ok. I dropped the ball, so to speak. An entire season comes and goes and almost nothing on this blog...and the season was over on the 4th of July....I can plead 'too busy' and that would be correct, but still, people like to know whats up with the garden, so really that's no excuse. Now it is late October. Will has manhandled the garden and managed to put in fall veggies - some will make it to the first frost and some will not, but its the effort that counts....as always.

The green and yellow beans are blooming, but not setting quickly. It's been hot-cold hot-cold so maybe they are confused. We hope to have beans. That, and the loofas (no chance but hey...)and the cucumbers (making a mighty good try and we've had a few) and the tomatoes (in the greenhouse so maybe we'll get some) are our effort to steal a little summer.
The fall vegetables, on the other, hand, should be fine. Here are our round bales - not what we wanted, but they'll have to do, because nobody makes square bales anymore(!)

..the rest of them are in the barn, but Will has been rolling some of them out...and they make a very fine mat for protection...

and all along the front of this herb bed, teeny-tiny cauliflowers and broccoli. We never really worry about what on earth we'll do with this much broccoli and cauliflower.

The herb beds, along with all of the rest of the 2013 garden, were hard to handle and never produced the way we wished they would. But fall came, and little volunteers began to poke their heads up and the herb beds turned into this fabulous array of craziness - very healthy craziness. We're enjoying it while we can -if we were home every day and had all the time in the world, there would be pesto and basil drying and all sorts of things...hope the frost holds off for a while longer...

In the meantime, would somebody please come over and help us get all the extra-giant catfish out of the pond?

Week 3 Pictures

First Week

and we managed to pull it out...three weeks later than usual, but everyone was happy...

Chinese Cabbage, lots of lettuce, squash, red potatoes and herbs...not bad for a beginning
and, as usual, we had lots of help...

even Liam (who wants to be a 'gar-di-ner' but loves to play golf also) brought his watering can..last week, he forgot to bring it and was sad

here's to having survived a challenging planting season...

now we can have a nap. On this, our 39th anniversary...

This season...

I've decided that avoidance is not a good tactic...I haven't been here since April, and there's a reason for that. First, before i go any further, let me say this: we have, bar none,  

The.Most.Awesome.CSA. Members. Ever. 

That has always been the case, but this season has been 'special', and their efforts have been even more meaningful than in the past. If that is possible.

The weather, all spring, has been difficult. And I'm being polite here. Torrential rains, evenly spaced, have meant planting and re-planting. The ground has been saturated, the soil packed down. Veggies do not like this...I heard Will saying this morning to someone...'plants cannot grow in mud' and that is the truth. But that is what we have been battling since March. Case in point:

This looks like a perfectly respectable corn patch. yes. Tasseling, setting ears, all the right stuff. However, if you were standing in front of it, you'd be laughing (to keep from crying). because the corn is probably 5 ft. tall. or short.Or whatever you want to call it. It's doin' it's thing, but it's tiny. For corn.And this has been the season so far, in a nutshell. Things are stunted. The cucumbers were set out maybe 5 weeks ago. maybe 6, i cannot remember. and there they sat. And did not grow. Because it rained and rained. Yes, they have now 'busted a move'. as we like to say, as has the squash, which behaved the same way for weeks.
I like to porch-sit in the evening and try to count our blessings in the garden. Let's see; The garlic will be good. the squash is finally 'making'. The field tomatoes are promising (but the hothouse tomatoes are trying so hard as the greenhouse gets flooded over and over). After replanting then finally plowing under the red beans, the field peas (replacement beans) look pretty good. We will have awesome flowers at some point.
But it's just been hard. That's all there is to it. And our members come out every week and they work and smile...we love them.
We have yet to start our CSA distribution for this season. That is amazing in itself. But we will begin next weekend, on the 1st, on our 39th wedding anniversary. We are DETERMINED to make a good season out of this, a year in which nature is NOT cooperating. But that is farming, right?

Here. A bright spot. beautiful lettuce.

Well. Everybody went home today with lots of squash and rosemary. I'll be glad to get this show on the road next weekend. And I am also glad I have a place to go and say what I have to say (that would be right here). Not all seasons will result in the 'Disneyland Effect' we have perhaps become to used to these past years. But there will be plenty of good food. Will explains that the curve of the season will just be different his time around. From the looks of things, the beginning has been slow, and the production will all happen in a cluster in the middle somewhere, about the end of June,. beginning of July. The shape of the garden will just be different this time around.

More later, but I had to start somewhere.....

When Pigs Fly

So it's January and February and you look out at the garden and the winter wheat cover crop is really tall (with a bunch of daikon radish flowers sticking out of the top because the radish seed got mixed in somehow).  And you think....When Pigs Fly...that's when this is turning into a garden yet again. So my sister had gotten me this flying pig on a stick for Christmas, and although she seemed kind of embarrassed, I was tickled...because here we get that feeling all the time. The task is monumental - it seems not possible to turn a field into a garden wonderland. But you just do one thing at a time. Cut down the cover crop, plow up the dirt, plant your seedlings into flats...and on and on.

And then the CSA members start to come over to help...and three or four weekends later (with Will out there till dark after work all week too, mind you)...yeah...you can see it.

You can remember it. Watch out because it will sneak up on you - it does happen fast once the plants are all in. Well, right in the middle of this, my computer decided to quit 'recognizing' my device that reads my pictures....so more later.

Day 1

...Getting ready for the Slow Food Tour tomorrow....pulling up winter veggies from the herb beds...washing and packing for people to have some goodness to bring home. In the back,  CSA members constructing the first cucumber fence - because, as we know, veggies don't wait - and the cucumbers are in the greenhouse in the background...anxious to be put into the ground.
You know, it is amazing what 12 people can do in a couple of hours! And we always are pleased to meet this year's new members - today, a couple of awesome families....a man and his daughters and grandsons - what a hard working crew! and Nhu and son and daughters - older sister watches younger sister and they are so sweet!

Today, Dinner in the Field after the Slow Food Tour. My goodness but we are very tired(!) The day was cool but there was sun...met lots of really nice folks many of whom want to be CSA members but, alas, we only have a couple of spots left...closed the gate at 1:00 p.m....then there was a lot of wind. Our tent went crawling and spiraling and punched holes in one of the greenhouses. no! but at least the tent wasn't very damaged. Then we went to Oakland Plantation for the dinner...good food - but cold cold night! Home and warm now.