Welcome to the new season, season 5 in our books at the farm! Same Covid problems (face palm), but new challenges and new veggies to grow this year!
As with every season we are tackling different things and ways to grow and improve and change. This year is particularly different and challenging year in that I'm personally growing a human!
And as timing would have it, this little seed should be mature just after the radishes and before the harvesting of our garlic scapes! Unfortunately, during peak weeding season😄 Here is a picture of me at the farm viewing the garden plot with my little bump, soaking in the early April sunshine. Yes this does provide a unique challenge to my gardening schedule. I am currently 8 months pregnant and spent yesterday planting for 6 hours (with lots of breaks and the heavy lifting completed by my much stronger half, Ben). As a team we are pretty confident we will manage to pull off a big garden this year, and Ben knows that he might be doing a bit more than in previous years, with my bending and lifting at a severe disadvantage this spring. Fortunately Ben is the hardest working human I know, and won't settle for less than we have ever done before on the farm. He made sure I took breaks but also doesn't ever settle for shortcuts even when I try to convince him. And as a stubborn as he is, I love him for it.
So yesterday, May 1st, we were able to get our potatoes in, as well as seed some rows nice and early in anticipation of my state getting a little more precarious by the end of May when I reach full term on this little bean. We have had warm weather early this year which has thankfully allowed us to start seeding and prepping early, so mother nature has given me a hand this year, as I prepare to be a new mom too.
I can't fathom the challenges ahead, but I'm super excited for the adventure. Is it crazy that we are still doing a giant garden this year while expecting our first child? Yeah, probably. However this is a dream we have and to let a year go by without further diving in is just not in the cards. And we will get by with a little help from our friends!
This year we will have a little more of everything growing on the farm, with a few more garlic and potatoes in the ground. We have a few new experiments in the ground as well to see what we enjoy and prosper at growing. We hope that this year we will have some sweet corn at the market, as well as more beans and peas and yellow zucchini. I am also adding a harvest of strawflowers, if they are successful at the farm, to grow and dry this fall.
On top of our hay harvesting, Ben is planning to grow an acre of sunflowers this year as he begins his adventures farming some of his own land. What we will do with all these sunflowers is still up in the air, but I'm excited for the gorgeous view we will have on the farm🌻🌻
So I will do my best to keep up with the Farmers blog this season, but our hands will be a bit busier than usual with the exciting growth of our little family. Documenting this year will be important as I learn all the tools to juggling gardening and homesteading with a baby on my hip. If any moms have tips and tricks on weeding with a newborn, please let me know 😉
Thanks for reading and I wish everyone health and happiness this summer as we stumble through the (hopeful) end of this pandemic this spring and a summer full of sleepless nights, baby smiles, dirty diapers, and fresh veggies.
Cheers,
K