I've been gardening for most of my life and have been a devoted fan of organic gardening the whole time. It just makes so much more sense to work in harmony with Mother Nature than to fight her. Besides which it is better for the planet and better for our bodies. Here you can see what I'm planting and harvesting, with gardening hints and resources thrown in for good measure.
Boy oh boy is there a lot of stuff going on around here! Cucumber and squash starts, herbs, flowers, eggs in three! incubators. I love spring, the promise of the harvest season ahead, the new life and regeneration of nature. The bees are buzzing, the earthworms are working, the chicks are hatching. Daily there are new sights, sounds and scents. Nature is amazing and abundant!
about 1/3 of the eggs waiting to hatch
Red locust tree blooming
squash starts
Tansy herb
Lemon Basil
Lime basil
Sage
Madame Cecile' Brunner rose
gosh that is not half of what is growing and blooming right now! And harvesting cool weather crops, with some coming out so that warmth lovers like tomatoes and squash can go in!
loose leaf lettuce
Red Russian Kale
Spinach
Rainbow Chard
6 truck loads of manure
Pictures can be deceiving. That does not look like a huge amount, but that is 6 pick up truck loads of manure. It's still a bit warm, running about 100 degrees F. (yes I do take it's temperature!) but that will be just perfect to keep the cantaloupe and watermelon plants toasty! I just need to get a rabbit proof fence put up around it.
Giotto thinks this hen house is for him!
In other news I bought another kit hen house and put it in mom's back yard. I need to move some birds out of the big barn to make way for all the new chicks hatching!
The spinach and lettuce are coming on strong, but I don't know how long they will last with our unseasonable heat. Things are blooming a month ahead of normal.
mixed lettuce
I have been planting every kind of lettuce, hoping some will manage the heat at least a little while. Oak leaf, Red Salad Bowl, Green Salad Bowl, Bibb, Butterhead. All different shades of green, with some red and speckled ones too.
Rainbow Chard
Rainbow Chard is a garden mainstay. These plants have been producing for a year now with no sign of letting up or slowing down!
Siberian Kale, aka Red Russian or Ragged Jack
With the warmer weather the kale has really been putting out a lot of new growth.
*some* of the eggs in ONE of the incubators
While some eggs are going into the incubators, a lot more are going in the fridge!
The Peas are coming!
I picked the first hand full of peas this week, I should have some to sell next week! Another crop that does not like to be hot. In an average year they are done between mid-May and the first of June. If our hot weather keeps up these may not make it past mid-April.
6" soil blocker
This week I played with my new toy tool, a huge 6 inch soil blocker. It was a little trickier to make good blocks compared to making the smaller 2" ones.
6" soil blocks
But I got them done and put about 80-100 tomato starts in them. The tomatoes were a little overgrown and probably should have been transplanted sooner. The issue was space to put them. I had a big fat pack rat getting into the hoop house where I set my transplants. That bugger wiped out over 100 broccoli and cauliflower starts and was even starting in on the marigolds! Finally caught it and it doesn't look like there are any more at the moment.
commercial style chick brooder
I scored big recently, trading an unused rabbit cage for a commercial style chick brooder. My friend even gave me the table he had it sitting on. I cut the table legs down and added casters so I can roll it under the work bench in the shop when I need to.
Just one duckling and a few chicks hatched last weekend. This weekends hatch should be bigger and in a couple of weeks I have a huge hatch coming (like more than 60 eggs!)
The compost chickens are doing well and give me a few eggs a day; lots of these are going into the incubator because they are all older girls and still laying.
cardboard and manure mulch
I planted out some rosemary, oregano and a Lady Banks rose by the chicken pens. They were mulched with cardboard and newspaper covered with manure.
helpers!
I've had some helpers lately and certainly appreciate them!
The Silkie babies got a new house
The plum trees are blooming
It has been way too warm here, with trees and flowers blooming as much as a month early.
eggs for the incubator
Time to hatch chicks! Lots of eggs going into the incubator, duck, Ameraucana, Buff Orpington, Black Copper Marans, olive eggers.
Superior Farmer's Market
Tomorrow I'll be back at the Superior Farmer's Market with baby mustard greens, kale, collards, Superior grown grapefruit and lots of fresh eggs!
