Backyard Farmgals

The farm is planted!  I never thought I would be so relieved to share that little tid-bit.  We planted the entire plot this year, by hand.  In years past, we have planted up to two-thirds of it, all by hand also.  My hands are blistered and callused, and the feel of the wooden-handled rake and hoe have become a little too familiar.  Planting the entire space has just about killed me.  Not really, but there were days when I wondered if we would make the goal of being planted by June.  Here we are, goal met, and a week before June, and I am so relieved. Planting the last of the corn with "Mama" cat on my back, she perches like a parrot! I am gaining a greater appreciation for farmers than I have ever had.  I am planting a mere speck of a plot, but there are many that have farmed before me, planting acre after acre by hand.  I can only imagine the backbreaking work, the sweat, the scorching sun, and the worn hands and bodies.  Suc...

Spring, how I have missed you!  I have missed being barefoot in the grass and the feel of dirt between my toes.  I love you because you make me realize that light is so much more penetrating than darkness.  I feel relief lift me to my feet and point me in the direction of sunshine, green bits edging their way up through brown crusty dirt, and warmth wrapped around bare skin. Isn't it exhilarating that spring is finally here?  I find myself unable to stand a single minute indoors.  I have to be outside.  I crave it, like chocolate... one moment, like one bite, is never enough. With the coming of spring, my seedlings were ready to be transplanted to bigger 4-inch containers.  The first day of spring was spent with a fork, gently persuading tiny roots and soil into larger real estate.  It was easier than I thought.  I was terrified of losing a few of my precious tomato starts to transplant shock. Lucky for me only two wilted slightly, bu...

I had this idea in my head that the farming would slow down in the winter...it hasn't!  I have spent almost every extra minute of every day, thinking about, reading about, obsessing about soil, fertilizer, heirloom varieties and most importantly what I am going to plant this spring.  With all of this sifting around in my head, there is a constant beat in the background, a drum that beats for March.  March is seed starting month, and I have more than ever to be thinking about when I think of March.  I have ordered almost 200 packets of seeds...yup...200!!!  I will plant the majority of them when March finally creeps up on me.  The thing that I have found to be overwhelming, and I am hoping that I am not alone, is sorting through all of the seed catalogs.  There are pages and pages of varieties; I want to plant them all.  I need forty acres, I have already got the mule, so to speak.  I have found a few tricks to ordering and I would like to ...