Early Farm Glamor Shots

Readers.
There is a serious Threat of Rain for the Farm tomorrow. And not just any kind of rain. We're talking about the one inch (double what we've had all month!) pouring down with thunder and lightning and possibly hail--all the stuff that keeps baby seedlings up with worry at night. Baby seedlings, Farmers. Same difference... Anyway! Since the rain is coming whether I pitch a tent on the farm and tend to the seedlings or not, I thought I would take some glamor shots of the spouts, so we have a pre-storm record. If you are not a farmer/gardener, you might find these pictures boring. I, however, have been staring at them like a new mama stares at her infant. They're beautiful. Just sayin...

Hey look! The Farmer learned how to space since last year's fiasco...

And let's not forget the dainty Farm Dog, caught mid-sniff to her left, just after getting off her leash and ROLLING in a DEAD ANIMAL. And plenty of dirty to go along with it. Good news = she was not hard to catch.


Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 71F
Yesterday's low: 44F
Warnings: Threat of Rain
Mood of the farm: Growing in its own merry way
We're Growin' Up Fast Moment: Baby indoor seedlings to begin the hardening off process...TODAY! Two hours on the shaded, but windy screened-in porch, then back to the comfort and safety of the overprotective, doting Farmer. My babies are growing up!

Actual Hail

Freak Hail Storm on Farm!


Stay tuned for updates on microseedlings...

Full Circle

I think it's only fitting that on the day my grandfather, the person who taught me everything I know about farming, died, a storm of serious proportions hit the farm. And after carefully following his many directions over the last two months that resulted from phone calls that usually went something like this: "Papa, I'm going to have a farm! What do I do?" or "So Papa, I heard people sometimes make rows on their farms. What's the deal with that?" the farm survived last night's storm like a champ. Which seems ironic, but fitting all at the same time.

Just like a real farmer, the man really knew how to rock a straw hat after a hard day of fishing for sunnies with dough.














And he had a great little hop at the end of his bowling stride. Strike every time, practically.



















So in his honor, I give you a few bits of good news from the farm, because that's the kind of thing he would appreciate.

The first Wando pea pod:























One of the mini Romaine heads:


















The Great State of the Green Beans:























The first delicious green bean:


















And a MiniCuke after a hard rain for good measure:


















Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 81F
Yesterday's low: 61F
Warnings: Severe storm alert
Mood of the farm: Appreciating its good start in life

Farmer Only Thinks She's Smart

Well, this morning is the kind of morning that makes up the life of a new farmer, I think. I had Big Plans. Farm projects included: making some tough decisions about the tomatoes, going to Hom(o/e) Depot, transplanting tomatoes based on the tough decisions, more forceful encouragement of the peas to grow up the fence, and various other Projects.

I surveyed the tomatoes one last time before heading to the Depot, with the intention of making the decision on the way. A summary of the problem: the tomato plants growing two per pot are thriving, and one in each has started to flower. They can't keep sharing a pot, because they're adolescents now, and just like Mandrakes, they need to strike out on their own. So the question is where to put them outside of the reach of MiniChuck. Verdict: One of the plants I shocked practically to death (see this post if you forgot about those antics and my confession) isn't growing as fast as the others, and it doesn't have a strong, primary stalk. All the same, it's still growing so this decision is weighty. It may be worth putting one of the potted tomatoes there. That only left one more plant to find a home for, and since that bolted cilantro/coriander continues to mock me at every turn, that pot seemed like a good candidate for the final plant. Not to mention the fact that dumping that coriander would be extremely satisfying (it was, fyi).
The rapidly growing pots:













The smaller one:


Pour one for my homie.









On the way to the Depot, I decided that these kinds of life and death decisions are Trials of being a Farmer, and I just better get used to them if I'm going to be any good at this. I also realized that the weather was perfect for transplanting--cool (mid 60s), cloudy, and with the possibility of a shower. A sign, if you will.

All was not as it seemed, however. On the drive home, there appeared a Threat of Rain. Fine, I thought; then I wouldn't have to water the transplants. After unpacking the car and removing the stunted tomato plant, the showers started, and a quick glance to the sky made me wonder whether we were now under Threat of Hail. Long story short is that I finished the job as quickly as I could, but not without getting myself and Maisy completely drenched. I hope it was the right call. Time will tell, as they say. It was way too rainy to get pictures of the final product, but of course I'll post those soon. Here's what I could capture.





There's the farm. Pretty, isn't it? ;)










Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 83F
Yesterday's low: 65F
Warnings: "special weather statement" (aka threat of rain and hail for unsuspecting new farmers)
Mood of the farm: skeptical of its farmer
Reason to consider a new career: if this post doesn't answer that question, i don't know what would...

Say, what's been happening on the farm?

Maisy and I went to check on the farm quickly because there is a Threat of Rain. A real, serious, threat, and so I wanted to document the farm before it gets potentially blown away to Kansas or something. This involved rushing to the farm before coffee, which naturally and predictably resulted in me not noticing a special gift Rosa left for me just outside the fence entrance area. I'll spare you the details, but the Lesson of the Day is this: forgoing the coffee leads to unnecessary trials on the part of the farmer.

Anyway, while hosing off my shoe, I realized that the blog has been so busy with volunteer plant contests and farmers' markets and dog packs that I haven't posted any pictures since the veggies were just sprouting. And really, there's been a ton of growth on the farm!

So without further ado...

The red leaf lettuce!
















The first spinach leaves! Note: This row is planted using the French cultivation method (spinach and carrots mixed together), so I have no idea how to thin it out. Unless you guys have any ideas, I'm using the Farmer Rex (inspired by Darwin) method of survival of the fittest.




















Hey! Look at those Wando peas!




















On the right row, green beans (front) and Wando peas (back). On the left, the lettuce. Dead center, volunteer #1.





















Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 71F
Yesterday's low: 55F
Warnings: Flash flood watch
Mood of the farm: hunkering down for thunder and lightning

It's June!

Well, May went out with a bang. Many of them, actually. Dr. Corncobb has blogged about last night's thunder and hail here if you'd like to see photos. I was at a hockey party during this storm, where it rained the entire time, wait for it, in the front yard, but not the backyard. So I missed the worst part of the storm, which is probably for the best, seeing as there's no way I would have enjoyed the party knowing what could have been happening on the farm! When you're a farmer, life revolves around weather of course...

Anyway, I woke up this morning raring to get to the farm to see what the threat of hail might have done to those tiny little plants. Turns out, nothing! Everything looks great, and the Wando peas (see previous post) and possibly a couple of cucumber seeds are spouting now. And lest you think I'm the only person growing things from seeds, N's zinnias started sprouting too:





In other news, I have a Farmer Dilemma. I planted a lot of tomato seeds in April, of three varieties. Six plants are in the garden now, and four of them (the early girls and the lemon boys) are doing great. The cherry tomato plants do not look happy. However, I didn't transplant all of the plants just in case (farmers need contingency plans). My porch is a little bit like a greenhouse, it turns out, and those tomato plants are twice the size of the ones in the garden. I'm thinking of ditching the cherry tomato plants and replacing them with the two healthiest (variety unknown) plants on my porch. Any thoughts on whether this is another case of farmer needs to grow some Patience, or if this seems like a Sound Farming Decision?
Thanks in advance for your help--farming takes a village, you know.


Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 78F
Yesterday's low: 55F
Warnings: Sunny again!
Mood of the farm: restless
Reason to consider a new career: At two parties last night, the only thing this farmer could talk about was, you guessed it, farming. That's gonna get old for people real fast.