my week

It's been quite awhile since my last post. First, allow me to begin by saying, absolutely, that I am not complaining! However, I've been a little, shall we say, stretched lately...

Monday: Left for Tractor's Supply at 6:45 a.m. to get there when they opened. I desperately needed tetanus anti-toxin so the tails of the newest lambs could be banded. The meat chickens also needed food as did a freshly hatched bunch of silky peeps. Also made a stop at the bank. Arriving home, all the animals had to be fed and watered and then I needed to return a tractor borrowed from my sister who lives two miles away. Next, I planted 120 seed potatoes before harvesting for Tuesday's market. The workday ended at 8:20 p.m.

Tuesday: Loaded up the truck and headed off to market at 6:15 a.m. Left there at 3:00 and went to Home Depot for materials to make a hanging basket display at market. When I got home, I checked the soil and found it still a little too wet, but with more rain on the way, decided to roto-till anyway. Quit when it became too dark to see, about 9:00.

Wednesday: Planted an additional 240 seed potatoes along with 60 feet of sunflowers and put in 180 lettuce, 1,000 onion, and 200 swiss chard transplants. Quit about 8:00.

Thursday: Trellised and suckered a row of tomatoes and began pulling up a used-up bed of baby lettuce mix in the greenhouse in preparation for planting cucumbers. Harvested for Friday and Saturday's markets. Got back in the house early, around 6:00.

Friday: Left for market at 5:45. Market ended at 4:00, but I hung around to put up the hanging basket display until 5:00 when the market was holding a party. Stayed until 6:30, then came home and spent an hour harvesting some additional items for the next day.

Saturday: Left for market at 6:00 and stayed until 2:00. Back to Home Depot for more display materials. Came home, took care of the animals, poked around a little bit and then crashed until 7:00, when my sister called to see if I wanted to go out for ice cream with their family. Yes, please. Got back home and went to bed.

Today: I still have an awful lot to get accomplished, but believe I'll just ignore most, if not all of it until tomorrow morning, when it will all start again. *

*I really should get my asparagus patch put in since more rain is expected for the next three days. And those cucumbers are still calling my name - they need to be planted too. But first, I need to tighten the belt on the tiller. Sigh.

lambing is over. gardening, not so much

Yesterday Rosebud gave birth to twin babydoll lambs, a white ram lamb and a black ewe lamb. And today, Apricot (Aster's bff) had a black babydoll/shetland mix ewe lamb. So the count this year is six lambs - three boys and three girls. I'll probably take pictures tomorrow or Saturday, because just between you and me, newborn lambs are a bit homely for the first day or so. Sort of like a scrawny little kid wearing a sweater three sizes too large that just fell in the pool and had to be hauled out. (And not a clean pool, either.) After they've dried off, warmed up, and had a bit of mother's milk in them, they are ever so much more appealing. Sorry, but it's true.

In between watching and waiting for Apricot to have her lamb, I was able to plant most of the new herb garden today. I'll finish it in the morning and then I'll tackle some of the main garden beds. I hope to get potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, peas, radish, carrots, turnips, and salad greens planted. I might even get some corn in, but that's fairly doubtful. Some of these things are so incredibly late getting in the ground, but if I work hard the planting schedule will be back on track.

Greenhouse veggies are coming along nicely. Tomatoes are setting fruit and the potatoes are blooming. I'm hoping to have both of these on my market stand in early June. I might not have anything else, but by golly I'll have tomatoes and potatoes!

planting peppers

Yesterday was the day I decided to transplant pepper seedlings into their bed in the greenhouse. I had six each of seventeen varieties, and having planned it out well in advance, knew I had exactly enough to plant a double row in an 82 foot bed. NOT having written it down anywhere, I seemed to recall that the spacing between plants was one foot. As I was planting, I thought "my, they look terribly close", but happily kept right on going. When over half of them were in their new homes, I looked up and realized that I was not yet halfway down the row. Ooops. Quickly doing the math in my head, I realized the spacing should have been 18 inches between plants. Thinking how lucky it was that I had not yet watered them in, I started over. When I was done, I had maybe about four feet of empty row left. Clearly this was not my day for math. Too bad, because planting something twice is my limit. And besides, I'm sure I'll be able to find a way to put that extra row space to good use.

Lesson for the day: When planning in advance, write it down for future reference. And use the flippin' calculator.

I want to see this movie

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early potatoes go in

A cold and rainy day here today – such a contrast to the sunny weekend, part of which was spent in a t-shirt in the greenhouse, prepping and planting the first bed of the year with early Rose Gold potatoes. I started out by tilling the bed twice, before adding a bale of peat moss, some organic rock phosphate, greensand, blood meal, and bone meal. I then tilled it one more time, made a furrow, dropped in the seed potatoes at one foot spacing, and covered them up. Now we wait. Hopefully, this planting was timed so that new potatoes will be on the market stand by early June.

Next on the planting agenda are the tomato seedlings. A little early to put them in, maybe, but they are growing like nobody's business and need to get in the ground.

Also, in the next couple of weeks many of the seeds will be planted for seedling sales at the herb and plant fairs in York, Lancaster, and Quarryville. More details on those events later.

future residents

I got busy this morning and made arrangements for some additional residents here on the hill.

First, chickens. Specifically, Blue Silkies. When you have truly free-ranging chickens, things happen to them. Often unpleasant things. Becoming dinner for hawks, drowning in the sheep's water tank, or falling behind a stack of hay and getting stuck there. Like that. It's sad to find the evidence of a mishap, and thankfully, so far I haven't become immune to it. After all, it should touch us when a creature in our care comes to a bad end. This past year was tougher than most for the chickens and just a remnant remains. And so thirty peeps will be arriving in early May. Silkies, because they can't fly over the fence and make trouble in the market garden. Plus, they're cute as heck. And hey, I need my animals to be aesthetically pleasing.

Next, something I've been pondering for the past year and a half - honey bees. These girls are at least as big a step for me as the bumbles. Although I won't have to work near their home on a daily basis like the bumbles, I will need to actually get into their hive every once in a while. At least once a year if I want any honey. I can see it now - I'll be bundled up like that little kid in "A Christmas Story", except in white. Should be a hoot.

oops, too soon

I received a package today that wasn't expected until early April. Potatoes. Specifically, Russian Banana fingerling seed potatoes. When I placed my order, I accidentally selected early delivery on these puppies. I'll definitely be keeping what I need for planting here, but there are twenty extra pounds that were meant to be sold at the herb and plant fairs in the spring. Perhaps they will still look nice by then, but perhaps not (although, even if they don't look nice and are all sprouty, they'll still be good to plant). Sooooo, my mistake can be your gain! If anyone wants some Russian Bananas at a really good price, make arrangements to stop by the farm to pick them up.  I'll be selling them for $2.50 a pound, and a pound of fingerlings will plant about twenty feet of row. Not a bad deal, really.

hello, spring... are you there? hello?

There is something like two feet of fresh snow out there and although slowing, it's still coming down. Not my idea of a good time at all. The sheep and chickens are huddled in the barn, not wanting to go out and risk getting stuck in a drift. The geese are seemingly happily sitting outside even though they can get in if they want. Weirdos. The dogs went out and played for awhile, bouncing around, enjoying the novelty of snow above their backs, but then came in shivering and covered in snowballs. As for me, after going out early this morning to make sure everyone had food and water, I came back in to quietly go crazy. Happens every year about this time, mid-January through February. A pressure from within starts building, the place deep inside of me that craves dewey mornings and balmy evenings, the scent of freshly mown grass, warm soil, and the feeling of sunshine on bare arms. Winter is to be endured. Spring, celebrated. I'm ready to celebrate. Past ready, really.

vegetables and the bees that love them

I attended the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Growers Convention this week. So much information! There were educational lectures all day long as well as a trade show which was useful for learning about new products (and I also bought a very nice harvest knife and sharpener for about half what it sells for in catalogs). I'll tell you, since starting on this path of market gardening, there has been almost an information overload. So much to learn and know in so little time. And of course for once in my life I'm not starting out slowly, but instead am jumping in whole hog - so to speak. Of course, this is like heaven to me - I love to read, learn, and keep my mind busy. And busy it has been. For instance: just last week, I learned that a lot of folks use bumble bees in their green/hoop houses for pollination of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and squash. Exactly the summer vegetables I'll be growing in mine. Apparently it's better than hand pollination in increasing the number and size of the vegetables. But, I thought, how could a semi-recovering bee-phobe like me intentionally bring bumbles into my greenhouse? No Way, nope, not going to happen. Then yesterday at the convention trade show, was an exhibitor with a display of the little monsters... in a clear plexiglass box to better see them in all their gruesome glory. ick. ugh. eeeeeew. But as a recovering anything, sometimes you have to face your fears. And so I spent some time talking with the very nice bee woman and learning about her "product". Sigh. There could well be bumbles in this farm's future. We'll see.

life

tomatoes

got dirt?

This is what my garage looks like right now.

planting for the future

Yesterday the first of this year's seeds were planted. Each plug tray has 288 cells, and two of them are full of seeds now, so there are 576 future plants germinating on my kitchen counter.

Is it normal to love running your fingers through dirt? To love the smell of fresh, moist soil? It's almost as good as puppy-breath. And you dog lovers, you know what I'm talking about here. Smells that make you close your eyes, breathe deeply and sigh. Because for just that one moment, all is well with the world*. How could it be otherwise when innocent puppies and freshly sown earth both exist? So much potential, so much life waiting inside these tiny packages.

I started with the strawberry seeds. Ordered one hundred and was surprised at how small the packet was. And inside that packet was an even smaller glassine envelope. That's when I knew I was in trouble. Strawberry seeds are incredibly miniscule, and nearly impossible to pick up. And whatever you do, don't drop one - you'll never in a million years find it again. You know how the seeds in strawberry jam are so tiny you barely notice them? Until one gets stuck in your teeth? Like that. I poured them out onto a saucer and thought "there's no way there are a hundred seeds here." (There were 108.) And by the way, who's job is it to count and package seeds that are smaller than a pinhead?

Trees were also sown. Yup, trees. Planting for the future. With trees, you are often planting for the next generation. It's a different sort of feeling. First I seeded a couple dozen tulip poplars, or "tulip trees" as they're known hereabouts. Also going in were nearly a hundred apple trees. Un-named, open-pollinated seeds from trees grown from seed that came from Kazakhstan, which is believed to be the original source of all apple trees. After reading The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, I contacted the person at Cornell University who is in charge of the apple genetics program or some such thing. As the book says, he'll send seeds to anyone that asks. It must be true because he sent some to me. Now apparently open pollinated apple seeds do not breed true. In Kazakhstan, they grow as shrubs and big tall trees and everything in between. Bitter, sour, sweet, you never know what sort of apple you're going to get. So these seeds I got? They're a mystery. I'll be planting a bunch of seedlings here on fence rows and along the edges of the woods. The rest I'll offer up for sale along with all the other plants. But if you'd like to grow your own, read the book, contact the guy at Cornell and have fun!

*And no, I'm not making light of the terrible tragedies that happen every day all over the world, but sometimes, just for a moment, all is well.

mid-atlantic fruit & vegetable convention

The Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention is being held February 2-4 in Hershey, PA. Just like this  is my first year to grow commercially, it will also be the first time I attend this event. There are some good speakers and workshops, but what I'm most looking forward to is the trade show. I have my heart set on getting a small hoop house before November of this year, and hopefully the show will have some good vendors. That's right, the big greenhouse project was just completed, nothing is even growing in it yet, and already I'm looking to expand. See, here's the thing - by January of 2011 I'd like to be in year-around production. Which means having enough square footage under cover to make that feasible. So what I'm looking for is a down and dirty, simple, unheated cold house in order to over-winter and winter-harvest carrots and leeks. That will allow the main greenhouse to be reserved mostly for winter salad greens. If I keep it small enough to be moveable, clearly unattached to anything, and totally non-permanent, then dealing with the (no, you're not a farm) zoning officer won't have to be a part of my life this year. And that's a good great thing!

2010 plant list

The 2010 plant list is now official, and starting in mid-April, plants will be available for purchase. All different colors and varieties of tomatoes and potatoes and eggplants, oh my! Seriously though, if you're into growing things, it's pretty exciting.

Now for some facts and figures...

With the exception of potatoes, all items offered are well-grown seedlings in 4" pots and are priced at $2.50/pot. Potatoes are sold by the pound at $2.50/pound. Onions are planted 4 to a pot and can be planted as a bunch of four, straight from the pot into your garden.

To purchase seedlings...

You can find us at three different plant shows this spring*. (I'll post about these shows again as their dates draw nearer.):

Pennsylvania Herb Festival in York, PA, April 16-17

Landis Valley Herb Fair in Lancaster, PA, May 7-8

SECA Plant Sale in Quarryville, PA

If you cannot make it to one of these shows and will simply perish if you can't find a Listada de Gandia eggplant, a Petite Gris de Rennes melon, or a Bloody Butcher tomato, then by all means send an email or give a call to make arrangements for farm pick-up. We'll also be at Eastern Market in Lancaster, but that doesn't start until the end of May, which is pretty late for planting anything other than the true heat loving plants.

*Tulip Tree Hill participation in these events is not yet official, so check back to make sure we'll be there. 

already!

Wow. Let's here it for Johnny's Seeds! I placed my order the day before yesterday, with normal (cheapest) shipping, and today the box of potentialities arrived! My goodness, what great service.

One of the things I'd like to try is making hanging baskets of strawberries. There were plants available specifically for that purpose, but were rather expensive. So instead, I ordered seeds. That will keep costs down for me as well as my customers. If it works, everyone's a winner. Ideally, these puppies will at least be blooming, if not already setting fruit by the middle of May - just in time for Mother's day. What a nice gift, right? One that tastes good, looks good, and keeps on giving.

making lists, and ordering everything on them...

So far, about half of this year's seeds have been ordered - everything I plan to get from Johnny's seeds. The next order to go in will be to Baker Creek. Then just a few odds and ends that neither of these places provide such as sweet potatoes and weird stuff like cotton and licorice. I have to admit to loving the oddball species and varieties - just wait until you see my seedling list! Can you even stand the suspense? Speaking of which, it should soon be available here for anyone who's interested in starting their own plant-buying list.

It's all coming together and starting to happen, folks! Before you know it, spring will be here and all the preparations will begin paying off.

final fall planting

Yesterday afternoon I decided that it was the perfect day for putting in the garlic. We've had our first hard frost, but the soil is still warm. I tilled under the eight inch high spring oats cover crop and saw some truly beautiful soil - soft and dark and crumbly (all of the mulching and composting and rock-picking is paying off). The sky was overcast and rain was in the forecast, but the air felt almost balmy as I pushed the cloves into the earth. Working steadily, I could see my neighbors were also trying to beat the oncoming twilight and the next round of rain as one baled corn fodder and another brought in hay for their dairy cows. The shorter day length catches me by surprise sometimes and so planting was finished by the day's last light.

pickled peppers

The weather this summer was not real conducive to ripening hot peppers. They grew like gangbusters, set flowers, and even produced many, many peppers - that then mostly just sat there waiting for it to get hot enough to ripen. Poor things. A few hungarians and jalapenos ripened to make red and green hot pepper jellies as well as a bit of hot sauce, but the others just seemed to be holding their breath. Then finally, last week, the lemon drops decided to go for it and there were about a half dozen cayennes that also took the plunge. So this weekend I picked all I could find and made a small batch of lemon drop hot pepper jelly and an even smaller batch of mixed hot pickled peppers. I haven't tried either of them yet, but they sure do look good. And I'm grateful they managed to hang on long enough to give me this much.

Next year about half the tomatoes and all of the peppers and eggplants will be grown in the greenhouse. They should love the extra heat.

budgets and seeds

This weekend I spent more rainy-day time working on my planting plans and seed lists. And yes, it's very early to be doing this - most folks do it in January. But, working within a very tight budget, I wanted to see if my seed cost guesstimate was accurate. If not, then other things would have to be adjusted down because, well, when growing plants, seeds are sort of non-negotiable. Necessary. Crucial. As it turns out, the seed budget will be a bit higher than previously anticipated. Part of that is because I want to grow several varieties of each vegetable, and so there isn't a lot of savings that could be had by ordering bulk packages of just a few. For instance, there will be over 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in all the colors you can think of - pink, white, green, orange, yellow, purple, and of course red. And then there are different shapes and sizes - beefsteak, plum, cherry, oxheart, and others. It all adds up. And that's just the tomatoes. But what fun would it be to just plant "Big Boy" or "Early Girl"? Yeah, not much. So the seed list is long.

Which brings me back to the fact that other areas of the budget will have to be trimmed. Because I'd like one of these. A lot. I mean I really, really want one before the mesclun and other closely-spaced seed needs to be planted. This puppy can plant six rows of baby greens, or radishes, or carrots, or, well, you get the picture. Can you imagine trying to plant 240 square feet of baby greens by hand? At two-inch spacing between each microscopic seed? I can. It's not pretty. So between now and January, I'll be pushing numbers around trying to see how to get this into the budget.

digging in the dirt

Instead of digging the run-off trenches, the excavator spent much of the day trenching and laying conduit for the electric and water lines...

From the house,

To the barn. (The greenhouse will be at the other end of this barn.)

Take a good, close look at that pile of dirt. A lot of rocks, with just enough dirt to hold them together. This is why it drains so well here and it's rare you'll ever see standing water, even after days of steady rain. This is also why I hate digging any sort of hole, whether it's for fence posts or trees or anything else, really.

Tomorrow the plumber comes to connect the pipes in the basement. Hopefully the run-off trenches and any final earth-moving will also get done because I'd really like to get things re-seeded as quickly as possible while there's still a chance for new grass to grow before it gets cold.