Good and Bad News

I've realized that we mostly write when stuff is going good, or when it's about onions. Well, this post will have both, as life usually goes that way.

Good news: we had our first market day today, and it was super fun. We had some gorgeous and tasty produce to sell, not a lot of variety, but the quality was there. We met some fantastic folks who we like and hope to get to know better over the season. Probably one of the best things that can happen is when you meet people who are as excited about your produce as you are. The morning was a date for us, we got to leave town together, and was the longest by far we were standing upright instead of bent over vegetables. The only bad news for the day was immediately after, not going more than a quarter mile through town, when we parked at the natural food store, we both got hefty tickets for not wearing seat belts. I know organic costs more than conventional, but most farmers aren't quite rich yet. We'll be sure to be buckled up....

Good news: we have enough onions that we can start replanting them today , over a month after we planted the first ones.

Bad news: we lost about 98% of the first planting, due to wireworms.

Bad news: the wireworms will probably take out the onions we plant today, and in fact, wireworms have no real solution, even expensive organic pesticides don't really solve the problem, and they really like root crops.

Good news: I think we can avoid the worst of the damage by planting this late, maybe their life cycle will encourage them to move deeper into the soil as the heat comes on, and they won't damage all of our crops. Maybe.

Goods news: We have huge tomato plants in our large hoophouse/greenhouse that are full of flowers, and we even have a couple of white tomatoes setting.

Overall, we're very positive about things, and it was so nice to have some encouragement by folks today at the market. It makes going back to the field now to plant onions and be bent over again so much more fun and exciting, when you know that people want your produce. Yay!

spring planting

We're making progress with planting all of our crops for the season. We fell behind for a while since spring was so early, but Monday night we had a frost, and managed to get many of our tender little plants covered up with a few layers of protection. Officially, last frost day in our area is May 15th, but we wonder with climate change if that is moving ahead or not.

Took some pictures of us. Enjoy!

Spring planting