Meet Your Beets!

Even though veggie share deliveries will not start for another couple of months, work has already begun at the farm. I thought you'd enjoy seeing some of the progress. 

Introducing...your beets (if you're a veggie subscriber)!  Because the weather has been so incredibly warm, I decided to go ahead and start seeding a few things outdoors. I couldn't resist. Usually, I've waited until April to do this, but April weather seems to have arrived in mid-March. It will be months yet before the average last frost date comes & goes, but things like beets, spinach, scallions & carrots are cold hardy and can take the cooler nights (and, with some row cover, even a light snowfall or two). 

This is just the first planting of these veggies. They will get seeded again and again throughout the season so that we have a supply throughout the summer.
 
Weeds have started to arrive with a vengeance over the last couple of weeks. Many of the weed seeds arrived with the manure that was added to the beds last fall. Even though it means weeding work, their appearance does mean that the manure wasn't contaminated w/ evil pyralid herbicides (something that is becoming disturbingly common). Soooo yeah...weeds are good, right?? Remind me of that in a couple months :-).  

I experimented last fall and insulated my spinach & parsley beds with thick straw and several layers of row cover fabric. I wanted to see if I could get them to survive the winter.  



A couple of days ago, I uncovered them, and voila!! Live parsley, spinach & even some wayward scallions (don't know how those got there...maybe I dropped a seed packet last fall? Can't remember. I'm happy to see them though :-). The scallions look yellow because they apparently would've appreciated being uncovered sooner. Who knew so much was happening under all of that straw?

I also noticed the tiniest of green sprouts just starting to show in the garlic bed that was planted last fall.  

In the "basement greenhouse," things are happening as well. The peppers are just beginning to peek up and say hello! (sorry the pic is blurry). Tomatoes will be getting started shortly, along with a long list of other garden veggies. They will progress out to the real greenhouse at the farm once a heater can keep up with the nighttime temps. 

The pleasant daytime temperatures sure are a nice switch from last Spring's chill that seemed to stick around forever. Seeding beets & carrots is so much more pleasant in 70 degree sunshine.

If you are thinking about signing up for a share, but haven't yet, there are still a few available. 

I'll continue to keep you posted on the fun things that are growing and happening up at the farm!

It's Springtime at Badger Rock Farm!

A great deal has been happening at the farm over the last number of weeks. It must be springtime once again! It hardly feels like an entire season has passed since winter's frosts put last year's garden to bed, but pass it has. Growing, green things are peeking out of the ground at me, trying to decide if they're brave enough to make their appearances yet. Here are some pictures that show what's been happening here lately:

Here is the "greenhouse" in our basement, where the earliest seedlings (onions and leeks, for example) get their start at the end of February. It is still potentially too cold outside to keep the real greenhouse at the farm above freezing. Everything stays nice and cozy here, with the basement woodstove not far away.

The real greenhouse, up at the farm, got a new door this spring. Last May, a major windstorm ripped the old doors off, and even though Jim re-hung them, they were never the same after that. This screendoor will be just the thing for the job, I think!

Jim also built new shelves for it (please excuse the disarray leftover from winter disuse). These replace my rigged up cinderblock and metal grating system from last year. This will be a much more efficient use of space. (And believe me, this little greenhouse needs to eventually contain MANY seedlings, so an efficient use of space becomes important quite early in the spring).

I love the cheerful face of the intrepid Johnny-Jump-Up. There's nothing like this surprise of color when so much of the surrounding foliage is still winter-brown.

The garlic, which was planted last fall, knows that it is spring.

Several trays of onions on their way up to the farm, after being evicted from the "basement greenhouse." The space there was needed for other things (like tomatoes, peppers and basil!)

Baby tomatoes coming up in the "basement greenhouse!" These are Cosmonaut Volkov's.

Future chard, seeded in the "corral garden." Also already seeded outside are some cutting lettuce, some heading lettuce, cilantro, arugula, beets, carrots, peas, radishes, spinach and scallions. Here's hoping they all decide to come up.

Another ongoing farm project is the removal of decades worth of accumulated scrap iron, old broken down trucks and other detritus left behind by the previous owner of the property. Slowly (very, very slowly) we are reclaiming areas that were previously messy piles of junk. Here, a truck is dropping off a dumpster that will be filled with scrap metal.

Today's happy event: The arrival of 3 huge loads of beautiful, 15 year old, chemical-free manure from the Charter Ranch. Each vegetable picked for market, or for the farm's new CSA, or for my own dinner plate, will be in memorial to Jeanne Charter and all that she did to inspire those that knew her. Thank you so much to Steve Charter, and her entire family for still being willing to allow me to have this. It is going to make EVERY difference in my garden this season!