Flats of baby broccolis growing big in the greenhouse.

 Time to plant out those tomatoes! These guys were started in the living room under grow lights way back in March. When they outgrew the living room, they moved into the green house where they hardened off for a good few weeks. They were just about grown out of their little gallon pots and ready for some extreme compost, so out into the mega bed, our whopping 16 footer,  they go. 

First we topped the bed off with a good six inches of rich organic compost and attached PVC hoops to hold up some plastic. Tomatoes aren't known to do so well when their leaves are heavily rained on, so the plastic will keep the overhead water minimal, and also trap in heat. 

Holes were dug for each plant and sprinkled with some home recipe complete organic fertilizer. In they went and then got a good drenching at the base of the stem from the garden hose.

Our cute little pullets have finally blossomed into these beautiful hens.  

 Their new feathers are so shiny and colorful. These girls really are stunning. I think they know it too, they've started to walk with a prideful bounce in their step.

"Snacks?"

Smart and friendly too! These girls know where their food is coming from!

Today was our first day as vendors at the Carnation Farmers Market!

 What a great energy this market has! We feel lucky to be there.

 
It's been fun, exciting and a bit stressful getting everything ready for our very first farmer's market. The boxes had to be built, the signs painted and the tablecloth bought. But everything came together, and was drop dead adorable, for the big day. We met lots of friendly customers, covered our stall fees for the day and had a great time.

Every other week, starting today, we'll get up early, harvest our produce fresh, pack up the truck and drive out to Carnation for an afternoon of work at the market. 

Reality

There's a lot of reality in farming. Sometimes that gets lost. It's easy to start out with perfect visions of an ideal world where everything and everybody gets along.

See, we thought that the presence of horses and the dogs would keep predators at bay. Fact is, the horses and dogs tend to stay close. They go where we go.

Lulu and I set the birds loose on the pasture, smiled at their delight, and went back up to the house. The dogs and horses followed. We thought everybody would be fine as we left to run errands.

When we returned, I started down to check on the birds and tuck them in for the night. Something wasn't right. Tex ran over to me and looked... off. I thought maybe he'd done something, but that wasn't the case at all. Sorry for thinking that, Tex. My guess now is that he looked guilty because he felt it was his job to protect our birds and he was unable to meet the task. There was a lot of fence between him and the birds. He couldn't have gotten there even if he wanted to.

The clearing was empty. No chirping, no quacking. Not a single sign of our birds. Well, that's not true. There was one sign. My eye found the red, feathered stillness next to the coop. My heart sank and I expected the worst.

I ran over to see that one of our hens had been killed. Her wounds were devastating and consistent with descriptions of hawk predation.

The other birds were all in the coop. They were huddled under the nest boxes and they looked scared. They were hushed, as if making noise would cause the terror to revisit.

I called Lulu and she hurried out to the pasture. The day was turning to night and there wasn't much we could do except bring a bucket to collect the remains. We locked up the coop and set off to bury our little hen.

The Birds Go Out to Pasture

The day started off so well. We decided to move the chickens and ducks to the back pasture where they'd have lots of space to run around and lots of horse poop to pick through. Their presence would have the added benefit of reducing the fly population, which would keep the horses more comfortable.


It was an idyllic setting and the chickens and ducks looked so very happy.
In hindsight, we should have known better. But at the time, it was perfect.

They were beautiful. We were naive.

 A few sunny days have warmed the soil considerably, and I think it's safe to say we're out from danger of frost, so time to plant the potatoes!

 

Steve found a great source on craigslist for these folding wooden shipping crates. They fold flat and have little legs on the corners that hook onto the preceding box, which makes them easily stackable. So we're going to uses these as vertical potato bins.

It was a fairly simple procedure. After letting the potatoes sprout in a sunny place indoors for a couple weeks, I just tossed them in the beds on top of some compost and covered them up with some more compost. With some warm sunshine and a bit of rain, we should see them emerge within the next couple weeks!

 Yellow Finn

 Purple Majesty

La Ratte Fingerling

  

This is Little Frog. He lives in a hanging pot in the greenhouse and keeps me company while I'm in there planting. Every day, when I get out my watering can to water the seedlings, I give him a little shower and he crawls out to the edge of the pot and contemplates me with a big orange frog eye. He's been living here for weeks and I hope he stays.

 

 Sleeping Beauty Melon

Katanya Melon
Sikkim Cucumber

Alibi Cucumber

Black Beauty Zuchinni

Golden Zuchinni

Jaune et Verte Scallop Squash

Today we got a warm sunny day. Tomorrow it may very well hail, but today it didn't, so the cucurbits came out of the freezer.

 After weeks and weeks of waiting for what was supposed to be the last frost, I've decided to go ahead and plant my cucurbits in pots for transplant, and keep them in the living room until the weather stabilizes. 

It took a trip to Steubers for an extra 75 pots and a brick of cocopeat to get started. I ended up planting all my seeds since I've never grown melons and squash before, and figured I'd kill most of them. With that reason, and the weather not being quite suitable for heat loving cucurbits, I thought better safe than sorry.

Armed with my 'good morning grumpy' mug full of chocolate chips, I sat on the front stoop and planted 100+ pots of cucurbits. Win! And the living room is now full of plants again @_@

 

Well! After a week of teaching Rufus, Molly and Delilah how to swim in our utility sink, we finally had a warm and sunny enough day to introduce them to the kiddy pool! What fun! Delilah, being the smallest of the bunch, stuck mainly to the shallow end of the pool while Rufus and Molly had a ball diving and ducking in and out of the deep end. Steve and I had just as much fun watching them splash and play.

Tex and Rosie wandered over from next door to see what all the commotion was about. As we've been working the two into a respectful relationship with the birds over the past few weeks, we decided now would be a good time to give them some unrestrained, but closely watched, contact. Both Tex and Rosie did beautifully, giving the birds their space and generally not eating them like ducknuggets. Tex however decided the ducks needed some loving and took to licking them all over with his big soggy tongue. We ended the day's events with a nap in the sun.

 The little chicks spent a day outside in the greenhouse, soaking up some sunshine and eating bugs and weeds. They're starting to look a little awkward and scruffy as their feathers start to come in.

 It's fun to watch them trade out their racing stripes for the new gold and brown spotted plumage.

Looking forward to some pretty girls on the farm.

Rufus, Molly and Delilah have quickly turned the brooder into a swamp, much to the dismay of the little chickies. So we decided to start giving the ducks some bathtime.

We filled the utility sink with a couple inches of water and set the ducks afloat. How adorable! By instinct they knew what to do right a way and were splashing and paddling around the sink within minutes.  

 

Today was our babies first day outside. The sun came out and warmed up our still empty greenhouse, making it a suitable environment to introduce the fledglings to the big outdoors. There was first confusion, and then a massive awe and excitement at the discovery of TASTY BUGS AND WEEDS!

And then, there was dust bathing, and all was right in the world.

Well here's the greenhouse, shelves and seedlings installed. Lights are on in the early evening to extend day light and intensity to get the little seedlings off to the right start. 

The thing looks like a UFO all lit up in the night... and a nickname for the greenhouse is born.

Another winning project by Steve. Two sets of shelves to hold my seedlings in the greenhouse. They really turned out lovely and I can hardly wait to put them to use. 

Thanks Steve!!

 

 He got all crafty with the recycled wood and built the whole thing out of ripped up pallets.

 

 Slatted shelves make cleanup and ventilation easier, which will help prevent dampening off, molds and mildews.

Spines running along the tops of the shelves will support grow lights used to supplement the low light intensity here in the Pacific Northwest.

Blegh! Slugs! Found this guy near the garden! I really quite like slugs, I think they're fascinating creatures, it's fun to watch them move so slow. But not in the garden!! They do some serious damage, especially to my tender young baby lettuces and broccolis. I've picked a few out of the beds and fed them to the ducks, who we are trying to teach to be cold-blooded slug killers.

No, we don't have cockroaches, ants or fleas in our gardens. But diatomaceous earth is good for more than just those guys. 

Diatomaceous earth is the fossilized remains of diatoms, a prehistoric hard-shelled algae found in siliceous sedimentary rock. The tiny particles of silica have very sharp pointy edges. When bugs come into contact with the diatomaceous earth, these sharp bits get caught in the joints and cracks of their exoskeletons. With their water-tight protective coat compromised, the bugs lose internal moisture, dehydrate, and die.

The silica particles in diatomaceous earth are small enough that contact with human or animal skin, is not harmful. However if you or an animal breathes in a big cloud of it, it will irritate your lungs as it becomes lodged in your bronchioles, and can do long term damage if breathed often. Diatomaceous earth has several health benefits, including strengthening hair, skin and nails, and acting as a natural dewormer as it passes through the gut. For this reason, in it's food grade form, it is often used as a supplement in livestock feed to help control worms and other internal parasites. Silica is a beneficial supplement for humans as well. Another rich source of silica, commonly used in humans is the horsetail (or shavegrass) plant, often used as teas or in capsules.

Diatomaceous earth is a non-toxic, naturally occurring and chemical free pest control option. Normally, diatomaceous earth is a rather ineffective method of pest control in the garden in the Pacific Northwest region. Frequent rain and high moisture content saturate the diatomaceous earth, turning it into a paste, which does not rub off on pests as effectively as it does when dry.

Because our raised beds are temporarily covered in low tunnel hoop houses, they receive relatively little water from above, except for when I go around with the hose to water them. Because the plants stay reasonably dry, I decided to give the diatomaceous earth a try, in an attempt to keep the crawlies from doing to much damage to the young, tender plants. After watering, I go around with my box of diatomaceous earth and dust all the plants. It's a labor intensive option, but it seems to be somewhat effective , and I have noticed fewer slugs and hard bodied bugs in the beds.

 The little chicklets have been spending a lot of time perching on top of their feeder and waterer lately, so we decided to build them a little perch. We hope this will help them learn to roost, so when it comes time for them to move outside into their big chicken house, they'll have had some experience sleeping up off the ground at night.

The ducklins were quick to inspect the perch while the chicks cowered terrified in the corner.

 

Mommy Steve was in charge of teaching each chick how to clasp onto the perches. Some were more apt than others, but at least they all tried.

One of the little Amerucana chicks especially liked the perch, and took to hanging out there for quite a while.

Time to give our little onion seedlings a haircut