Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Season extension works



This past Saturday while it was out in the yard I decided it was time to peak under the low tunnel and see how things looked. It was high 40's and breezy and I had to shovel nearly a foot of snow off the tails of the poly to get access to the tunnel. I was amazed by the hot wet waft of air that hit me as I stuck my face into the enclosure. I was quite happy to see the mustard, spinach and mizuna all looking great. And I had my first taste of fresh home grown greens since November right then and there, on my knees in the mud. It was fantastic. The ground outside is still frozen hard but under the cover it was soft and moist. I ran my hands through the soil just to remember how it felt and was even more surprised to watch a worm pull away back into the soil. That sold it right then and there. We will have a hoop house constructed as soon as finances and conditions permit. I have been reading Eliot Colman's book Four Season Harvest and am quite excited about what we could produce with even a small greenhouse.

Will let you know how it goes.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

No worms part two for now.

I decided the other day that, as we have just had our worm bin for a short time I would probably just increasing the noise about the issue on the Internet with a follow up post on the subject. I guess I don't like doing "how to" posts. I would rather share with you what we are doing and whether or not it works for us. That way you can decide what works best for you.

We have a couple of other irons in the fire at the time.
  1. We currently have some maple taps out and I hope to produce some of our own syrup this year.
  2. We have started looking for breeding stock to raise meat rabbits this year and acquired some cages to house them in.
  3. We have ordered ducklings and replacement laying hens for the season.
Lastly we have submitted the paperwork to the secretary of state's office to become incorporated. To me that is a big step toward making the farm a legitimate business enterprise.

Busy, busy, busy!