Happy Little Homestead

This past weekend we planted our cool weather veggies. We used up all of our existing raised bed planters then some!

I was a little apprehensive about the planting because the weather has been so bizarre.  I mean, it was warmer than average last winter and we got about 1/2 the amount of snowfall that we usually get in central New York State.  The seed packets instructed me to plant the seeds 4-6 weeks before the average last frost, or, in the case of a few packets, like the peas for instance, it instructed to plant them as soon as the soil was workable, which to me means, not frozen.

I’m thinking our soil was workable in late February which is about 6 weeks earlier than normal. Then we had the beautiful, forget Spring and jump right into Summer-like weather in March, with temperatures in the 60′s, 70′s and even low 80′s (20-30 degrees above average) for a good couple of weeks.  The daffodils & trees bloomed early, the grass has already needed to be cut.  BUT I didn’t dare plant super early because I just KNEW that if I did, mother nature would play a cruel trick on me on turn the deep freeze on just to spite me.

That didn’t happen. Now I am wondering- if I had planted a few weeks ago,  would I now have rows of beautiful little seedlings reaching towards the heavens? Maybe, by my act of not answering opportunity’s knock inviting me to come out and plant, I inadvertently ensured that the weather would continue to be mild.  You can all thank me now

Anyways, over the weekend we planted the following: cabbage, onions, beets, carrots, mesclun mix, spinach, peas, bok choy, celery, Swiss chard, sorrel, two types of dill, cilantro and chervil. I still need to get the corn seeds in the ground, but I ran out of prepared space. Some of the seeds were left over from a couple of years ago-I hope they germinate.  If they don’t I have plenty of other things I can plant in their place!

 

SPEAKING OF PREPARED SPACE!  I won’t lie, I coveteth my neighbor’s unused pasture that adjoins our property. Acres of  grass and now, overgrown scrub.  I had asked them if we could use it for chickens, before we got our chickens, and they said they would think about it.

Now, a  little over 2 years later, I approached the farmers again and not only have they agreed to allow us use of their field to pasture the chickens, but also to expand our garden!!!  We are thrilled. Who knows, maybe we will be able to actually purchase some of that field in the future. I’m all a tingle just thinking about it.

We just delivered our first usage fee to the farmers-a dozen eggs. I am just floored by their generosity

Now that we have this land at our disposal, there is a lot of clean up to do.  The chickens will do their fair share of course, but initially, we need to hack down the brambles and scrub trees that have grown out of control since the last cows left the pasture 6 years ago. We will, of course, leave as many of the wild raspberry bushes as possible so I can harvest what the chickens leave me and make delicious things with them.

 

Since the land has gone untouched for 6 years, I know it has not been treated with any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, which means…it’s pretty much “organic” at this point!  Here are the rules for being considered organic: http://www.nodpa.com/WhatMakesAFarmOrganic.pdf

Luckily, even though the weather is still warmer than it should be, I still have about 5 weeks until the average last frost for our area, at which point I can plant the rest of our veggie plants.  This will give us plenty of time to till and get a garden space ready in the field.  We  are currently pondering a way to convert the chicken palace into a mobile chicken palace so we can move it around the pasture.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.  I am so excited!