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.

Here we are the last day of February and it is way to cold!   We had dirt delivered today so we can get planting for the 2014 season, it all starts again!  We have been working to get the heaters working properly...they don't even want to do their job...it's too cold!!!!  Expecting our cuttings tomorrow because it is the best day to deliver this week....it will be 27 degree's....hopefully!!!

Stick with us, as the season progresses we will go from seed to farm fresh veggies by mid-July!  Have a great March, with any luck it will be much warmer.

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 !!

 

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!

Busy Spring

Doesn't it seem like the weather will never decide if we should have it warm or cold, but soon enough things will settle in for some nice warm weather....I hope.  We have one planting of sweet corn in the field, but it won't be growing much with these cold nights.  Actually we don't want to see it poke out of the ground to soon....at least not when we are are still getting such heavy frost/freezes in the mornings.  We are working on getting the fields worked so we can get more corn in, then once it warms up we can start planting, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and all those other veggies.   For now....we can enjoy the sweet smelling and colorful flowers in the nice warm greenhouse!

This week is Project RED.  (Rural Education Day)  This is a educational program I work on with Macomb County Farm Bureau.  For this years event we are bringing 850 third graders to the fair grounds this Tuesday and teaching them a little bit about farming in Macomb County.   We have lined up presenters to talk to the children about diary cows, honey bees, fruits and veggies, goats, rabbits, poultry, beef cattle, and  miniature horses.  They get a quick blast of info at each station.  Macomb County farm bureau volunteers, together with local 4-H and FFA kids, master gardeners and Farm Bureau Insurance Agents have been providing this educational program for about 15 years now.  I like to refer to it as controlled chaos!  It's a great day and fun and learning, if your childrens school doesn't participate....they should!  The kids love it, the teachers love it, and our presenters and volunteers love to help with this program.

Getting your gardens ready

Each year we wait for the snow to melt and get our vegetable and flower gardens planted.  This year has been a little different.  80 degrees in March...again 80 degree days in April.  Some folks want to get their gardens in early.  Remember we are in Michigan and if you plant to early and are forever covering and uncovering for the frost and freezes. 

For now...Hanging baskets are a great way to spruce up your place early giving you color and flowers to your home, and if the weather is going to be cold...it is very easy to bring them in for the night.  

Have you ever had your garden dirt tested.  As a cost control and environmental issue we test our fields each spring before we plant.  This ensures we are only using what is necessary, and we are not spending money on nutrients and fertilizers we don't need.   If you don't have to fertilize as heavy because the dirt has enough nutrients in it then why put more on.  Why spend the money if you don't need to.  We work very hard to bring you the safest and freshest produce possible and to do this we need to make sure our costs stay as low as possible.



Love those Tomatoes!