Charles, the Mulch-Laying Man!

Charles worked at laying plastic mulch pretty much all day. When you lay a couple miles of it each year, it takes a little time.

The process goes like this: After plowing and working down the soil, you till the beds so the soil is nice and soft. Then you lay the plastic with the raised bed mulch-laying machine (ours if partly homemade by Charles, partly store-bought). Voila, nice, ready-to-plant-in, raised beds!

We hope tomorrow we'll have most of the day to lay more plastic before the rain comes. It was nice having some warm, sunny days to work outside.

But,

Sunny, warm days cause the greenhouse and tunnel temperatures to skyrocket. So you have to water them more often to keep the poor little plants moist. Running back and forth from the farm (where the tunnels are) to the house (where the greenhouse is) takes some time.

Hopefully mother nature will cooperate on a regular basis and let us get our work done.

Taters and Peas are in the Ground!

We've planted potatoes and peas in the ground! I think that's the earliest we've tried planting things outside. (Gambling with Mother Nature again). The warm dry weather we had a few days last week allowed us to get into the fields.

We have lots of strawberries, spinach, peas, and kale planted in the high tunnels as well.

With our first market starting May 3 in Morgantown, WV (www.MorgantownFarmers.org) we only have four more weeks to get ready! The warm weather really helps, but these cold nights really slow our plants' growth down.

Our tunnels are getting full, and we still need a "staging area" for our plants still in their trays, but not ready to be put outside yet. So, we're on the lookout for a used greenhouse or high tunnel. Let us know if you find one for a good deal!

Earlier Farmers Markets and Zone 5

Our earliest farmers market starts on May 3. We're in USDA horticultural zone 5 or so. Our frost-free date isn't until late May/early June. How can we do it?

A lot of prayer!

That, and we are using our high tunnels more and more for extending our season. What's a high tunnel? It looks like a big greenhouse, but there's no heat in there usually, and the plants are planted straight into the soil. You can roll up the sides on sunny days to let cool air blow through. You can close it up at night to keep it warm.

Last year we picked exclusively out of the tunnel for our first two farmers markets. This year we'll have to pick out of the tunnel for the first three markets at least (depending on the weather). That means we'll have to plant more intensively. For instance, we plant peas down the middle of the row, with two rows of tomatoes on each side. By the time the peas are picked and done, the tomatoes are growing up and starting to fruit. They don't bother each other, and it allows us to plant things closer together.

The types of plants we plant in the tunnel are usually pole or indeterminate varieties, rather than short bush varieties. We stake or trellis up these tall plants so we use less floor/ground space in the tunnel, and grow more vertically. (Makes picking a little easier on the back as well!)

Here's hoping that the weather warms up a bit, we get rain right when we need it, and we're able to get everything planted on time. (We can dream the impossible dream, you know!)

The strawberries made it!

Whew, the strawberries made it! Charles went to check on them in the wee hours of the night, and it was getting pretty cold in there, so he put some plastic over the row cover to help hold the heat in. That did the trick, thank goodness! Everything was hunkie dorie this morning when he went over to look at them.

Everything, that is, except the Chevy truck. It died on Charles on the way down to the tunnels. (So he had to walk in 24 degree temps in mucky snow - the wind was vicious!) After checking the strawberries, Charles was able to get it started and up to the garage, but it died three times on the way! Cheryl & Anna brought the Dodge to rescue him. One new fuel filter later, and the Chevy is good as new! Thank goodness Charles is handy with this sort of thing.

Such is life on a farm. Things break, things happen, and you just have to adapt and get on with life.