Time for fencing

I have been living on the edge so far this year, I keep putting off getting the garden fenced in. I need to get on that, because every time I go to the garden now it seems I am scaring out a rabbit. I will not let the rabbits get a tomato before I do! Last time I was at the garden center they were out of the fencing I wanted, I may have to order it or make do with something else.

I forgot to relate a small success from this weekend, I was helping Nikki in her herb and flower garden area when I noticed some feathery greens, I asked "Is this dill?" and she said "No, that's where you transplanted the asparagus". Apparently, it worked! That is good news, I had no confidence that it would grow at all. Now I think I will transplant some more.

Pepper the pig is better every day, you can't even tell she had a limp unless you look really closely.

As I said in the last post, we are overwhelmed with mulberries this year. Come out to the farm and pick a bucketful! This may be the year that I finally make some mulberry wine. I am thinking of mixing them with some of our blush grapes, using a Bordeaux yeast and aging it on French Oak staves. It could turn out pretty nice! At Ardwyn Farm we will serve no wine before it's time. Or until we are really thirsty, whichever comes first.

Pepper's "roller coaster" weekend

Last Thursday I was on a big upswing after seeing Pepper recover from her illness and get her appetite back. Then Friday came. Everything was fine Friday morning, all the pigs were healthy and in fine fettle When I checked on them Friday afternoon, Pepper had developed a definite limp in her left rear leg. I was (probably overly) concerned and was sure she had any of 4 or 5 rare pig diseases or a broken leg. The limp was a little worse on Saturday, and on Sunday she wouldn't put any weight on it at all and pretty much laid in the barn all day. I was convinced it was a broken leg and resigned myself to making an appointment for her at the butcher shop this morning.

Well, I went out to feed the hogs this morning and there was Pepper, running around the pasture like there had never been anything wrong! She has the slightest hitch in her gait, but it looks like she might make a full recovery. What a relief, it really put me in good mood on a Monday morning.

I modified the pig's trough this weekend, and am much more pleased with version 2.0. It eliminates fighting and prevents them from actually climbing into the trough. I am going to draw up some plans and put them on a pig-raising website that I occasionally use, because there is always demand for an inexpensive feeder for the person that's only raising a few hogs.

Last Friday we had our first distribution of Garden Shares and they were very well received. Customers received the following in their 'baskets':
Broccoli
Kohlrabi
Heirloom Baby Beets
Swiss Chard
Romaine Lettuce
Sugar Snap Peas
Radishes
Mesclun Salad Greens
Thyme
Sage
Chives

I was hoping to include some mulberries, but there just weren't enough ripe ones to bother with. They will definitely be in this week's baskets. We have so many mulberries this year it is amazing.

Wow..

I am amazed at how early and how quickly so many things are ripening and fruiting in the garden. I had to tie up heads of cauliflower yesterday, the first planting of kohlrabi is gone, there are 4-5" zucchinis already and even some acorn squash starting! There are at least 75 days untl the average first frost, so there is plenty of time to keep planting things, I just wish I had more seedlings to fill spaces with. I might have to hit the garden centers and buy their closeouts!

Pepper the Pig has been acting a bit lethargic and isn't eating well, I think she got a bad sunburn the other day and I hope that's what's bothering her. I'm keeping a close eye on her and will try taking her temperature this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed that she pulls through!

Garden Shares start this week

This week Friday will be the first weekly pick-up/delivery to our CSA subscribers. Payment for the full 10 weeks is due at that time.

It looks like it will be a fairly good selection, I was just reading a column in the local paper by a guy that got his first box last week. It sounded like it was pretty heavy on herbs on not much on fruits and vegetables, so I think we are on track to provide a good value to our customers.

The Great 4th of July Tomato Project experiment is in a questionable stage, there are plenty of tomatoes started, but it is unknown if any will be fully ripened by July 4. Nearly all of my tomato plants have started fruiting, much earlier than last year, so in any case it will be a longer BLT season.

I put in the last major planting of the year on Saturday, from this point on the only seed planting will be very short-season fill-in crops. I even planted a row of sweet corn, it probably won't mature in time, but I had the space and the seeds so I took a chance.

Before and after

I can't remember the date this spring that the picture on the left was taken, but the one on the right was taken yesterday. You can see the 4-5' tall tomato plnts, carrots in the lower right, and giant onions on the upper right and lower left. More pictures are at the "Farm Pictures" link as promised.

Home again, home again

Wow, you leave for 4 days and you can hardly recognize the place when you get home! The birds all doubled in size and suddenly I had beets and brocolli to harvest!

My trip to Colorado was one of the most physically demanding and mentally relaxing 4 days of my life. We hiked a total of nearly 13 miles at elevations betweeen 9000 and 11000 feet. The first mile of the hike into the wilderness area included an 1100 foot gain in elevation. I was ready to quit after the first 200 yards! But we pushed on, over the rocks and through the snowfields, and made it to the plateau. The weather was beautiful, a little frosty at night, but not intolerable. The fishing was excellent, we had an amazing trout dinner on Sunday evening.

I'll take some pictures of the birds and garden tonight and get them on the photobucket site tomorrow, I have been pretty lax about updating the pictures this year. Sorry!

Garden monsters

To be perfectly honest, the garden is starting to frighten me. Everything is growing so well, I am certain that doom is right around the corner. Last night I had a dream that the neighbor's beef cattle got loose and ate everything in the garden.

We have sweet corn over a foot tall, tomato plants growing out of the tops of their cages,snap peas weighing down their supports, and cauliflower plants so big they are visible from space. Nikki and I have to eat a salad every night at dinner just to keep the various lettuces and greens in check. The only failure so far is the yukon gold potatoes. No sign of growth from them at all.

The pigs are getting really big and really annoying. I am going to start locking them in the barn while I prepare their feed and fill their water, otherwise they crowd around and squeal at you so much that you can't get anything done! The birds are all healthy, most of them are just getting their feathers, and the ducks seem to double in size every day.

Nikki is having a group of her girlfriends from college out to the farm this weekend, so I am getting kicked out of the house. I can't complain though, I am attending a Chili Cookoff/ Microbrew Festival/ Bluegrass fest in Snowmass, Colorado on Friday. Three of my greatest loves in one big festival! Then two friends and I are heading out to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area for 3 days of backpacking and trout fishing at 10,000 feet, in some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S. I'll get kicked out anytime for a vacation like that!