Farm and Garden March 2012
FARM AND GARDEN
Spring is the time for all farmers and gardeners to invest a lot of hard work into what will become food later on in the year.
GARDEN EXPANSION
Every garden starts with a fence because of the thriving population of white tailed deer in our wooded area. Garth was kind enough to come over and help Bob with this difficult chore. They took the extra time to dig a trench that will help keep the grass on the outside of the fence.
A few hours of hard work and the garden is 20% larger!
AND PEONIES, TOO!
Not only did Bob and Garth dig a trench and build a fence, but they put three peony plants in the ground! Three weeks later, the peonies are thriving and putting out buds.
BROADFORK
Little by little, Bob is digging out the grass, adding compost and broadforking it into the red dirt to create new garden beds. Bob has borrowed the broadfork from Jason who bought this essential tool from Larry and Karen of Gulland Forge.
FAITH
Gardening is an act of faith. Faith that one day the preparation will yield food. For example. Bob planted this vibrant crop of garlic more than six months ago.
ON THE ROCKS
Claytonia or Miner’s Lettuce, a choice winter salad green escaped one of the container gardens to make its home in the white rocks we inherited. Camille uses the fantastic tool that Joe and Janice gave us to weed the rocks beside the sidewalk. It’s been a big year for the chickweed, which is also edible but in this case went to feed the compost pile.
ASPARAGUS FARM
The morning of trail crawl, Camille and Olivia found Jason and Haruka hard at work in the Asparagus fields.
FARMING IS ITS OWN REWARD
Again, farmers toil away each day, taking it on faith that nature will meet them at least half way if not more. While they work hard, they have the best of all lifestyles, working outside with plenty of time to stop and enjoy a friendly chat. Haruka loved Olivia’s new haircut and polka dotted rubber boots.
MORE PROGRESS
Jason and Haruka have nearly finished the root cellar after more than a year of research, planning, and hard work in their spare time. Arlo came over with his little backhoe and buried it in red dirt. It is alreay in use – a giant refrigerator for keeping harvests fresh and delicious.
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