both the Troy Bounty Festival and at the Amish Farm to Market Store. The little sweet and crisp heads have been surviving the harsh temps under their frost cloths and that chill only helps to make them sweeter still!  There will be TONS of dried flowers available this Friday at the Troy Bounty Festival! Check out my Facebook or Instagram Page later today and tomorrow for more photos of them as I spread out and assemble back together all the wonderful Statice, Strawflower, Grasses, Pearly Everlasting, and more that I dried this season! The kittens were very happy to have me back. They have graduated to a new home in the upstairs office which can stay warm in winter even with the door closed thanks to grates in the floor to the woodstove downstairs. I have been working hard every morning to clean, organize, tidy, and secure shelves, indoor plants, and anything else I think they could try to disrupt or destroy. Once I'm done, their chaos gets released upon the home!  Of course, Hella enjoys her outside time in the warm afternoon sun as much as the Hens do, especially since most of my time involves digging right now, which is a task she very much likes too so she takes it as an invitation! What's available this week?
Where to find it all?
I'll be at Troy this Friday for the Bounty Festival from 330-630pm!
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AuthorI'm Farmer Megan with a life full of cackles, clucks, quacks, weeds, crazy kitten, and one tiny, senior, blind dog. Archives
May 2023
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