Monday, April 16, 2007

New Arrivals



Saturday brought two deliveries to the farm.

The first was our four new pigs from Jack and Lori Krell, owners of Organic Jack's in Hartford. The pigs are posing in the picture above.

The pigs look great and they were definitely ready to be put on pasture. They have done nothing but root in the dirt and sleep since they got here. They even (mostly) ignore the trough of feed left out for them, preferring to dig in the dirt.

The second delivery was 9 cubic yards of composted manure.

I finished digging out the walkways between the garden beds on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, then moved the compost up the hill to the garden using a dump cart and my John Deere. I could be very happy if I don't see a shovel anytime in the next 2 months or so. All of that work was worth it, though. The soil in the beds looks and smells great. Rich, black and stinky, I hope our plants will thrive in it.

I was worried about being behind last year's garden pace, but there was nothing I could do about the weather. Saturday and Sunday were both beautiful sunny days with temperatures in the 50s, good shoveling weather! With a few days of hard work I am nearly caught up. I got all the compost rototilled and mixed with the dirt today when I got home from work and I should be ready to plant seeds tomorrow, only 2 days behind last year's planting date!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

are you doing any raised beds? I have really been inspired by you and thought about giving the garden a go via a raised be scenario.

Farmer Jones said...

Hey BJ. Yes, I built 10 raised beds this winter/spring that are just about 100 sq. ft. each.

Our soil has a lot of clay, so last year I decided where I was going to put the garden and put all the animal manures and some straw and grass clippings in that area to sort of compost in place.

Last fall I tilled it all up pretty deeply. I tilled it again this spring, then built the boxes. I shoveled the dirt from the walkways into the boxes and then this past weekned added the compost and tilled again.

Anonymous said...

FJ - Check this book out I have been reading it while enjoying the sprouting Snap-peas in my garden. Oh and the potatoes that were planted last night.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardeners-Guide-Growing-Organic-Food/dp/1580173705/ref=sr_1_5/002-5701142-9611207?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176843996&sr=1-5