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.
Showing posts with label strawberries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strawberries. Show all posts
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Praying the strawberries make it through the night
It's 16 degrees right now, and the wind is blowing, and we're hoping the strawberry plants make it through the night. They are in our high tunnel, under row cover, with a small heater under there trying to stay warm.
The greenhouse is full again - Charles just keeps seeding and transplanting! This week he got lots of lettuce, peas, and beets seeded into trays. The beets are an experiment - we've never transplanted beets into the field before. But in order to try to get them earlier, we're going to try! After it gets warmer, we'll direct-seed them into the fields.
We'll have to move more plants into the high tunnel to make room for new seedlings soon.
It's difficult moving about the farm without creating ruts and making a mess of the roads. So we walk a lot of the time. It's difficult walking though, with your feet sliding and scooting out from under you!
So as you lay in your nice, warm bed tonight, think of our little strawberry plants and say a little prayer for us, please!
The greenhouse is full again - Charles just keeps seeding and transplanting! This week he got lots of lettuce, peas, and beets seeded into trays. The beets are an experiment - we've never transplanted beets into the field before. But in order to try to get them earlier, we're going to try! After it gets warmer, we'll direct-seed them into the fields.
We'll have to move more plants into the high tunnel to make room for new seedlings soon.
It's difficult moving about the farm without creating ruts and making a mess of the roads. So we walk a lot of the time. It's difficult walking though, with your feet sliding and scooting out from under you!
So as you lay in your nice, warm bed tonight, think of our little strawberry plants and say a little prayer for us, please!
Monday, March 3, 2008
What's happening at the farm?
Wow.
March came in like a lamb this year. Today (March 3) it went over 65 degrees outside (close to 70 in some parts of the county)! That's some crazy weather for Garrett County! Of course, by the weekend it is supposed to be a more seasonal 20 degrees at night.
Charles and Anna worked at the farm all day in the sunshine. By the time they got to the farm, it was over 100 degrees in the high tunnels. Opening the sides quickly brought the temperature down, so the strawberry plants (that are waiting in there to be planted) weren't harmed.
We planted about 4,000 bare-root, dormant everbearing strawberry plants a couple weeks ago, into cell trays. That completely filled up our little greenhouse, so we had to get them out of there! That's why the strawberries ended up in the tunnel, where we hope to keep them from freezing too hard and can nurse them until we can plant them outside next month.
Now there is room in the greenhouse for other transplants. Charles got about 400 broccoli plants transplanted last evening, and has more to do. Lots of lettuce, kale, collards, swiss chard, peas, etc. are getting going in the greenhouse now. Our first farmers market starts May 3, so we're in full swing trying to get some good fresh veggies for our customers.
Hope all is well with you, and hope you stop by for another peek into our farming life. Take care!
March came in like a lamb this year. Today (March 3) it went over 65 degrees outside (close to 70 in some parts of the county)! That's some crazy weather for Garrett County! Of course, by the weekend it is supposed to be a more seasonal 20 degrees at night.
Charles and Anna worked at the farm all day in the sunshine. By the time they got to the farm, it was over 100 degrees in the high tunnels. Opening the sides quickly brought the temperature down, so the strawberry plants (that are waiting in there to be planted) weren't harmed.
We planted about 4,000 bare-root, dormant everbearing strawberry plants a couple weeks ago, into cell trays. That completely filled up our little greenhouse, so we had to get them out of there! That's why the strawberries ended up in the tunnel, where we hope to keep them from freezing too hard and can nurse them until we can plant them outside next month.
Now there is room in the greenhouse for other transplants. Charles got about 400 broccoli plants transplanted last evening, and has more to do. Lots of lettuce, kale, collards, swiss chard, peas, etc. are getting going in the greenhouse now. Our first farmers market starts May 3, so we're in full swing trying to get some good fresh veggies for our customers.
Hope all is well with you, and hope you stop by for another peek into our farming life. Take care!
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