Cherries!

The thing about cherries is that when they're ready, they're all ripe at the same time. Luckily, we had help from some talented cherry-picking monkeys who, in a matter of a few hot hours, picked the huge tree clean and left the birds wondering what happened to their favorite snack. Aunt Theresa and Uncle Bill came over for their weekly work day and enticed the energetic neighbor into helping as well. It was great to have so much help, because Anna certainly isn't climbing trees. The workers even brought their own picnic lunch! Does it get better than that?
Then, what to do with the cherries? Luckily, more help came when Sue appeared with her canning supplies and found that she loved operating our amazing cherry pitter. Again, in a matter of a few hours (okay, maybe half a day, but who's keeping track of time when there's visiting to be done and nice weather to be enjoyed?) jars of beautiful cherries adorned the counter.

Farmers' Market: trial and error

We finally made an appearance at the Monroe Farmers' Market yesterday. It was a good chance to figure out how to set up, what to bring, and what we can sell. It was a busy evening before and morning harvesting, washing, sorting and packing. We brought huge cabbage, beets with beautiful greens, turnip, snow peas, snap peas, lettuce, and garlic. We had help in this venture which was greatly appreciated. Sue and Alan made our wonderful sign, Deb helped Anna set up, and Lisa helped man the booth and pass the hours. We learned a lot and are armed with great ideas for the next market. All of these marketing experiences will help us find our niche and discover where we want to create our strong customer base.
This picture was taken at the end of the day when the greens (and the farmer) were a little wilted. Why didn't we taken a picture when the tubs were full? Like I said, we're learning.

Timing is everything

The biggest salad you've ever seen

We had rows of beautiful lettuce this spring, but as soon as the heat came, it bolted and went to seed. We would have been able to sell it at the market if we'd had enough other produce held over from the fall and winter to make it worth it. Now we know we planted it too early to be ready with the other spring crops. It won't go to waste; the chickens love it and we ate plenty of salad ourselves this spring.

Beating the Birds

Vince relived his childhood by climbing up in the cherry tree. Last year we picked these cherries too early thinking they were pie cherries, but later discovered they ripened darker and sweeter. No wonder we beat the birds to them- they knew to wait. This year, I am reminded of the childhood game "Hi-ho Cherry-O" where you loose your turn when the bird comes along and empties your bucket. We were tired of the birds stealing our cherries and mocking us as they did so, so we draped nets over the tree in an attempt to dissuade them. The problem is our tree is so big we had to use multiple nets to cover it. Using two tall bamboo poles, we lifted the nets up and over and then Vince and the cat climbed up there to position them. The birds can still peck through the net on the top of the tree, but at least they are deterred a little. And the cat now has a new favorite resting spot on the branches as well.

New Fencing

The latest investment is an electric net fence. Vince put it up around the chicken coop that houses the pullets this weekend. At first they didn't know what to do with all the new space and grass, but eventually they ventured out. The hope is this fencing will keep predators out as well as keep the chickens in. (Now that we closed up the gaps.) When we used a chicken wire fence last year, they would fly to the top of the fence, perch, and then fly over the other side where coyotes and other dangers awaited them. This netting will be easier to move as well and supposedly we will be able to use it for pigs in the future, although we'll make sure it works for chickens first.
Speaking of the chickens, very curious markings have appeared recently. It looks like they ran into a bucket of rust-colored paint. In fact, at first we thought they were bleeding from a distance. It will make for some interesting coloring as they continue to grow.

Party

Party (n): Social gathering for fun: A group of people acting together.

I think the term work party refers more to the latter.

Anna's family is large and always ready to help.

It is easier to break ground and make new plantings than it is to maintain those new beds and gardens. I have seen a huge difference in the amount of weeds in the 1 year old beds compared to the ones created last fall and spring. With all of the help we were able to pull the weeds from the blueberries and raspberries. Part of my plan is to get them well mulched with old animal bedding and compost.

On a personal note

Yes, we are growing more than vegetables this year. (In the event of confusion, this is Anna writing now:). I am now 32 weeks pregnant and it has been noticed that we haven't said anything about this other "seed" we are growing on our blog. So, here it is. I am not hiding my ever-growing belly, in fact, my overalls just aren't fitting right anymore, but only those all knowing mom blog-readers seem to notice. I often remind myself, as I'm out in the garden, or, more recently, overseeing the garden from my hammock view, how I've seen the women in Africa just bend at the waist and attack the ground with their short handled hoe, having no choice but to keep at it, baby and all. Or the women in Central America who can squat for hours on end to tend to the earth and their children. I admire them and realize my body just isn't built for that. (or I'm not very tough). Instead, I putter around a little more slowly this spring than last, take more breaks, and don't carry anything heavier than a hose. But we tell ourselves it will be worth it, this body-building I'm doing, when we have another helper in 10-15 years. Assuming, that is, this Caruso kid likes to pull weeds and pick peas! I make it sound as if this pregnancy is a drag. It's really not; on the other hand, it is a great blessing. We are very excited to add to our family and look forward to the baby's arrival in August.

A farmhand! (and a lesson in radishes)

It is hard to find things to write about when the garden is slow and when we are going full tilt in the garden, I can't find time to write.
Aunt Theresa has been coming over once a week to help us here in the fields. She learned to "drive" the tractor and is seen here demonstrating the use of the wheel hoe. Best of all, she doesn't mind weeding. It has been wonderful to come home from work and see a bunch of progress in a vegetable plot. Last week any corn that had popped up was relieved of competition from neighboring weeds, and this week the flowers and corn can breathe again.

We have been eating a lot of salads and I am really pleased with the early irrigation and the tender lettuce. With the use of floating row cover over anything not needing pollination, the bug problems have been minimal.
I planted a bed of radishes and didn't get them covered; the flea beetles moved in and it looked like someone had taken aim with a shotgun and left small holes through all of the leaves. Until this morning I figured that shouldn't be too much of a problem since it is the root that I am interested in. I harvested a small bunch and I cut through a couple as part of my quality control and found cabbage maggots in just about every radish. I will never again grow a bed of radishes without a floating row cover.
Just about all of our major planting is finished and the first flush of weeds are cultivated under, so now we will try to update a little more often.