We've seen the sun!

These little snow drops are gone now, but they were so beautiful at the beginning of March.

Second shot is of the area that has been plowed and tilled and it's now receiving seeds every week. It's so exciting!

But we need to finish our fence fast, before the deer makes even more damage. Some of them thought appropriate to pull out about a third of my onion sets I planted a few days earlier. Onions sets were just laying there, in the dirt, obviously pulled, but interestingly enough not eaten. The deer must have been drawn to the smell but decided they actually didn't like onions. I didn't have the camera with me at the time.

Spring is here!

Once again mother Nature is giving us the warmth of spring. Plum trees are in bloom, and daffodils are showing their yellow petals. Bees can now come out of their hives and look for nectar and pollen.
Little plants are growing out in the field and little seedling back in the hoop house. Pictures to be posted soon.
Until then, here's revitalized moss and my precious Minnie and Sunny, the geese.

First seeds to go in the ground in 2011

Today was a very good day! I cleared about a couple more acres of the pasture with the brush hog. Would have done much more, but I noticed a wild rabbit running for its life, so the decision was made to leave that particular area alone for now. We hope his home was not destroyed completely in the process.

The first seeds to get planted this beautiful February were some Fava beans. A bed about two feet wide by about 80 feet long was dug by hand by yours truly, and received two rows of healthy Fava bean seeds. While it might not be dry enough for tilling with a machine, the ground was very easy to work in and using my sharp, robust shovel was a good workout! The shovel can be seen in the picture, it is worth every penny I paid for it, it makes work so much easier. I recommend it to anyone.

There is going to be more Fava beans planted and peas, as well. Hopefully the weather will be good enough for planting tomorrow.

Rain, rain , and rain

This last week we've had what seems to be more rain than usual.

Here is a picture of East Fork McKay Creek, swelled like we've never seen it before and furiously rolling along its edges. I estimated it must be 10 ft deep where our swimming hole used to be.

New website and shopping for seeds

The techie hat came off a while back. Web site is up and running! Yipee! You can check it up here: www.neilcreekfarms.com if you came to the blog first.

Now is the time for seed shopping and crop planning. Oh My!

This year we ordered our potatoes from Seed Savers Exchange, all certified organic, and the veggie seeds from several places like: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com ), Adaptive Seeds (www.adaptiveseeds.com), Uprising Organics (www.uprisingorganics.com ), Wild garden Seed (www.wildgardenseed.com ), and a couple from Territorial Seed Company (www.territorialseed.com). The seeds we ordered are all non-GMO and mostly open pollinated, though I think maybe one or two hybrids might have sneaked in. I was very excited to find some unusual varieties of onion, hot and sweet peppers, and tomatoes.

Speaking of seeds, I feel like I need to mention that I don’t hold anything against hybrid seeds, and many gardeners and farmers prefer these over other types. The only problem is that seeds from hybrid plants can’t be saved, because the offspring from saved seed won’t come true to type. Here is a short explanation of the difference between hybrid and open pollinated seeds: http://www.primalseeds.org/hybrid.htm

Becoming a techie for a while

Yes, this is what's happening this week and who knows how long is going to last. I am building the farm's web site, and even though I only want to do something simple, and clear, and clean it is a little challenging. Some people might ask themselves why don't I hire someone to do it for me? Probably because I am one of those people that finds tremendous satisfaction in doing things. My website is not going to be perfect but it's going to have the information that it needs to have and it's going to look decent. And I am going to very proudly be able to say: I did it myself!

A couple of days ago I just finished the brochure that we will use for the 2011 CSA season. I think it's cute. I will try to post a picture. But you can always drop me a line and I will mail one to you:)!

Ok, I was able to post the first page of the brochure, but it's too late, and I am not going to try to figure out how to move it form the top. If you click on it it opens up in a new page.

Test

Happy Birthday Neil Creek Farms blog!