March Winds bring April Showers

It is amazing how quickly the year is going! We are already to April!! And our predicted last frost date is less then 20 days away, the rush to get cold weather crops in has begun. We are ready for warm weather, which will hopefully bring a break in the wind.

Chris got my original raised beds filled up with compost. Then I was able to get my Lisianthus, Anemone, Ranunculus and Freesia into them. The lisianthus are doing amazing and loving the cooler temps outside! The rest I had planned to get out sooner than I did, so they were much bigger than I would have preferred! They currently have a bit of transplant shock that I am hoping they will quickly come out of. I am currently starting to see new growth on the ranunculus that gives me hope that they will still have beautiful flowers come June! Ranunculus are in my top 2 favorite flowers, cant seem to make up my mind between them and Dahlias! I am hoping to add Lisianthus to the list of favorites this year, as there pictures are amazing! I've started hardening off the carnations that will be going in this weekend, and a flower called candytuft. Next week the snapdragons will begin their journey to start the move outside. They Have gotten so tall that I feel like they need pinched a second time.

Last year we planted grapes and Raspberries but had a bit of a rough start and lost several. We replaced them, (and added a few extra black raspberries). Can not say enough good things about Stark Brothers Nursery! They warrantied the 2 grapes that I bought from them, and they are a Missouri Nursery! I also pruned an apple tree that I put in about 6 years ago and had basically ignored until last year. It fruited well last year until the hail came and beat the fruit up. I pruned it again this spring and saved several of the pruned branches to try to propagate! Next week they will take the next step by moving into their own containers! From what I have read they may be a random apple and not the Galas that they originated from, but that is part of the fun! I am really wishing I had taken plant science or agriculture classes in college; I feel like most days I am running backwards. C'est la vie (that's life).

We marked out the strips we plan to put flowers in for cutting, and hope to be able to cut the sod this weekend! After the sod is removed, we will replace with composted dirt thanks to some amazing neighbors! As well as leaves my awesome brother-in-law sourced for me! The garden also had a lot of composted dirt added to it in the fall that we got from a friend, one of the awesome advantages of living in a small community!

We are also adding several raised beds to our collection. Chris is awesome in that I tell him what I need, and he figures out a creative way to get it done. Raised beds will be old hog feeders split apart and filled with dirt! Such a cool idea. He got 2 ready for me last week and the first one got seeds put into it and we are eagerly anticipating poppies!

This year we are also teaming up with two seed producers. The Buffalo Seed Company sent up several different seeds to plant and save seeds from, they are attempting to create a seed line specifically for the Midwest. Once plants have grown in a certain climate they adapt to that climate. Then the seeds they produce are much hardier and will grow better in that climate then seeds purchased elsewhere. The poppies we started in the new raised beds will be harvested for seeds for them. As well as chamomile (already started inside) arugula, amaranth, and okra.

Part of the getting ready for the planting season has included being ready for the harvest! I have begun to accumulate the things that will be needed for the farmers markets when they start! We are going to attempt to do two markets this year, one in Albany, Missouri on Thursday nights starting on May 18th and the second will be in Maryville, Missouri on Saturday morning starting on May 20. I am hoping to have honey, flowers, lettuce and herbs at the first markets! I will be starting some window box pots and some small bucket pots with herbs in them soon that I am hoping to have at the markets. I will also be growing and cutting fresh herbs to have as well as potentially drying some. This year will be about finding our niche! Figuring out what we are best at and then putting that as the focus of our growing in the future. This year we be a little bit of everything! Which I will hopefully be able to continue to share with you on this blog.

With three weeks till warm season plants can start going into the ground, our focus will be on getting raised beds done, getting flower strips ready for plants, finishing the chickens run so that we can get cold weather crops in, and trying to remember to take pictures of everything so that we can share them with you!

The verse at the bottom of our logo is below as well as some amazing sunset pictures. Aside from maybe windy hill we couldn't have picked a better name for our farm!

"They who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;

You make the sunrise and the sunset shout for joy."

Psalm 65:8 NASB