Good morning. It is cool and overcast outside and the perfect day for catching up in the barn. Paste tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers and basil all need repotted. Looks like we'll be cozy by the fire for a few hours tending to these plants... which I must say is a bit overdue.
So, the garden can start to feel very overwhelming this time of the year. The long and growing to do lists compounded with the anticipation and unknowns of the season to come start to feel a bit crazy and stressful. My mind has been racing in so many directions. And... I start to doubt myself, which makes decision making hard. Then I remember to breathe and allow myself to absorb the beauty surrounding me. I am so lucky to spend every day outside playing in the dirt. It feeds my soul on many levels and my face hurts at the end of the day from smiling so much.
Let us stop stressing and doubting and try to find some balance and focus. Let us believe, trust, plant, seed and smile. Yes!
OK, thank you for listening :)
So much has happened in the gardens this week I'm not sure where to start?! Here is a picture of peppers hardening off in the greenhouse. These babes will be going in the greenhouse beds tomorrow, once these cool nights have passed. Peppers of many flavors, shapes, sizes and colors. Oh my gosh, I can hardly wait to bite into a blocky sweet red bell pepper.
Yesterday I started seeding trays of cucurbits. We started with winter squash, pumpkins and melons. Melons! My mouth was watering as I seeded the melon trays. Needless to say it got a little wild and I seeded too many, if that's possible. We are growing a lot of french heirlooms this season and trying several new varieties. Taste tests will be in order come August and September!
The first round of chard, asian cabbage, bok choy, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli and mustard greens have all been transplanted.
Here is a slideshow of a greenhouse bed getting turned.
Mustard cover crop growing...
Then being chopped up by hand with a sickle. We were brainstorming and going back and forth about how to best handle this task. We thought about using the mower, a weed wacker, etc. then my Dad said, wait I've got an idea. He came out of the garage with a freshly sharpened hand sickle.
Here they area all chopped.
And after a couple passes with the rototiller.
Boom! Ready for planting.
The first CSA harvest is only four weeks away! I will keep the updates coming and look forward to seeing you all very soon.
Have a lovely day,
Mindy
The following morning brought it's own surprise, we woke up to an inch of slushy snow on the ground and it was pouring rain. The day before I was getting organized and grabbed my snow gloves to put away for the season... but something made me hesitate and I set them back down thinking, 'not just yet'. Sure enough, I played in the snow a bit on Sunday morning and was glad to have these gloves handy. Fingers crossed we are done with snow in the garden until Fall? I am loving the Spring moisture though, keep it coming! 
