Bountiful Blessings Farm Produce

The Hinckley Farmer's Market group met once again last evening to discuss plans for this season's market. The first market will be held on Saturday, June 23rd from nine to noon at the Hinckley Fresh Market parking lot. The market is located at 710 James Street in Hinckley, Illinois. This year everyone is excited as we have several new venders joining us. The market will feature fresh locally grown vegetables, crafts, jellies and jams, flowers, honey, eggs, granola, baked goods, and much more. We are really hoping for a big turnout and anticipate a wonderful year. The market is open each Saturday through September. 

At Bountiful Blessings Farm, we are still planting and maintain the crops already in the field. Dad ran the cultivator yesterday while I planted beans. Today we plan to plant more sweet corn, so it will be a very busy day. The end of the week looks promissing for more planting. I would like to get the balance of the large tomatoes in the field. I will most likely start planting zucchini today. Hope you have a wonderful day. May God richly bless you in Christ Jesus.

Once again, it has been very busy at the Bountiful Blessings Farm. We have been working ground and planting. Today it will be repeated again. My dad worked ground down for us to plant today, so I should not have to do any more preparation; just get out there and plant. Right now we have over seven hundred tomatoes planted. About 2/3 of them are heirloom varieties and most of those are list in the Ark of Taste. We are very excited to be able to offer our customers these wonderful, unique and rare vegetables. Once you get a taste of an heirloom tomato, you will never want to eat the general market varieties available elsewhere. 

Today is Mother's Day and I wish I could spend some time with my mom, but I am going to have to be in the field. My sisters and their families came out to the farm yesterday for lunch with mom. It was nice. We ate in the Bountiful Blessings office and had food from our local drive-in. It was great to take a little break from the hecticness of this spring to spend time with those we love. We will be planting tomatoes and cole crops today. I want to also get some seed in the ground. I will most likely plant some beans today. Well, its time to get out to the field. Hope you have a wonderful day and God Bless you!

Peter Criss the famous drummer for Kiss once stated, “As busy as I claim to be, I've still got the greatest job in the world.”  Even though I am not a drummer, I feel I have the best job in the world. Growing vegetables is a very rewarding and interesting job; and I really do not consider it a job; it’s and opportunity. More than an opportunity, it is a blessing. Everyday I get to witness a little of God’s wonderful creation and see His hand in the little miracles of each individual plant. Then in the end, I get to provide wonderful, tasty vegetables to my customers. What a fantastic blessing!

In the last few days, we have received almost two inches of rain. It was dry and we needed the rain, however, I hope it stops soon. I’d like to get back into the field to plant. The tomatoes are jumping out of their pots and the cole crops are busting out of their containers. I am moving peppers and tomatoes up so they will continue to grow. It is not really a problem, but it would be much easier to go straight into the field; and cheaper! Dad has been working in the produce building this week. We are taking out a wall and revamping our washing area. Last year things were very primitive. This year I purchased a stainless steel sink and preparation counter which will be well suited to our operation. Dad took the wall out today and it looks great. He also cleaned an area where we can store equipment and other items we use over the season. Things are moving along real well. It is busy, but I have the greatest job in the world. Have a great week! God bless!

Today has been another busy day. In fact, I just got inside. I picked up some lumber and cement blocks this morning from a friend. Dad met me over there and helped me get loaded. I hauled the stuff home and we unloaded it and put it away. I took the truck and trailer back and ate lunch and then began another afternoon of transplanting. Dad painted some equipment and finished up a few things he had been working on. I put all of the equipment away and closed up the high tunnel and hot house. I moved a few flats from the seed room to the cold frames and some from the hot house to the hoop house. The tomatoes look excellent. They have bounced back after the cold snap and really look good. I am hoping to get them into the field this upcoming week. I guess it all depends on the weather. I try not to let the weather worry me too much. God is in control. I do what is necessary on my end and let Him handle the BIG stuff. Faith is a big part of this business; I call it FROG - Fully Relying on God. The Bible tells us not to worry. In fact, Philippians 4:6-7 says this: "Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life" This is quoted from The Message, a contemporary translation. I figure if I worry, I am not letting God do His thing. This Spring has been one of those seasons that could cause a person to go nuts if they were to continue worrying about everything. I will continue to work as hard as I can to do what I know is best and allow God to handle the BIG stuff.

My son and his family will be in tomorrow for a family wedding. That means the grand children will be here! I am very excited about that. I hope they can spend some time at the farm. My daughter and her boy friend will also be here. I can't wait to see them. Tomorrow is another big day. I am going to try to get the balance of the tomatoes planted in the high tunnel after I move a refrigerator in the morning. Kim just brought me supper, so I guess I better eat. After all it is 8:30pm. Such is the life on the farm during planting season. I hope you all have a wonderful night. May God richly bless you!

Finally getting some rain! Today Andy and I painted boards for signs. It seems like we never have enough come market season. We moved all the tomatoes out of the hoop house and into a safe, warm, building for tonight in case it gets too cold. I am a little gun shy since the last episode! My buddy let me know today that an article was written for Farm World Newspaper about Bountiful Blessings. Here is a link to the article:

  http://www.farmworldonline.com/News/NewsArticle.asp?newsid=14547

Tomorrow is worship and then some transplanting. We just got back in tonight after attending the Hinckley Historical Society dinner and auction. Bountiful Blessings donated two items for the benefit. It was a fun evening and I hope they were able to raise some funds to benefit the society. They have a nice little museum in the middle of town. Stop in a have a look. Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend. God Bless!

Wind can really make a difference in whether a day is nice or whether it is pleasant. Today has been a very nice day - it was not too warm, but the wind was somewhat calm and it made it so much nicer being outside. Dad worked on the sprayer some more today. We had to return some parts and get replacements, which took almost all morning. Once we got back to the farm, I was able to transplant more tomatoes and work in the hoop house. Things are beginning to shape up as we get towards the end of April. I anticipate more cool weather; hoping for a more normal May. Even thought I wanted to get the tomatoes planted in the high tunnel, I have shifted my plans until next week and warmer weather. I think we are still early enough to have a jump on the season without risking to much.

Tomorrow I will be seeding and transplanting again. It looks like we will be getting some rain, so that will be great. Supper is almost ready and I am tired, so I am making my blog entry short. I hope you have a peaceful evening. God Bless!!

Tuesday and Wednesday were very busy days at the Bountiful Blessings Farm. We continued our transplanting and seeding. My dad worked on equipment and the high tunnel. He had a few last minute things to accomplish before we begin to plant. The tomatoes in the hot house look excellent and those that were hit by the freeze last week are looking better. I should be able to save over half. Some of them were protected and not effected at all. Yesterday we planted our first sweet corn. We put in three varieties; an early, mid-season and late. We should have corn for the fourth of July if everything goes as planned. 

It sprinkled a little last night, but not enough to keep us out of the field. I am going to plant kohlrabi and more peas today. I might even set out some cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. I'll just have to see how the weather holds. They are calling for rain. Tonight I teach at the church and tomorrow Kim will be home, so hopefully we can get a lot more accomplished. I hope you all have a wonderful day blessed with God's grace and goodness!

The last few days have been very busy at Bountiful Blessings Farm Produce. We have been planting like crazy; trying to get as much in before the upcoming rain. Thursday, I planted onions, beets, peas, arugula, spinach and other cool weather crops. My dad worked on an exhaust fan for the high tunnel. He also built another shelf on the seedling rack which was desperately needed. Most everything is doing well in the field, other than it is very, very dry. We really need rain! I guess it is supposed the rain this evening.

Today, I am going to be seeding and transplanting. I also have some things to plant in the field. Andy is coming out today to help, so we should be able to get a lot done. Yesterday, my wife and I planted onions almost all day long. Early in the morning we planted the last of the asparagus. It was my sister’s birthday yesterday, so we went out to eat with her. It was nice both my siblings and mom and dad were there. I’m not sure when the last time all of us were together. After lunch, we planted more onions. Last night, Kim and I went to see the “Three Stooges” with my sister and her family. It was very funny and had a good plot. Well its time for me to get out to the field. I hope all of you have a great weekend and may God richly bless you this weekend!

It has been a whirlwind of a couple of days. The weather has raised havoc with many things here are Bountiful Blessings Farm. I placed tomatoes into the hoop house thinking that there would not be any problems. Nonetheless, the cold weather nailed some of the plants. It was not a total loss, but we did experience some damage. The tips of the plants were damaged by the cold. I am going to leave them sit for a few days to see just how bad it they were effected. I should have taken more precaution, but I really believed they would be alright. I started reseeding the varieties that were involved. It is still early and I do not believe there will be a big problem. Some of the other produce farmers in the area have put sweet corn in the ground. I think I am going to wait another week until after the rain predicted for this weekend. I think it will be a lot safer in the bag than in the ground.

I transplanted cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower today. This brings us right up to schedule. I will be seeding out in the field tomorrow and planting more seed. There is still a lot to do around the farm, so it will be another long day. Thursday nights I teach at the church, so I will need to finish early so I can study.  I am very tired tonight so it's off to bed. Have a wonderful evening and God bless!

Today was a very busy day at the farm. Andy, dad and I went over to a friend's greenhouse to salvage some greenhouse benches. The wood was not in very good condition, so we took what would work for us and left the rest. It was kind of disappointing, but very time consuming. Unfortunately, it would not work out for us to take anymore. Andy and I unloaded the trailer and stacked the wood in the shed for later use. After running Andy home, I began to transplant and move flats from one greenhouse to the other. I have about twenty flats in the unheated greenhouse. This will be a good test to see how well the house hold the generated daily heat. I checked it about twenty minutes ago and it is about 12 degrees warmer inside than out. I think it will be alright. My dad is concerned that it will not be warm enough and that we will have have problems. I think we will be okay. I guess we will see. I have placed a maximum/minimum thermometer in the house so we will know exactly what the temperature drops down to. I trust it will be just fine. 

Tomorrow i have more transplanting and seeding to complete. We are right on schedule and things are going well. I pray that each of you will have a peaceful evening. May God richly bless you!

Yesterday was day unlike others I have experienced this spring. It was a day that no matter what you did, you were chilled to the bone. The wind was cutting and harsh; and the air was crisp. After working outside all day; when I finally came in for the day, it took me over an hour to get warm. I took a hot shower and ate the meal Kim had prepared, but I still could not get warm. After supper, I sat down and reviewed the day and eventually warmed up.

A lot of things were accomplished yesterday at Bountiful Blessings Farm Produce. I started out the day as normal, scouting the cold frames and greenhouse for any issues. I watered the plants that needed to be watered. Then Kim and I headed to the field to plant the balance of the potatoes. Dad had the furrows already made, so all we needed to do was to place the seed potatoes in the ground and cover them up. Unfortunately, we did not have enough furrows for all the potatoes. So we came in from the field and went to Waterman to pick up the International Super A we bought the day before. It is a beautiful tractor and I know it will save us a lot of time and back labor. We hauled it home and unloaded it; then it was time to get back to planting. I worked down some more ground with the 885 while dad dug furrows in another plot for our asparagus. Once the ground was worked down, dad brought the 234 tractor over to the other side of the farm so I could make furrows for the balance of potatoes. I made about eight or nine furrows and we planted the potatoes. Dad used the new Super A to cover the planted furrows with soil. It worked slick!

Once we were finished with the potatoes, we started planting asparagus – much in the same fashion we did the potatoes. I placed fertilizer in the trenches and then Kim put a small amount of dirt over the fertilizer so it would not directly contact the root crowns. We then placed the root crowns in the trench and dad used the cultivator to cover the roots. Again, this worked very well. Today, we will be planting the remainder of the asparagus. I have transplanting and seeding to accomplish this morning. Andy will be helping dad plant more California Soft-neck garlic. Later today, I will be planting beets and a few other things in the field. There is a lot to get done, so I better get moving. Have a great day and God bless you on this Good Friday.