A Perfect Farm Day

Sometimes days turn out just right, and this one was just one of those days! Every Monday we sit at our picnic table at the farm, and fill out the calendar of tasks for the week while having breakfast. This week, there was a call for rain on Wednesday, and we thought that would be our day to transplant our next round of fall crops; a cloudy and rainy day being a perfect day for transplanting. Then, once we finally arrived here at Wednesday, after 2 very hot and sweltering days, they changed the forecast to dry morning, rainy afternoon. As we re-evaluated our plan for the day, we decided that we'd do things like pruning & clipping tomatoes in the morning & weeding the holes in our beds with landscape fabric (great dry-weather activities), and transplanting in the afternoon when the rain comes. We set about clipping tomatoes, and then switched over to weeding the holes, which we completed just in time for lunch.

We decided to consolidate tasks and eat in the van as we went back to the greenhouses to collect our seedlings for transplanting. We did just that, and arrived back at the farm just in time for the clouds to roll in and start sprinkling on us. We laid out the seedlings, and filled the holes (which Spencer burned with the torch yesterday in preparation for this very activity) with some organic fertilizer, and then set out planting just as the rain began to fall in earnest. This is fortuitous since the soil was quite dry and we hadn't quite laid out the drip irrigation lines in this section just yet. The plants were at the perfect stage of growth for transplanting - not remotely rootbound in the seedling trays, we had enough for the space, and we got the cool weather, and rain all at once! Not to mention, the seedlings were going into the ground the very day that we had planned when we created our farm maps back in February!

On days like this, we feel like really good farmers, and like we're in total control - a feeling not enjoyed by us every single day that we are farming, but it is notable, and appreciated when it happens.

This day marks the time when we are truly in the full swing of things - everything is in the ground, the rotations are rolling right along, the weeds are being managed well enough, and the tomatoes are just around the corner! It's a good week to feel good about farming, since we're planning on taking a little R&R this weekend after Saturday market to do some camping (in honor of Spencer's birthday) and not worry about not being on the farm for once. Time to let it ride - at least for a day or two!

Enjoy these pictures of our progress!

First, a visit from a tiny toad on our order sheet yesterday morning...

Cherry tomatoes coming right along!

Cipollini Onions growing like weeds!

Our new favorite baby eggplant! It's called "Bambino" and each one is the size of a large gumball. The plants are about a foot high - perfect Half Pint Farm veggie!

Been waiting for these superstars - well, wait no more! These are Tasty Jade cucumbers - absolutely the most delicious Japanese cucumber we know of.

A view of the landscape fabric field today - artichokes and broccoli plants looking gorgeous...

Baby artichoke - first of hundreds!

And finally, the ever-popular micro-basil ready this week!