Catching Up

It’s been a few weeks since I sat down to write a newsletter. With all the markets and the (short) strawberry season, I’ve been spending so much time catching up on the farm that sending out emails has fallen to the bottom of the list of priorities. Luckily I have some help on the farm this year. Maybe you have seen Cali or Erin at market. They have been awesome, helping with watering, harvesting, markets, and planting. Cali studied at Ridgetown and has years of experience growing for plants and even has been involved in transitioning a farm to organic certification before. Erin runs her own homestead called Erin’s tiny farm where she has a garden, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and rabbits. They have been amazing this year on the farm.

With all this help for the markets it means I can focus more on the gardens. We have had less rain this year than last, which means that I am now moving irrigation lines and tanks around to water what I can. Unfortunately, it also means I have had poor germination on a few plantings, I’ve been short on radishes and turnips (and spinach, but that is almost a given), however the lettuce is still doing well and the arugula has been doing pretty good as well.

I’ve been hoping to spend some of the this time on the farm working on making other crops work. The beans and corn have been germinating well and the first planting of beans are already in flower. I struggled to get my broccoli and zucchini in on time between the strawberry harvest and training, but they are planted now and hopefully I will get a mid summer harvest. I also invested in some landscape fabric. I have been on the fence about using more plastic in my production, however the weeds have been too plentiful for me to keep up and I am hoping that the landscape fabric will keep them under control. Luckily it is reusable and I will be able to use it again and again.

It’s also been great that I am able to continue teaching piano two nights a week this summer. Things feel like they are coming together this year and that I am moving forward towards reaching where I would like to be. I feel like I am moving forward instead of my normal two steps forward one step back. I look forward to see what we can accomplish this year!