Calling All Rain Dancers

Well, the last couple days have been very busy, and a little disappointing. You see, we spent two hard days planting in the garden trying to get everything in before the storms. We were successful in getting everything planted, which is great. Not so great...no rain. Not even a little. And no rain in the forecast. So the next day was spent watering all the delicate plants. And the seeds are just sitting in the ground patiently awaiting the rain. Same as me. Except I don't think the plants are checking accuweather every five minutes to see if the forecast has changed. It looks like our best bet for rain is Sunday. I would greatly appreciate everyone doing a rain dance starting now with our garden in mind. I know our plants and seeds would love some rain, and maybe even a little lightning. I hate to be picky, but no hail would be nice. I am not really sure how rain dances work, but get out your sage, take off your clothes, or just send rainy thoughts our way. I am sure anything will help.

Happy Campers...

Literally. The broilers are roaming free in the vineyard with a unique shelter-a camper shell I got for free on craigslist. They are so happy. In just a few weeks, they will be ready to dress and we will get a new batch of broilers. I am debating whether to get more chicks or some turkey poults to raise for Thanksgiving. I have a little more research to do on raising turkeys but if anyone wants to add their two cents I will be happy to listen.

The garden is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, the weeds are growing as fast as the plants and we have been so busy planting, weeding has been put on the back burner. As soon as the rain lets up, weeding is next in the list. And our tomatoes are aching to get into the ground. Today was supposed to be tomato planting day, but it it will have to wait until the weather and ground get a little drier. In the meantime, we will weed.

And I have saved the best news for last. We had our first CSA pickup and I feel it was a success. As soon as I figure out how, I will post the newsletter for reference. The bag was heavy on the greens and we tucked an unlikely green in there- our stinging nettles. This year, we have learned to love the nettles despite their sting. Sometimes it just takes a little patience and care to realize the true potential of something. So it is with nettles. Despite the rain, and in part because of it, the chickens are happy, the garden is growing nicely, and it was a great start to our CSA...I guess there are a lot of happy campers at Old Nelly Farms.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the honorary and biological mothers out there! I hope your weekend was wonderful and relaxing. Market on Saturday was cold, cold, cold. The bright side is that I know our brassicas in the field were so happy in the cold. However, the wind was another story. The wind took out a couple of our cabbage seedlings, which we will likely replace with broccoli. It made me very glad I planted some extra cabbage. We also got to meet some of our CSA members on Saturday, which definitely made our day. Thank you for coming out and know it made us even more excited to begin filling our CSA subscriptions.

Today brought some lovely rain for our plants in the garden and gave us a little break to do some of our rainy day activities. I am brewing some worm tea in order to fertilize our indoor seedlings and outdoor transplants. I have included a picture of the process. It involves using our vermicompost, molasses, and a water pump. I am pretty excited to see its magic. We also used some of our surplus rhubarb to make some delicious jam. Lucky for us we had about half a pint that did not get canned and was going to stay in our refrigerator until we could eat it tomorrow morning. Needless to say, it did not make it until morning. It didn't even make it a half an hour. I will keep the ingredients a surprise but I will tell you it is delicious. Today we are thankful for the rain and the break, but a little anxious to get back into the garden and get back to planting.

First Day at Market!

Well, the first day at market was definitely interesting and what I would consider a success, for the first day. Despite our best intentions and our pledge to be organized every single day before market, we ended up staying up half the night (Mom stayed up all night and cleaned the chicken house...because she couldn't sleep), in order to prepare the little produce we had for market. Actually, we were also digging out items from last year, most of which were stored where there was a sleeping baby. Fun night. But we made it out on time, without one of our items, but on time, nonetheless.

At market we had some eggs, green onions, baby arugula, herb pots, asparagus, garlic chives, and stinging nettles. We have some baby lettuces and spinach ready but we are saving those for our dear CSA members. It was a beautiful day, the vendors were excited and chatting about making it through the winter, the customers were pleased with the fresh produce, and everyone was very friendly. Well, almost everyone. There was a market goer who was, shall I say, less than pleased with the prices. To make a long story short, when asked about my sign for chemical free produce and free range, antibiotic and hormone free eggs, I was excited to reply with my standard answer of how our chickens get the very best feed, and the grass and bugs they forage for make their eggs not only higher in beta carotene and omega-3's but also tastier than anything you find in the store. Apparently, we had a difference of opinion. Usually I welcome this type of dialogue wholeheartedly, however, it ended poorly. Mostly with him saying "I was just a kid and didn't know what I was talking about," asking my mom if we "thought city folk were stupid," before storming away, leaving us a little confused.

Now, I would like to take the time to say this: Our belief at Old Nelly Farms, happy and healthy chickens=happy and healthy eggs. Furthermore, I would like to thank both the city folk and country folk who we do not think are stupid, but actually quite smart for thinking critically about the food we grow and how it affects the health of ourselves and the planet. I started this venture to make sure my family had the healthiest food I could provide and feel so fortunate that others not only support this venture and dream, but can reap the same rewards as I do. I am young, believe I do know what I am talking about, and would even go so far as to say your choices are brilliant. Thank you.