Ambrosia

We harvested 300 lbs of wildflower honey from the "girls" this year. I feel so blessed to be the caretaker of these delightful and industrious creatures.

Organic and homegrown

I love the multi-colored jars of carrots. Is it just me or do they really taste better when they look like jelly beans?

Piece of art

I hope everyone likes this week's CSA basket!

May CSA

TLC Gardens

May 2010

Here we go! The growing season is up an running. No more turning back and changing minds (don’t worry, it was never a consideration.) Things are moving quickly now and I hope to keep up.

The biggest hurdle I have had to overcome this past month is the breakdown of my tiller. I only till at the beginning of the growing season but it is vital to the success of the crop, especially in the north garden where I plant the corn because the soil compacts from the winter flooding. Long story short … my buddy, tiller, could only be repaired with a $350 investment with no near 100% probability of future breakdowns from the same gear issue. To get the ground turned at the necessary time, I hired a person to till for a reasonable price. He did an excellent job and I am delighted with the outcome. My cost? He tilled all three sites at no charge; he offered instead his labor in exchange for my broken tiller. Hopefully he can repair it (tough) and resell it. I wish him the best. This is truly out of my expertise so I am glad with the outcome to a negative situation.

With the soil prepared for planting, I spent most of Monday planting seeds in all of the sites. Corn, sunflowers, Scarlett Runner beans, and squash (including some pumpkins) are in the north garden; other squashes (delicata, acorn, butternut, spaghetti) and pickling cucumbers are in the side garden; absolutely everything else is in the main garden. I have chosen to hold off on transplanting the tomatoes and peppers to the main garden until next week because they are doing well in the cold frames.

Kent and I will be in California from May 19^th-24^th so Tara will be house and garden “sitting” for me. She has promised to be diligent in caring for the crops and the animals. I know she will! When I return, I will put the tomatoes and peppers out and then everything will be officially planted. Whew!

Are you ready for your delicious delights? I plan to include lettuce, rhubarb, herbs, mint and eggs in your basket. I believe there should be peas also because they are flowering now, but it will all be weather contingent. Plan for your first basket delivery on Wednesday, May 26^th. Filled baskets will be delivered by 4 pm to both the Carpenter’s and the Massey’s homes. I have your actual baskets in hand and you just need to make certain that you bring back your empty baskets when you pick up your next delivery the following week. Thank you for assisting with the basket acquisition.

Anytime you would like to come out and visit the gardens, just let me know.

With love,

Tarri

April CSA

TLC Gardens

April 2010

Things are growing and the tasty treats are just around the corner!

Well, that was a corny intro to this month’s newsletter. Corny…haha…a pun on words there. To be accurate, I guess I should focus on the tomato and not the corn. The photo featured above shows the seedlings that I started six weeks ago. The plants in the middle are the tomatoes and there are peppers on both sides. The little ones in the front left corner are the basil plants. Don’t they all look healthy? The entire process has been a learning experience for me but I think I have the routine figured out. I have various indoor lights dangling over the seedlings during the day and at night I turn the lights off and put a fan on them instead. The fan is used to discourage mold and fungus growth and to encourage stem growth. It seems to be working.

These last few days, Kent generously spent some time building cold frames for me. These are mini-greenhouses that are used to extend growing seasons and to harden seedlings. I found a woman on Freecycle who was giving away shower doors that have been seldom used, got those from her, and am using them as the lids for the cold frames. Both Kent and I are pleased with the results. I plan to put the tomato seedlings in the cold frame by the end of the week and the pepper plants a week after that. This will allow them to acclimate to the daylight cycle and the temperature fluctuations with a more gentle approach.

The potatoes I planted last month are now emerging from the soil. The Yukon Golds are winning the race against the Pontiac Reds but I am confident that the reds will peak their beautiful green leaves anytime soon.

This last month’s weather system has been a challenge in the garden. I was hoping to get a lot more weeding accomplished but the ground was so muddy that I kept pulling too much soil with each extraction. I gave up. It has only been in the last few days that I have been able to weed the berry patches and the garlic.

It will be interesting to see how this last month’s weather has affected the apple production. This was the first year in at least a decade that all the trees have flowered so vigorously. Unfortunately, the timing coincided with the cold weather and the occasional hail storms. The bees weren’t able to come out and pollinate the trees at that time. Hopefully, there was some success when we had breaks in the storms.

There’s not a lot more to report here. I guess it’s the calm before the busy season. All the peas are growing and thickening, the chickens continue to lay more eggs each day, and I seem to have won the onion battle with the earthworms. All is well!

Anytime you would like to come out and visit the gardens, just let me know.

With love,

Tarri