Sunday, July 28, 2013

Market Day 7/27

 We had another great day at market.  It was overcast with a strong chance for rain but it held off. Sales were a bit slow at first but things picked up late in the morning and we sold all of our flowers, hooray!  I made 28 bouquets the night before and then made about 8 more at market.  I love coming home without flowers.  I received great feedback about my flowers too.  They last very well.  One repeat customer came to me and said that her flowers from two weeks ago are still looking good.  Success!

Next week I am shooting for 40 bouquets.  The garden is becoming more and more productive but I'm worried about my sunflower production.  I have a bit of a gap between the plantings so I wont have any blooming for a while after about a week or two.

I'm going to do some sowing today for the hoop house this fall.  I need to finish up the weeding and get the fall brassicas in the ground.  They are ready!

My hours at work are starting lesson which gives me much more time in the garden.  I could use it.  Our wedding is less than four weeks away now so there is much to do here to get the property looking nice.  After the wedding it will be nice to finally put in all the perennial beds.  I will really be able to do what I want with the property.  We will have a half acre of flowers and veggies next year, woo hoo!


 

 
 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Harvest and Market



I have attended two market days now and have sold out each time!  Well nearly sold out.  One bouquet left last Saturday.  I'm having lots of fun but it is clear that I will need a van soon.  30 bouquets is all I can carry in my little chevy colbalt.

We are now harvesting potatoes, green beans, cucumbers and some greens.  Summer squash is coming on too.  I have a bit of weeding to do this week but luckily the weeds pop out easily due to the nice raised beds we built this spring. 

I have learned how crucially important irrigation is to getting things to size up in a timely matter.  Lesson learned. 

The deer fence we put up a month ago is working like a charm.  Thank goodness!  One less thing to stress about.

Enjoy our photos from last Friday and Saturdays market prep.
























Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Crazy Days

Never buy a house, start a farm and get married all in the same year.  It makes for a bit more stress than necessary.  Considering all of the planning, it hasn't been too bad.  Only recently have I started to become a bit frazzled with an occasional mood shift from frustrated, sad, angry and then happy again.  Mostly, my stress manifests in bad dreams which are a bit unsettling at times.

With that said, things are actually moving on quite nicely here.  We are a bit behind schedule on the farm but not too bad.  I'm already really excited for the fall garden and a strong flower crop for Mothers Day next year.  I really wanted to knock it out of the park my first year but that is nearly impossible.

We are finally getting a few blooms.  A snapdragon here.  Some bachelors buttons there.  One sunflower popped open today.  I think that we will be rockin by mid July and there is no doubt that the show will be amazing in August.  I'm planting as much as I can so that I have too much instead of not enough but I still feel like I don't have enough!

The vegetable plants are looking really nice.  We have peas!  The potatoes are starting to bloom.  Beans are leafed out, the brassicas are growing fast!  The beets, onions, lettuce, corn, mustards, Asian greens, turnips, and radish all look great.  We haven't had rain in over two weeks and there isn't much in the forecast either.  Not good!  Our lawn is parched.  I'm moving a sprinkler around the garden constantly.  I'm hoping to have irrigation soon but it's all about the $$$.

This weekend we should have some crops for our csa members!  Finally.