April or October?

The cool temperatures and snowflakes falling over the past couples days have had me wondering what time of the year it is. Brrr. I secretly love seeding and transplanting on cold days, all bundled up with a cup of tea. Something about this is so cozy and just feels right to me.  Luckily we are only transplanting crops that are hardy and can handle some cold nights, such as kale, cabbages, bok choy, onions, leeks, etc. 

Now, transplanting in the snow is a different story... and not quite as charming as cool overcast days. So I have been sleeping in, procrastinating and waiting for sunshine. 

Remember my spaz planting of tomatoes last week? I am happy to report that with several layers of fabric and plastic covers in the greenhouse, they have stayed warm and comfortable in the evenings, even with the temperatures dropping down to 20 degrees outside. They're getting settled in their new space and already starting to fill out. They have one more cold evening and then it is supposed to start warming up. 

The days and weeks are flying by right now.  Psst, tomorrow is May 1st! Yikes. Things get a little crazy from now until middle of June. Lets see just how much we can get in the ground in the next 45 days. Ready, set, go!

I dug the remaining onions and leeks out of the greenhouse on Sunday afternoon as the wind blew and clouds came and went. I planted most of these in the Montrose garden this afternoon, but there are a few onions and a lot of leeks left to go in the ground. 

The barn is overflowing with starts. I am off to stoke the fire for the evening and repot a few things before bed. 

More updates and pictures to come. 

Have a beautiful week, 

Mindy

Planting Party

We are getting a little wild this morning and kicking off planting season with... tomatoes! Woot woot! Yeah, it's early and I could/should wait another week or so, but lets be honest, pushing the limits is fun. Let the planting party begin.  Here you can see the tomato bed getting prepped, starts are growing on the right and a bed of mustard greens on the left. 

Tomatoes this morning, seeding projects throughout the day, and then the onion transplanting begins. Oh baby. So, I need to tell you something. I have a seeding problem. I always seed too much because I have thoughts that they might not germinate, or I could forget to water or even drop the trays on a clumsy morning, which does happen every year normally early in the morning before a cup of coffee. To address these concerns, I plant extra as a buffer. However, and lets knock on wood as I say this, most of the time everything germinates and grows beautifully... and leaves me scratching my head on why I seeded so many. Needless to say the experiment of seeding onions directly in the greenhouse bed was a tremendous success this season and I have many more than anticipated. But I have never had a large amount of beautiful onions to transplant so I'm pumped. And you should be too! We are growing 16 different varieties, all different shapes, sizes, flavors and colors. I could use extra hands over the next couple weeks getting these beauties in the ground. Please call me if you have a free day and want to play in the dirt. I promise it will be fun. Delicious lunch and snacks will be provided.  

Whew. We have made a lot of progress this week, considering the thick layer of snow on the ground last Monday! Several hundred feet of potatoes are in and mulched. The wheat, oats and barley are all seeded and waiting to germinate. Beds of peas, carrots, spinach and salad greens are in and starting to wake up. 

A large dump truck delivered a beautiful load of compost earlier in the week. Oh giddy. There's no stopping us now. 

This weekend we will be stirring and spraying a round of biodynamic preparations in both gardens. 

Mmmmmmm. Breathe in and savor this beautiful morning.  

I hope you have a lovely day!

Sending smiles,
Mindy

Oh Happy Day!

Hello hello! Warning, the recent warm up and beautiful days have me hyper and bursting with spring planting energy. 

We disced the Montrose garden last week and marked the beds today. Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you how good it feels to complete this task. The moisture and cool temperatures last week slowed us down a bit and the field was too wet for the tractor. So, a big THANK YOU DAD for helping me with this today!! You are the BEST. So, the Motown garden beds are ready for amending and planting, or in other words, love and seeds. Here we go! I seeded some clover, pea and vetch cover crops this afternoon. Tomorrow we are seeding a large block of fava beans and several varieties of grain in the field as well as seeding trays of ground cherries, outside tomatoes, and green chilis.

The onion starts are looking happy. They have another week or two in the comfy greenhouse bed and then they will be transplanted out. We need to make room for the tomatoes and peppers already. Yes!

The greenhouse is quickly filling up with trays of cabbage, broccoli, lettuces, kale, chard, kohlrabi, flowers, etc... Spring is here people and it feels good! The cold snap and snow last week were... expected, and gave me an excuse to stay inside by the fire and work on the garden plans and bake bread. So cozy!

I seeded the first of many green beds outside on Tuesday. The spinach and salad greens are in and should be germinating soon. 

Whew! That's all for now. More updates and photos soon. 


Sending love, 
Mindy