Waiting for Warmer Days

Wisteria starting to bloom.

The weather has been extremely strange this year. We've had temps in the upper 80's a few weeks ago, then it dropped down into the 30's giving us a few mornings of frost and now we are in the 60's and it has been cloudy and rainy for the past few of days. While we need the rain and all the plants and trees are blooming, there isn't much I can do in the garden until it warms up a bit more.

 The evening temperatures have finally started to stay in the 50's so I feel comfortable leaving the seedlings in the greenhouse at night until they are ready to plant. The majority of the cold crops have been planted and all that is left in the greenhouse are tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplant more lettuce and all the "extra" seedlings that I don't have room for in the garden.

Copenhagen Market Cabbage.

Red Express Cabbage

The cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale have all been planted and are growing well under row covers. I did notice cut worm damage this morning on a couple of the cabbage plants and I am going to try the toothpick method to see if I can keep them off the plants. I started way too many seedlings as usual and still have several "extras" in the greenhouse that I can use to replace the ones that have been destroyed by pests. I would love to let the ducks roam the garden to take care of them but they would surely devour the seedlings as well! 



Overwintered leeks.

The leeks I had planted last spring were still very small by fall so last November I dug them up and transplanted them to a new bed along with some rare heirloom red onions. I covered everything with leaves and put my wire cages over them to keep the squirrels from digging them up. The leeks and onions all survived the winter and are growing strong.

Earlier in the week we harvested a couple of the larger leeks to make a delicious cream of cauliflower soup. I can't wait to make it again with fresh cauliflower from our garden!

Leeks harvest earlier this week!

Current Reading

I am currently reading All the Dirt: Reflections on Organic Farming by Rachel Fisher, Heather Stretch and Robin Tunnicliffe. It is written by three women in their 30's who have all been farming for about 10 years. They each own their own organic farm but also own Sannich Organics which sells their products along with produce from other farms. The book was written to encourage prospective farmers and provide more information about starting and running an organic farms that just isn't found in other books. So far this books does just that!

Each woman tells her story of how they got into farming and about life on each or their farms. They talk about learning through apprenticeships, taking on interns, the problems they have encountered and overcome and why they wouldn't do anything other than farming. One woman describes how she gets a feeling of rightness, and satisfaction of working her farm and how she is drawn to work that is "ecologically healthy, that involves body and mind, that harkens toward sustainability and thoughtfulness rather than blind material consumption", something that I can truly relate to. 

I am about halfway through the book and I am thoroughly enjoying it while learning alot about running an organic farm. I am passionate about organic growing and the importance of nutritious, wholesome food and this book comfirms the reasons why I want to become an organic farmer someday and makes me want to do it that much more!

Chives after an early morning rain.