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.