Chocolate and Lemon - The Fresh Smells of Spring!

So cold and wet out, been yucky out all weekend. Down in the 30's at night, windy and barely breaking into the 40's during the day. Blah! I'm up to my muck boots in mud and certainly not hospitable to being outside farming. Made the best of it by hunkering down in the potting shed to start up all the fresh cuttings gathered from the spring herbs leafing up around the farm. I can still smell their scent on my hands as I type! If I can get enough of these growing, they will make great fillers for the bouquets and add a fresh scent as well. Lemon Balm cuttings, placed into organic potting mix and set out in the hoophouse for a month or two until roots form. Yep it's really that easy. Only takes a few minutes to potting up the cuttings. A much welcome break from planting thousands of seeds. Needed to see some of that instant green! Yumm - Chocolate mint!

Here is a shot of an experimental plot we are starting this year - it will not have the perfectly made plastic mulch rows, like in the front of the farmstand. Instead - it will have alittle more of a natural look since we will use the chickens to strategically weed the plots. This is experimental because we will have to learn alot - like how big plants have to be so the chickens don't damage the plants and flowers we are growing. Should be interesting since we have to find plants that the girls won't want to nibble on as they eat the bugs and weeds around them. Chris already tilled it up before the rains started, and another truckload of manure was worked in. Below is a shot of what the idea is: On the right is a green carpet of fresh weeds starting to take over a flower bed. The whole area looked like that, but on the left, is what the girls did in less than 3 days time. Our farm mascots - I think they are up for the job!

Speaking of weather, here is a picture of the sweet peas planted last fall. The seeds made it through the cold and are sprouting through the mud and finally taking off. Sweet peas actually thrive in our wet, cool spring temps. Hope they hurry up and bloom - I am craving their soft flowers on my desk at work - it's fun to watch because no one can resist stopping to sniff a vase full of the pastel petals! - Sweet pea flowers are the most romantic and old-fashioned spring flower there is.

Speaking of blooms - spotted the first blossom of a Shasta Daisy. Hard to believe these babies were nothing more than micro-specks of seed last summer - whole lotta daisies on the horizon. They are lush, healthy and huge and ready to bloom! Countdown to the last frost date here, about 2-3 weeks away.

Installation of Plastic Mulch & Painting!

Noticing an increase in the egg-output, with the turn of spring and the lengthing of the daylight hours. I had to burst out laughing when I collected this one from the coop the other day! Almost thought dumpling was trying to play a joke on me, but nope - it's real! Well you can't find that in stores, lol- Mini-omlet anyone?

Greenhouse is getting full of seedlings awaiting the last frost date. I have them in a hoophouse with a second layer of plastic over them to keep them sheltered from the cool nights.

Have blisters on my hands from all that Soil-blocking - many heirloom veggies this year.

Dumpling staining the boards and decking.

Here's dear dumplin' on round two of paint samples. Had a few emergency "Date Nights" at home depot this week, since we couldn't decide on the color for the farm stand. Originially wanted to match the color with the main farm house, and paint it white, however, it just looked way to bright once a full wall was painted. Opted for a more natural brown tone for the main color,but kept the white trim give it some pop.

Like it? After a few trips to the HD - We think its groovy. Dumpling finished a test wall so the electrician could install the meter box. Another big step accomplished!

On a more fun note, We got to attend a great seminar this month at "The Gardener's Workshop" http://www.thegardenersworkshop.com/ . A class taught by a mentor of mine and fellow flower farmer in Newport News, Virginia - Lisa Ziegler. Lisa's farming philosophy is all about building great soil. We learned about a tractor attachment she uses on her farm called a sub-soiler. Luckily we had not installed our plastic rows yet, and were able to purchase one so we could add another step in our field prep. The attachment is just a simple spade that goes about 18 inches in the soil to open up the subsoil level to receive, oxygen, nutrients, water, and micro-organisms. Without breaking up the clay subsoil level, roots have to grow wide, instead of deep, where all the moisture and nutrients migrate to.

Here is a visual showing the 2 distict layers - notice the topsoil level is the color of a dark chocolate brownie, whereas the subsoil level, is well...more like creamy peanut butter! Hopefully our new tractor implement will open up the clay soil and allow roots to grow deep, and tap into water and more nutrients. A tomato plants root system, for instance, can go down to depths of over 6 ft, if your soil prep will allow -

Got that sub-soiling done just in time for the Plastic mulch to be installed. Love, Love, Love this part! We planned it so much better this time and Chris and I were glad we had learned so much from last year. Including to make the distance apart large enough to take a riding mower through. Makes life alot easier in the heat of the summer.

Took about 40 minutes to get all the rows down thanks to a fellow neighbor - who is a strawberry farmer, with access to a huge tractor and mega - plastic mulch layer.

Here I am shoveling the soil back on top of the edges. Then dumpling drives the tractor tire as close to the edge of the row as possible to pack the soil down over the plastic's edge. Last year we did not know about this extra step and the wind caught the plastic, and blew it off of the rows. What a pain that was. This year is already off to a better start due to a jump on the learning curve!

You can see the uncovered edges here on the right, which can catch easily in blustery March winds and that is no fun. Luckily this year, we had the tractor tire trick under our sleeve.

5 lovely rows all done! So the soil is all prepped and warming up with the black plastic mulch, can't believe tomorrow is the first day of Spring -

Excited that we are hosting a seed/seedling swap here at the farm - April 23rd, 5pm.

This weekend got my hands dirty - Starting seedlings for the stand. Alot of heirloom varieties this year.

Sticking with the technique we used last year - organic soil amendments with old fashioned - soil block method. Only last year I used tiny soil blocks, and this year, will stick to the larger blocks. They give me more wiggle room on the planting date since they have more room to grow.

Have the standard 3-pack seedling trays for the stand.

My little system - once the seeds "hatch"/germinate - under the grow lights and heat mats, they go out to the greenhouse to grow for a few more weeks. My goal is to maintain a steady flow from shelves to greenhouse.

Outside, dumplin was on his own to do list. Well-aged horse manure was delivered to the stand last week and Chris got a chance to till it into the soil before more spring showers started!

He wouldn't admit to it but think he was having alot of fun with this project.
All tilled up and pretty before the plastic rows go in.