Even though it is unseasonably cold this spring, we couldn’t resist getting out in the dirt and trying to get things growing here.
We were blessed that the garden was dry enough to drive the tractor through with the rototiller. Prior to this I had spread our composted manure, bursting with red wigglers, across the surface. Every year this garden looks richer and richer with our awesome sheep and chicken compost!
We also compost our neighbors’ horse manure and bedding each year. This pile has been sitting since last year, and after working in the garden yesterday, Roy and I mixed it up on our “his and hers” tractors with lime and nitrogen as you can see in the photo below -so much fun! As I type, Roy and the boys are spreading this black gold with our little wheel driven manure spreader over our pastures.
As Roy tilled, we picked our “winter crop” of rocks that the frost heaved to the surface!
A few areas of the garden are already alive and well…
Garlic is growing…
Strawberries sprouting…
Asparagus ascending…
Rhubarb resurrecting…
After an overall tilling, we started up the “Horse” rear tined cultivator with the plow behind and started making rows…first some troughs for planting our 50 pounds of sprouting Kennebec potatoes which I cut and cured a few days before…
Then we started sowing seeds for our earliest crop…
We planted beets, carrots, lettuce mix, mesclun mix, chard, pak choi, parsnips, snow and snap peas, scallions and spinach.
Now we await a blessing from above of warmth and moisture for this soil that we have nurtured! Next month will find us planting the rest of the garden – corn, sweet potatoes, heirloom fingerlings, summer and winter squashes, melons, etc.
I’m so hungry for fresh, home grown fruits and veggies! It’s hard to be patient!
Morning Star Meadows Farm 