Is it spring yet?!?!?!

I keep thinking spring will be here soon....then we get a blizzard on March 12th!!!!  We have plants growing in the greenhouse, but at this rate it will be July before we can get them into the fields....lol...Let's hope for mid-May.  Tomatoes are seeded and growing, along with some peppers, and lots of hanging baskets of flowers. 

We are not doing alot of planting today because Joe is out plowing snow at a few local businesses and around the farm.  Once again....the horses didn't get to go outside today, just like so many days this freezing cold winter.  Wow....I'm with everyone else.....enough is enough.  We got our snowmobiling in and now it's time for the tulips show up!

Well dig some veggies out of the freezer and make a pot of vegetable soup, or maybe some broccoli soup and stay warm, better weather is just around the corner....I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Rain, Rain and more Rain!

Well I guess I have been absent for long enough.  This spring has been quite a challenge for us on the farm.  It has been an extremely wet and challenging this season thus far.  We were hit by  hail, and rain after rain after rain.  Our veggies our pulling through and we should be opening very soon. 

I have talked to many people who have small backyard gardens and they have been very happy with the weather because they don't have to water their gardens....good for them...not so good for us.  We have large equipment to try and drag through the fields and with all this rain, well...it's not going anywhere but down in the mud.   I think we have been stuck more already this year than in past 5 years...maybe more!

We are cleaning, painting and getting the market ready to open.   I like to move furniture, so I'm sure I will be moving the benches in the market to new spots...and maybe move them again...that's what I do!  

So watch for signs of movement and you'll know we'll be opening soon!

Winter Break!

I guess I've had enough time off from the hectic days of this summer past....and now it's time to get back in gear and get ready for our new and hopefully wonderful summer of 2013.   

Mother nature put the hurt on our orchards in Michigan last year....farmers keep on chugging along and hope that this year there will be a bumper crop!   We plan on planting lots of those wonder veggies for this year, I might even talk Joe into trying a few things new for 2013!   Don't get to excited...there is still a long time before we will be picking our own veggies, but we can dream of those warm summer days, with butter running off your sweetcorn and down your arm!
Maybe a thick slice of tomato, a few slices of bacon a little mayo and....OK, I'll stop!  LOL

Let's get back to business...
Joe put new natural gas heaters in our large gutter greenhouse.  This should help to keep our heat bill down a little this year, and  we should be firing them up very soon.    I can't believe it's already the middle of February!   I think I'll dig around for a comfort food recipe using some of the veggies I froze last summer!    I still have some sweet corn, some green beans, a little bit of broccali and maybe if I dig deep I might find some brussel sprouts.  Check back next week and let's see what kind a great dish I came up with.

Oh yea!  Joe and I become grandparents for the first time in November!  Our son Joe, and his wife Ashlye had a beautiful baby girl - Our Little Miss...Kenadie.  Maybe she will be the next generation to take over on the farm!?!?!?  She's a keeper !!

 

Ready, set...it's almost veggie time!!!

I thought I better take the time to write today since I have written in a few weeks.  Typing is much easier without a cast!



Sweet Corn....looking very good!



Things have been very busy around the farm.  Joe has been spending about 14 hours or more a day getting the fields planted, cultivated, and sprayed.  It seems like we should just be able to sit back and watch everything grow....but it's not that simple.  We are still planting many kinds of veggies in the greenhouse, so that we can continue to transplant them into the fields.  We do this so we will be constantly picking fresh veggies until it freezes this fall.  As a matter of fact, we just seeded more broccali and cauliflower. 

Joe is also spending alot of time these days moving irrigation pipe.  We have not had enough rain...so we are doing our best the make it rain from the pond!   So if anyone out there know of a great rain dance....go ahead dance away!!!

Our youngest daughter Elizabeth is out of college for the summer and has been a great help around the farm.  She can drive any of the tractors and do just about any job her dad can find.  This week she will be  and cleaning and painting benches so we can start getting ready to open for the season and culivating sweet corn.   She will spend many hours driving up and down the rows of corn getting rid of weeds.  This helps out a tremendous amount, and she thinks she is awesome driving around this big equipment.

Joe took some pictures today of one of the fields of sweet corn.  It looks good, but could use some more rain.  Remember to do your rain dance!





Tomatoes are coming along very nicely....I can't wait until this one gets just a little bit riper!

Almost Stuck in the mud!

Well this week's post is going to be short and sweet.  I'm rockin' the hot pink cast this week...went to the hand doctor after my little spill last week and I guess I have a finger with 2 fractures not just  a dislocation.   So typing is taking a bit more work since I only have two usable fingers on my right hand.  : -)

I didn't let that stop me from working in the greenhouse all day.  It was be beautiful outside today.  Joe got the trickle lines set up on the tomatoes, there are actually tomatoes on those plants...how cool.  We hope to be picking our own tomatoes by the middle of June this year!!!!!

Today was supposed to be a corn planting day, but we almost got stuck trying to get the field ready,  It was plowed before this last batch of rain went through, but it needed to be field cultivated to get it ready to plant.  I guess Joe will try again  tomorrow to get it planted.

Ok...that's enought typing for tonight.  I'll be back next Sunday with planting updates.

Green Thumb!

So I thought I would be the wonderful wife and let Joe go ride his trials bike one more time with the guys before he gets to busy....Well, that didn't work out so well for me.  I had just moved some hoses around in the greenhouse to water the last bay of baskets and I was walking over to turn on the water and kabam!!! Down I went, tripped over a hose or something, and when I went to get up, found a finger going in the direction it really shouldn't!  Well an urgent care, then ER and it's back in place and will be as good as new in a week or so.  I guess I'll be right back working in those greenhouses tomorrow!  Life is full of unexpected fun times here around the farm.

It was a great day to be outside and working around the yard.  We did a little bit of that this week too.  We also hope to plant more sweet corn this week, I guess that will depend on how much rain we get.  We have the greenhouses overflowing with our vegetables that we have seeded to plant into the fields.  It is just a guessing game now.  Will there be any more frost/freezes  We take a chance every year on when is the best time to plant them.

It's time to get your hands dirty and dig in the dirt!  Plant a flower garden to spruce up your yard.  Maybe have the kids plant one so they can help take care of it and watch it grow.  Kids love to get dirty so give them a shovel and a few plants to have their own garden.  They can keep the weeds out, water it, and pick the flowers or veggies when they are ready.  They might discover they have a green thumb!

What a Beautiful Day

Wow, wasn't the weather today great!

The heaters don't have to do any work in the greenhouse on days like today.  Everything is growing nicely.  We have more plant material coming in next week for transplanting and Joe will be busy seeding more veggies also.  Today Joe spent part of the day working on the plow.  All the plow points that dig into the ground for turning the soil needed to be replaced.  He is working on several pieces of equipment so when the time comes to get into the field and start planting, hopefully, everything will be in working order. 

It is nice to enjoy a day like today, doing some work, but also able to take some time and play.  Joe, Elizabeth (our daughter) and Ben (our nephew) went out on the dirt bikes this afternoon.  They didn't get to crazy since they hadn't ridden since last fall.  They got home with no injuries....that is a good thing.

Have a great week...the weather is going to be great.

Sue Kutchey