Spring-Time Work on the farm!

Every year about this time I get all freaked out that I am behind schedule. Have to stop looking at the calendar because I know I cant move any faster if I tried. Even start my annual chant - "Plants in the Ground, Plants in the Ground, Looking like a fool without your plants in the ground!"

Feels like every waking moment on the weekends is churning out little soil blocks for zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, and other colorful petals.

As the strawberry fields pop open up one-by-one can feel the push to get more seedlings rolling to make sure there will be an abundant summer. One of the most crucial parts of the Spring tasks is making sure the plastic rows are in. Thanks to my neighboing farmer friend that is now crossed off my to-do list.

I feel lucky to have the friends, neighbors, and family to pitch in for times like these! (Thank goodness for badass tractors!) This year the rows are alittle longer but spaced wider apart. This has me thinking about some creative plans for when the flowers are in bloom...humm... Can we fit tables between the rows for a fun farm dinner parties? Never know! Could be a fun birthday bash for someone among the butterflies. :)

I forget what a stress the spring is. It takes a great deal of faith during 2 short months to trasform these plastic rows into colorful fields like these! (here's mom picking petals in last years zinnia field!)

These raised rows are a lifesaver though. It means a practically carefree summer.

No weeding, no watering, just flip the switch on the water pump and cut the flowers.

The space allows the riding mower to fly down the isles for easy maintenance too.

Have been noticing the extra traffic from the neighboring Restaurant that just re-opened down the street - Blue Pete's.

The new owners are local 25 year old twin brothers, super hip guys, using local farm produce and hosting live music. They have fixed the place up quite a bit and have been utilizing lots of social media outlets so I think they have brought many more honks and waves driving past my little farm.

I am sure my lush fields overflowing with flowers will inspire patrons to stop in and soak up the country experience on their way to a great local meal -

Well back to starting seeds so I can have some flowers to go in these rows :)

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 -