Spring time is incredibly busy time on the farm. Its a GOOD kind a busy, but busy none the less. The days get longer and projects appear around every corner. For the last nine days, the littles and I have been busy enjoying a siesta from school and the gift of time to jump start all of our spring projects. My sweetie has played a big part in the weekend warrior events. I am so thankful that he always seems to create the vision I plan out in my head. Where to begin?
We relocated a tree on our property to make room for another project later this spring. We are crossing our fingers that this tree will settle itself in it's new honey bee garden location.
In addition to the tree relocation project, we gave the front of our old barn a little face lift. Two identical arbors were built and fastened above the old windows on the front side. We will be relocating four grape vines from our south deck. We are hopeful that they too will thrive in their new home.
The greenhouse has also been a busy place this week. Cold crop starts planted in February are thriving and the tomatoes are planted.
Tomato seeds glued to paper towel scraps make for easy planting. The hardest part is narrowing down the choices. I have room for 24 tomato plants in the garden this year based on how I plotted out each of the beds.
The main veggie garden needed some TLC this week too. Each of the 12 beds was cleaned out and amended with fresh potting soil. It took a big flatbed cart at Costco!
Three types of onions, carrot seed tape, peas, and heirloom poppy seed flowers were planted this week in certain beds. Knowing when to plant which sorts of crops is critical in Central Oregon and it has taken lots of practice!
Cold crop seedlings- cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Carrot seed tape- this allows you to plant worry free. No need to pull haphazardly places sprouts.
For those interested in one of our spring farm boxes, I've got a sneak peek of some of the goodies. My talented aunt crafted dish cloths, scrubbers, and beautiful felted coin purses to add to our Mother's Day farm box sales.
I am still working out the final details of Mother's Day farm boxes, but I have some plans in mind. Because gardening in Central Oregon can be tricky, I've planted some of my most successful varieties of cold crop plants. I will include a seedling plant of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot seed tape to get your own garden started off right. Farm boxes will also have one of each of the handcrafted goodies above and of course our prized beef. I'll share more details when we get closer to Mother's Day. The "warm season" crops will come later in the year (most likely June).
One of my broccoli heads from last year's crop. The farm box seedlings are from this same variety.
It truly was an action packed "break" at the farm. I wouldn't trade it for a second. I continue to be thankful for my day job and the knowledge that I have my favorite hobbies at home waiting for love and attention after work. Summer will be here before we know it!