A tiny fig emerges on our young fig tree.
Fields of buttercups.
One of last year’s kale plants going to seed.
Bean seedlings in the greenhouse.
Kale seedlings in recycled plastic.
Cucumber seedlings popping up.
Basil & sunflower seedlings growing in pots.
Our new little greenhouse.
And yoga duckling.
It’s that time of year again – the time when we can start skipping the grocery store and walk out into the garden instead. YAY!
Last year we got a late start, not planting seeds in the ground until late May and early June. That meant we had loads of yummy garden veggies and fruit to eat from July – September, but that was about the extent of our ‘from our land’ feasting.
This year we improved. It’s May long weekend and we already have all kinds of edibles growing, including a happy handful of things that are ready to harvest now.
Here’s what we’re currently munching on:
Fruit
Veggies
Herbs
Wild
Eating straight from the garden is super satisfying, as well as healthy and economical. We’re lucky we live in a climate where we can realistically grow food year round (one of our goals for this year!).May has been pretty rewarding already. Can’t wait to see what June brings!
A photo of some of our new garden beds, mid-construction. You can also see the gigantic excavator in the background which, until yesterday, was in our backyard for a month while a new septic system was installed.
I have a lot of news and farm updates to blog about, but am sort of existing in a pedal-to-the-metal mentality right now. The Haney Farmer’s market starts this Saturday and although we don’t have enough produce ready to start selling this week, we still have a TON to do to before being ready to set up our booth in a few weeks.
My daily schedule looks something like this right now:
6 – 8:45am – wake up, let farm animals out of their pens and give them fresh food and water, water garden beds, shower, eat breakfast.
9- 11am – (pay-the-bills morning tutoring job)
11:15am – 3:15pm – a combination of picking up compost & tossed cardboard from local grocery store, stopping by hardware/ garden shop if in need of anything, building greenhouse, building garden beds, planting seeds, transplanting seedlings, tidying farmyard, giving bunnies a dandelion snack, eating lunch.
3:30 – 7:30pm – (pay-the-bills afternoon/ evening tutoring job)
7:45pm – darkness – water garden beds, plant more seeds in trays, top up animal feed and water, lock in animals for the night, and anything else on my to-do list that I can cram in before the sun goes down.
Nighttime/ darkness – go inside my trailer, clean up whatever mess is left from my busy day, make dinner, watch something brainless online, look at emails but don’t bother answering many, go to bed.
At the moment, weekends are farm/ gardening work from sunrise to sunset.
I actually love all the work the farm and gardens are demanding from me right now. What I don’t love is all the stuff that takes me away from it (the pay-the-bills job, telephone calls, emails, unexpected delays on projects…). I’m so happy that this is how I’m spending my days and I just wish I had more time for all of it. I don’t remember the last time I spent so little time online or indoors. It’s early May and my skin is already getting tanned (you know, as much as mine can ;) and I’m spending every spare second I have outdoors: getting my hands dirty, growing stuff, learning construction skills… it’s SO awesome. I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to return to an office job now – this is my kind of lifestyle.
All that to say (and the purpose of this post), I’m totally behind in my blogging. I have LOTS to share! Photos and updates coming soon, including our newly constructed greenhouse, new garden bed spaces, free gifts from new friends we’ve made through this blog, a new permaculture friend and market partner, two new rabbitats for our now much happier rabbits, a new gardener on our property, a new septic system which resulted in the relocation of our young food forest, a visit from a local high school student who’s doing a project on alternatives to factory farming, and more…
Yay! It’s a busy, productive, fruitful time on the farm! Things will only get better as the spring/ summer progresses and our plants begin to bear delicious food for us and people in our community.
And on that note, it’s time to make myself a 10pm dinner: salad which will include fresh raddishes from my planting box on my deck.
G’night all.