Chicks!

I finally got the chicks I was looking for: Gold-Laced Wyandottes. They are lovely birds. Adults should look like this:

But right now they look like this. So cute! Karen said they look like tribbles. I have 6 of them in the taproom in a big blue bin, with standard chick feeders and waterers, and a good brood lamp. They are arrayed at their own comfort level away from the heat lamp.

 Fortunately, it's still raining. We've had the sort of nice steady long rain we desperately need. We had that quarter inch the other day, then 3/4 inch yesterday, and at least a half inch more already today.

Out Like a Lion

I always say that in Chico, the old saying goes backward. Here, March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion. We always get a period of lovely weather between mid Feb and mid March. But by the end of the month... hail and tornadoes. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My starts are coming along nicely. Way back on March 12, the roots were already long! I started potting them up into cups.

Monica brought me some extra starts, and I popped them in the lettuce row.

Someone may have gotten a little older...

So we played some Rock Band.

 My parents came to town and we took them to the farm.

Then back to the house for a lovely salad from the harvest.

Bill and Laura came to the farm and brought this lovely cheesecake.

By mid March, the trees were all flowering. The plums and apricots are pretty much done now, but the cherry is still in full bloom and the peach still has a few last blossoms. My apple is in full bloom.

The garlic and onions are thriving in sector 4.

Sector 3 has peas and lettuces, plus some radishes. We've since moved the chickens from sector 2 to sector 1.

Rick continues his work on the chicken house.

I planted herbs on 3-15. I also put chive seeds around the tree trunks.

And squash on 3-25. I put these in Karen's tray so it wouldn't be half empty while we hope the peppers germinate.

And I planted bushel basket gourd seeds in the backyard on 3-21.

Our neighbor has been making us a bit nevous with his amateur tree cutting... He totally took out his own fence!

We've been getting really beautiful lettuces.

I transplanted all the tomatoes into cups.

But I've had to keep them in the taproom because it's still too cold out. They barely fit!

We had Karen and Glen over for Indian Food and India Pale Ale tasting. It was a grand feast and a rollicking good time.

So all through the middle of March it was warm and sunny. Ricky C. went ahead and planted his tomatoes. I said, I don't care if it seems warm, it's just too early, and I was right. Yesterday we had hail and tornadoes. The tornado was near Willows, but we got a lot of wind and hail. This is the tail end of the storm passing over.

Then we had a lovely double rainbow.

Goofy bonus pic: We got new phones, and I was dorking around with the camera. I love the "flower headdress" look... lol. Two days ago I was wearing shorts, and here I'm back to the parka... in the house... sigh.

Spring Forward

Yes, it's now Daylight Saving Time, so we get a little more light at night. And the farm is showing all the signs of spring also. The irises and forsythia are blooming. The hyacinths and daffodils are finished, although the wood hyacinths are about to bloom.

The onions and garlic are looking fantastic.

And we have peas and radishes coming up. Right now, Sector 1 is in clover, and we will move the chickens to that area this weekend. Sector 2 now has the chickens on it, and once we move them, we'll amend that soil and have it ready for tomato and pepper planting. Sector 3 has a mix of onions and greens. 2A: onions and leeks (from fall); 3A peas, Improved Maestro (left) and Sweet Horizon snow peas (right) both planted 2-17; 4A: peas, Serge (left) and Dakota (right), also planted 2-17. 3A was planted in a solid band across the row, while 4A was planted tightly, but in two distinct rows with Bartender radishes(planted 3-8) in between. 5A: lettuce, mostly left from fall/winter, with some newer transplants from the ones started in Jan. inside. 6A: radishes, French Breakfast/Amethyst (front/back on left), Cherry Belle (right) planted 2-15. 7A is serving as the foyer to the chicken pen, and will need a lot of remediation from all the walking on it.

So that's what's in the ground. I've also got the seed starting area just stuffed full of starts. I started out planting tomatoes and peppers on 2-11 and 2-12. I was very restrained, and I only planted 200 cells. (See the separate post for the full lineup.) Meanwhile I've been clearing out the backyard at our house, and part of that project was moving the old chicken ark. We brought it to the farm and I said, why not remake this into an accessible and useful chick pen? So that's what we did. We cut the top clean off and removed the poles. Next we'll make a plywood door for the top. Voila! Repurposed and more useful.

As noted in the last post, I got the CFO licensed and started. I'm official as of 2-25. And then, I applied for a small farm scholarship, and I got it! This will offset some of the cost of vending at the Chapman market, but it also commits me to vending 6 times before June 27. So first thing, I set up my booth. Rick helped me set up and clean the old canopy, and found me a folding card table. I pulled out some chairs, a cloth to cover the table, and I have a booth! I've ordered a jug for handwashing, and found a few cute odds and ends at the galley, so I'm pretty much set. I also made the Amberglen Farms Facebook page. Feel free to go "Like" it! I also got the amberglenfarms email addy from gmail.

But... I have to vend 6 times before June 27. Yikes! That's before summer crops will be ready! What can I sell? Well, the candy of course. I made a new variety with nuts that everyone likes even better, and it's easier and faster and doesn't require perfect strips of peel. But what else? I know... tomato starts! So... Back I go to the seed room. So much for restraint! I planted 3 more flats with tomatoes and peppers. Thinking of this new incarnation of Amberglen made me nostalgic for its inception, so I had to get a shot of the original sign.

Meanwhile, the trees are in full bloom. The little peach is such a lovely tree. In the backyard, the peach and nectarine that we planted this winter are just about to bloom

The plums are in full bloom too. If you look closely, you can see Catherine playing "Who's the tallest chicken?"

The farm is especially lovely in the evening with the fairy lights on.

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Weather Note
Yes, finally some rain! When it rains it rains hard! We got 1.5 inches in one storm on 3-4. We got almost an inch after that, then there was a big storm last Sunday, and we even lost power on Monday morning for a little while. Poor Rick had to go to work with no coffee, no toast, no shower...

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We're very happy for the rain, but we had a little water damage to the feed stores. Here Rick rigs an additional tarp to help protect the feed. He also caulked around the holes in the lid from the handle. Notice the freaky vampire eyes!

He also has been working really  hard on the chicken house. He got the foundation laid, with wire under the bricks to discourage digging critters, then he got the boards all prepped so we could actually get some walls up.

And here it is! Well part of it anyway. He still needs to set in the windows and make two more walls. But we're making good progress. I haven't bought chicks yet, but I'm checking the supplies around town. I'd really like to get gold laced Wyandottes, but I haven't found any yet.

Seed Starting Lineup

I realized this should be in its own post to make it easier to find.

On 2-11 I planted Flat D in tomatoes.
D1: Blue Beauty, D2 Indigo Rose, D3 Indigo Blueberry, D4 Indigo Apple, D5 Cosmonaut Volkov, D6 Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, D7 Momotaro, D9 Black Krim, D10 Black Icicle. That flat has already been transplanted into cups (3-6 and 3-8).
Flat E: tomatoes, also 2-11. E1 Tangerine, E2-3 Borg, E4-5 Sungold, E6-10 Tumbling Tiger.

Then on 2-12, I planted peppers in Flats C and F.
Flat C. C1: Red Thai (Renees), C2: Red Thai (Baker Creek), C3: Cayenna mix, C4: Tabasco, C5: Purple Jalapeno, C6: Fish Pepper, C7: Red Peter, C8 Beaver Dam, C9: Three Sided Syrian, C10 Jimmy Nardellos. Flat F: F1 and F2 Jalapeno "Craig's Grande," F3-4: Serrano "Sureno," F5-6: Pizza Pepper, F7-8: New Mexico "Joe Parker," F9: Poblano, F10 Pasilla.

On 3-7 I planted Flats A and D (again).
A1-2: Volkov, A3-4 Tie Dye, A5-6 Momotaro, A7-8 Black Krim, A9-10 Black Icicle
D1-2: Sungold, D3-4: Tangerine, D5: Borg, D6: Pizza Pepper, D7-8: Jalapeno "Craig's Grande," D9-10: Serrano "Sureno."

On 3-11 I planted more blue tomatoes in Flat B.
B1-3: Indigo Blueberries, B4-5: Blue Beauty, B6-7: Indigo Rose, B8-9: Indigo Apple, B10 Pizza Pepper.