What a beautiful day! It’s supposed to get up to 70° today! Yesterday, I was logging, clearing trees from what’s going to be another field and turning the tree trunks into posts for the deer fence I’m building around another garden.
Today, I’m putting new plastic up on the greenhouse. I need to move my cold-tolerant seedlings in there (stuff like apples, kale, chard, and cauliflower) so I can free up space under the grow lights for tomatoes and such. Figures, it’s windy today. 🙂
I’ve been getting lots of calls and emails asking about things we don’t have. We still have no chickens, neither layers nor meat birds. I will be getting some layers, but first, I need to finish making improvements to the hen house and run–improvements I haven’t even started yet, because I’m focused on garden stuff right now since there are seasonal deadlines.
Given that I need to get the garden established on time, and that that means cutting and treating around 40 10’poles, building a deer fence, spreading more compost, and tilling before I even start to plant, it’s going to be a while before I can even start on the hen house. Once it’s done, though, I’ll order chicks. Eggs don’t start coming until about six months after the chicks’ arrival. At this point, we’re looking at some time in the fall. I know, I need to update the website.
Provided I have enough income from the vegetables this summer, I’ll get some broilers (meat chickens). I won’t be getting a new batch every two weeks to stay constantly stocked up like when I was doing the farmers markets. I may work up to that eventually, but for now, I’ll just be getting one small flock–maybe 50 or so–and processing them here with help from my wife and whoever else wants to help. I won’t buy a second flock of broilers until all those first ones have sold. (Cash flow problems have been as big a hindrance as thieves and predators.)
In short, we have no eggs. We have no chicken. We do not have beef. We’ve never had beef, and given the size of our farm, probably never will. Probably no turkeys this year. With luck, I may have a few bedding plants for sale later this spring. Otherwise, it’s just vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs for the near future (ie., the next several months). At the end of the growing season, we may have some seeds for sale, particularly Glass Gem flint corn.
Here’s what I presently have planned for this year’s gardens (yes, I know I need to update the website to reflect this):
– collards, mustard greens, and a few varieties each of kale and Swiss chard
– a few kinds of cucumbers
– cauliflower and broccoli
– a few kinds of peas, mostly snow peas
– yellow and red onions
– several kinds of tomatoes, including white ones and blue ones
– baby yellow bell peppers; possibly other kinds of peppers, too
– okra and eggplants (not sure how many kinds yet)
– a few kinds of beets and carrots
– turnips
– radishes
– a few kinds of lettuce
– green beans
– a few kinds of summer squash (yellow and zucchini)
– butternut squash; possibly some other winter squashes as well
– a limited selection of watermelons, cantaloupe, and honeydews
– possibly some mulberries and raspberries, depending on what Nature has in mind this year
– sunflowers, marigolds, possibly some other types of flowers, either cut or for bedding
– probably a couple other things that have slipped my mind but are already planted
I’d like to do potatoes this year, but I don’t yet have seed, and I don’t know that I’ll have the space to grow them. I’m planning on there not being any peaches this year.
We presently have no plans to do any farmers markets. All produce will be available here at the farm, 2624 Woodland Avenue, 43211. (I’ll just sell from the front porch until the store is ready.) Tomatoes, beans, squash, fruit, and root crops will be picked as they’re ready, and I’ll post updates on our Facebook page when I harvest something. Greens will be picked on demand. I can pick them while you wait, or if you’re in a hurry, you could call or email ahead so I can have your order ready. Don’t get too hasty, though–the plants aren’t even in the ground yet.
I mentioned previously that we’re exploring aquaponics. I really doubt I’ll have any fish available to sell this year, as I’m just experimenting for now and haven’t even decided which species to raise. Fish may be a possibility next year or the year after, but no time soon.
