MEN AT WORK

We LOVE our guys!!!  Thank you to Evan, Anthony, Nick, and of course my awesome husband, Michael.  One day and look what motivated men can do.  Of course behind every motivated man is a woman with a whip!

Nick. Nuff said.  You can see what his job was.

Evan and Anthony supervising!  No Really!!  They DID work as hard as Nick.  See all those sandbags and plastic mulch.  That was their job. 

Michael was the general on the job.  He made sure everything was straight, helped set the end posts, and cooked the brats for lunch!

  There are four more rows to go if anyone is interested in repeating the process!

At the end of the day even Amber was tired!  I think from keeping all 'her' company lined out.  Nick brought along Maddy, the regal great dane, and Charlie, the fast husky.  Then of course Daisy Mae is always work for Amber to keep in line.

Thank you SO much for taking time from your busy schedules and helping on the farm!!!  We truly appreciate your efforts.

SO IT BEGINS

This morning the sun was brilliant in the eastern sky, filling the Wells Creek basin with warmth, causing the snow pack to sweat moisture upward creating a bluish gray, hazy fog along the edges of the valley tree line.  She is powerful now, the sun.  She fills the land with her spring bringing heat and mud running rays.

Because of the life cycle she brings -- deposited in trays, filled with nourishing, warm dirt, are seeds of Imperial Star Artichokes, Tango Celery, Blue Solaize, Giant Musselburg, and Pricetaker Leeks, and a variety of herbs.  In a few short days we will see their little, green, sun seeking sprouts of hope! 


Ahhh spring is coming upon us and the cycle begins.  Next week more seeds, the week after more seeds, and so on until we begin the actual dirt devotion in May.

PATRIOTISM

SEEDS, SEEDS, SEEDS

T-shirt weather in Minnesota is 46  degrees!  Dirty, brown grass and mud slithering out from under the layers of snow.  Dripping water from down spouts.  Sounds of pages turning in seed catalogs and discussions of what about trying this variety?  My sister, Mick, was here and left for home renewed and excited about the upcoming growing season, several weeks away, BUT it's coming.

We were all over the subject page  - crop rotation, green sand, amending soils, cover crops, green manure, hoop houses, poly tunnels, sorrel, what to grow, where to plant what, and who not to buy seed from.   We try to focus on organic seed when available, purchase from other 'seed savers', use our own carry over seeds, and the remainder of our seeds purchased from reputable companies.  We do not purchase any GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) because we believe nature is perfection and us 'humans' are best to take life's lessons from her versus a 'manmade concoction'.  I know there are a lot of veg growers who follow this blog, along with our consumers, so I thought it would be helpful to add some links regarding seed companies - The Good, Bad, and the Ugly.


We like flowers too!!!

These are seed companies we purchase from:

1)  SEED SAVERS - DECORAH, IOWA

2)  TOMATO FEST - CALIFORNIA

3)  JOHNNY'S SEEDS - MAINE - (Johnny's does purchase some of their seeds from Seminis (owned by Monsanto) but are phasing out what they can.)

4)  HARRIS SEEDS - (We use Harris mainly for growing supplies that we cannot obtain from our local company, Jordan Seeds.)

5) JORDAN SEEDS - WOODBURY, MN - (We use mainly for supplies but have purchased bulk flower seeds that attract beneficials.)

These two links will assist you to discern which companies you want to do business with:

1) DAVE'S GARDEN - WHO OWNS WHAT

2) GARDEN OF EATIN - HOW TO AVOID MONSANTO

Get busy, get ordering and happy surfing!

GROWING FOOD!!!

Pretty exciting isn't it? Fall is just barely sneaking in and we are thinking spring and what we can grow and eat and celebrate and savor in 2011!

Craving a fresh, juicy, red tomato yet?  I am!  I'm also borrowing ideas from other growers, bloggers, people who love the taste of good food and appreciate what food is all about and sharing it with you.  The ideas are endless and the ways to celebrate good tasting, locally grown food is also!

So here is a link I borrowed from Deep Roots post today on Facebook.  10 GREAT BLOGS ABOUT GROWING FOOD.  The list is from all over the world.  We enjoy reading about how other growing zones manage the challenges, share their ideas and discoveries, and rejoice in what they do!!!

We went one step further and added all the links to the right hand side of our page under the heading GROWING FOOD!!! so you can come back anytime to view them and borrow your own ideas.  I know it is overwhelming, welcome to our world, and enjoy!!

MISTAKES

Do you ever wonder why you do something when in the process of doing it a still, small voice is telling you not to?  That still, small voice starts in your stomach and you don't listen.  Then it moves to the back of your skull and you still don't listen.  Then it moves to your forehead and you STILL don't listen.  You are not listening because you are in a hurry to get to your other job.

Then when your husband calls later in the afternoon and says, "Did the tomatoes look beat up this morning when you put them out?"  "Ahhh no," you answer.  You still don't know it's because you didn't listen to that still, small voice.  When you get home and go down and check on them and think ----  #$%^!! if I had only waited this morning.

MANURE TEA RECIPE:  Place one or two shovelfuls of fresh or dried manure in a permeable bag.  The finer the holes in the bag, the less likely it is that weed seeds from the manure will get into your tea.  Burlap bags are best, but perforated plastic or mesh bags will work.  Tie the bag closed , then place it in a barrel or other large container filled with water.  Make sure the bag is submerged.  Allow your "teabag" to steep for about a week.  You can apply manure tea at full strength for periodic feedings or dilute it and use it whenever you water your plants.  Do not apply undiluted manure tea directly onto plant foliage - it will injure plant tissue.  (Adapted from Rodale's - Organic Gardening.)  Manure is a prime source of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and is rich in bacteria.  We happen to have one of the best manure's available - horse!

Have you guessed yet what happened?   In the morning before I head to the bike shop I have to water the oldest tomatoes in the hardening process.  They have been outside for over a week but still in their four inch pots in flats.  I decided they need a little boost and so this particular morning I watered with DILUTED manure tea.  BUT because I was in a hurry I wasn't as careful as I needed to be to protect the foliage from the enriched water even though it was diluted.  SO consequently the vast majority of them (I am not revealing numbers) look, well - not so good.  Fried would be a good word. 

The lesson - always listen to that still, small voice.

The next challenge - to see how Friday and Saturday night go in beating the predicted frost.  How well will the row covers protect 100 tomato plants?  The current predicted low for Saturday night is 31 - that means our gardens could get to 26 degrees.  The row covers are suppose to provide 4 to 5 degrees of protection.  Hmmmm....it's going to be close.