The Unexpected Farm Girl

Sunday, April 5, 2015

The Rootinator

It's Easter! Happy Spring, and Cheers to new beginnings!

Today was pretty labor intensive. The guys measured the spacing for the rows and in between:

Then stretched the twine down the whole length of the hoop house to stake out the area for the growing beds:

Then the tough part began, raking up the mounds that allow for drainaige because raspberries DO NOT like having "weet feet."

But by quitting time, the guys had some nice looking rows. Even prettier dirt than it was yesterday!

And as always, the day was challenging, but fun. We were together, and that's what matters to me.

Oh, what did I do, you might ask? They called me "The Rootinator." Whenever one of the guys came across a root impeding progress, a root that we wouldn't want to be taking up vital nutrients and space from baby berries, it was The Unexpected Farm Girl to the rescue! I swooped in with my loppers and eliminated the problem in the blink of an eye, or at least, after tugging and fighting with a root for a while, making ugly grunting noises and eventually managing to cut it down as far as I could. So you see, it was a very valuable role I played.

Click here: The Unexpected Farm Girl - The Prequel for photos & amusing stories from the 2008 - 2011 part of The Unexpected Farm Girl's journey.

Smiles!

The Unexpected Farm Girl (Erika)

Saturday, April 4, 2015

We Have Pretty Dirt

A day out on the farm with my munchkins (who aren't so little anymore) is always a glorious thing.

Meanwhile, there was much to be done to prepare, as we received the email that our raspberries are officially on their way. So, time to work smarter not harder. This plow has been sitting at the farm for several years. Fortunately today Husband had the brainstorm to actually USE it.

It's not easy to get the hang of it, and Husband had to get out and kick the weeds out of it almost right away.

Quick break to carry this lady bug to safety.

And a break to enjoy time together.

But then Husband says get back to work and clear that briar tree from house #2. And that was an endeavor in and of itself.

It may not be the healthiest alternative, but we needed a boost of energy to keep tractoring.

Using the plow turned out to be super successful, producing some nice rich looking dirt.

At the end of the day (almost literally), we accomplished much more than we thought we would, and ended up with 6 areas of pretty dirt, ready for the next step of making the dirt into mounds, then applying the ground cover to keep out the weeds, making us AND the berries much happier.

Alphabet Family Farm Hoop House #1

Alphabet Family Farm Hoop House #2

Alphabet Family Farm Hoop House #3

Alphabet Family Farm Hoop House #4

Alphabet Family Farm Hoop House #5

Alphabet Family Farm ~~Dirt Patch~~ Area #6

Who would have thought that dirt would be such a sight for sore eyes. After considering where we started in January, with a veritable forest growing inside the hoop houses, and lots of snow puddles everywhere, it feels good to sit back and look at all that pretty dirt.

Click here: The Unexpected Farm Girl - The Prequel for photos & amusing stories from the 2008 - 2011 part of The Unexpected Farm Girl's journey.

Smiles!

The Unexpected Farm Girl (Erika)

Tractoring - The "E" Edition

If someone had said to me back in college, or while I was working in the corporate world, that I would be sitting on, let alone handling (quite well, I might add) a tractor, I would have said they were delerious. Yet, here I am. And having FUN! Even out in the rain, on Good Friday, with Husband pretending not to watch to make sure I don't take a whole hoop house down while I'm at it.

Just starting out and Husband says I need to go faster or I won't till up any dirt.

OK, we'll kick it up into 3rd gear.

It's raining, but when you pause you can hear the sweet song of all the little froggies around.

And at the end of the day, I can say that I did ALL this by myself. And progress is good.

Click here: The Unexpected Farm Girl - The Prequel for photos & amusing stories from the 2008 - 2011 part of The Unexpected Farm Girl's journey.

Smiles!

The Unexpected Farm Girl (Erika)

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Tractor Trouble

This is Husband climbing under the tractor because it won't start, which means we have untractored (yes, a word) land, which means we have untilled land, which means the LAND is no where near ready for the 500 raspberry plants on their way.

But Thing 1 and Thing 2 still got some work done in their new (first pair of) overalls.

And we did make it to Tractor Supply to look for a new filter and transmission fluid, although the boys were wearing Husband's nerves thin....

And THIS is Husband in the background right before he ~~asked the kids nicely~~ told the boys a little forcefully to "quiet down" as they entertained themselves making trumpet noises with the funnels we also needed.

A frustrating day on the farm as far as progress goes, but we were together, and we laughed, and that's what's important to me.

Click here: The Unexpected Farm Girl - The Prequel for photos & amusing stories from the 2008 - 2011 part of The Unexpected Farm Girl's journey.

Smiles!

The Unexpected Farm Girl (Erika)

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Unc & Unc

This is "Unc"....and "Unc" the twins who take care of anything plumbing around here. Uncle Ralph and Uncle Rudy. They say "we'll take care of it" and by golly that's somehow exactly what they do. Today they're revving up the irrigation system in the baby barn that links to each hoop house in order to satiate thirsty berries. We're missing a part. They say, "don't worry about it." I believe them. The farm brings out old school folks who take care of you.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are happy today.1. The oldest is practicing driving a stick shift 2. The youngest gets to laugh at the process and 3. It's not frigid cold.

AND, THIS is the day. We ordered 500 raspberry plants. If you peek at the previous entry, you will see just how far we are from being ready to plant them (hence the look on Husband's face). Especially since the tractor needs some fluid, or less fluid, or something, to get this land broken up. Let the race with the clock begin. Will the berries have a home when they arrive that's nice and neat with the raised beds they need for proper drainage?

Well, first of all, if there's any chance of that, this guy needs to get out of the office and into the hoop house!

Click here: The Unexpected Farm Girl - The Prequel for photos & amusing stories from the 2008 - 2011 part of The Unexpected Farm Girl's journey.

Smiles!

The Unexpected Farm Girl

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Can We Get Ready In Time?

Ordering berries soon. Ahhhhhh! So much to do. Can we get ready in time? We choose to be optimistic. We continue revamping hoop houses and saving the praying mantis cocoon we found.