Ch-ch-changes

Although our basic farm layout from last year is the same, we have made some changes this year.

1. Fewer rows
2. Wider rows
3. Fewer plants

Despite some crop failures last year (peppers, I'm talking to you) we honestly had more vegetables than we knew what to do with. Because of this, we've decided to scale back on the plantings.

We still have four rows in front but the back few rows are different. One side has four rows while the other side just has three. The side with three will be the side with beans since they really need more room.

Also, we only have 6 total "round mounds" (3 on each side) as opposed to the 8 "round mounds" we had last year.

We are planting pretty much everything we planted last year - we're just planting less of it. And we've spaced the rows out more so that our aisles are more spacious.

Other changes we've made are to our watering system. Watering was a constant problem last year because the water pressure at the farm is so strong we kept busting our (cheap) hoses. I'll detail our new watering system in another post when I can share pictures.

In other news: Adam is coming home today! Yea!

Picture of the Day

I don't have any farm-related pictures form those months we were absent. So, this is from Christmas. Adam and I are in front and my cute-to-boot niece is next to me (and my sister and parents).

We're trendy!

I always knew we had it in us. Our local news ran a story about the increase in popularity of community gardens. And they featured our humble little garden at Two Rivers!

In the meantime, Adam is on spring break and I am left in charge of the garden. Yikes!

But, so far so good. We've been getting plenty of rain so I went out yesterday to check on our little baby plants and give them a pep talk. Some of the mulch had been scattered by the wind and, I suspect, birds, so I raked it back onto the rows.

Our tools were all present and accounted for as well.

But, since Adam has the camera so he can take pictures of our beautiful niece and nephew, I could not take any pictures today. We're expecting more storms on Friday so keep your fingers crossed for all of our little plants!

A place for everything

One rule I had for this year: no tools in the car. Last season, we drove around Little Rock and beyond with shovels, rakes and hoes precariously perched behind us. Not only was this incredibly tacky but I constantly lived in fear of being rear-ended and decapitated by a muddy tool.

So, I challenged Adam to build us a space-saving, cheap tool shelter.

He rose to the challenge and made me a "shed" out of a scavenged wooden pallet, two poles, a bike lock and a grill cover to keep the tools dry.

Total cost: $20.

My husband is so talented!

A time to plant

Today we planted:

Cabbage and Collards



Peppers - banana and bell (please pray they don't turn out like last year!)



Strawberries!





Beefsteak tomatoes



We also re-planted our rosemary, thyme and oregano from last year.

Still need to plant:
flowers
herbs
potatoes
okra
beans
carrots
squash
corn

Other to do:
build a tool "shed"

Out here in the fields...

I don't need to tell you that we had our work cut out for us today. On our list:

Clear out last year's leftovers
Till
Fertilize
Form our rows

And, no fools we, our experience from last year taught us that if you don't mulch on the same day as you do all of the above, your rows will be washed away and weeds will takeover by the time you actually plant. So, we added the following to our list:

Mulch within an inch of our lives

Another lesson from last year: don't be afraid to actually purchase mulch. I think we spent more time looking for free mulch last year than we did actually mulching. So, this year, we brought bags of leaves with us to the farm (free) and bought 6 straw-bales ($40 total).

















Next, we cleared the plot of all the large plants and pieces of roots. We thought we'd be able to till the smaller bits of plants into the ground but that didn't really work. So, we did something we thought we'd never do. We burned it:


It is amazing what we are reduced to because we don't have the time or resources to do things the way we'd prefer. The way we'll do things when we have our own farm: no tilling, permanent beds, permaculture. But all of that is for another day. In the meantime, we tilled, formed our beds and then mulched.

Behold, this is the neatest you will ever see our plot:



And then we fertilized. I have no idea what all is in our fertilizer mix this year but I do know it is all vegan. Among other things, there is corn and alfalfa. Adam will have to tell you the rest.

To do list:
PLANT!

UPDATE: I lied. I do know what is in our fertilizer mix - the ingredients were right here on our blog! It has just been so long since I gave any thought to it that I forgot.

Um, yeah......

Have you ever wondered what happens when a garden is abandoned for 8 months?

Well, wonder no more. This is what we were faced with when we finally returned to our poor little plot. I will not go into the sundry reasons for our flight but, I assure you, they were all very good.


The important thing to remember is that we have returned! We have fresh plans, fresh ideas and fresh seeds. But all of that can wait until tomorrow. For today, take a look at:

Dessicated tomato plants and blossoms:




Dried-up...flowers? I'm not exactly sure what this plant is:



Dead sunflower with crispy okra pods in the background:



Amidst all of this brown, we were surprised to find some actual living plants, other than weeds, in our plot. Our rosemary, thyme and oregano (not pictured) are alive and kicking:

To do list:
clear out this mess
till and make rows
fertilize and MULCH!!