Portage River Farm
Notes on our struggles and successes on our family farm in rural Michigan.
(Pinckney, Michigan)
09 Jun Tue 2009
A Calendar Laid Out In Dirt
The past weekend was dedicated pretty exclusively to planting. Sean, Aidan and I started at the south end of the garden and worked our way north all weekend. I'm not sure how many hours were expended other than to say that it was many.
I started by going to the farm calendar on our website and looking through the months to find all the items that we would have already planted had we not been so behind schedule. We worked our way forward, starting with the peas that were scheduled for Mar
ch 20th. Those we planted in the first row and then worked our way chronologically through the calendar and across the garden. As of late last night we had worked our way forward to May 2nd which meant that all of the beans (lima, black, Jacob's cattle, wax and pole beans) finally were poked into the waiting soil. In all, 29 varieties of vegetables were planted or transplanted from where they have been growing under lights indoors and about one third of the garden was used up.
It was a very satisfying feeling to straighten my back and look across the garden to see the work we had accomplished. Of course, I realize that having our schedule so far out of whack means that some things will not turn out all that well. I anticipate that a couple of the cold-weather crops at the southern end of the garden will bolt in protest of the hot summer weather. As well, some of the long season crops may not have enough time to make it to maturity before the frosts come in the fall. Some of my co-workers have mentioned that their gardens were all severely damaged by a late frost at the end of May so I may accidentally come ou
t ahead.
Sunset last night found me poking the last of the pole bean seeds into the ground. As the light shifted from yellow to red, the thunderstorm that had been threatening all evening finally arrived. The roiling clouds in the last rays of the day made a dramatic display overhead that was quickly followed by an impressive lightning show and torrents of rain. I ended up getting caught for the worst of it while ushering the chickens into the coop for the night.
We rode out the storm together in dry comfort beneath the temporary roof. I sat on the floor in the dry wood shavings enjoying the rest for my tired muscles. I sat with a satisfied smile on my face as I listened to the thunder overhead and watched the chickens all about me busily pecking at their dinner. It was a golden moment. It just doesn't get much better than that!
I started by going to the farm calendar on our website and looking through the months to find all the items that we would have already planted had we not been so behind schedule. We worked our way forward, starting with the peas that were scheduled for Mar
ch 20th. Those we planted in the first row and then worked our way chronologically through the calendar and across the garden. As of late last night we had worked our way forward to May 2nd which meant that all of the beans (lima, black, Jacob's cattle, wax and pole beans) finally were poked into the waiting soil. In all, 29 varieties of vegetables were planted or transplanted from where they have been growing under lights indoors and about one third of the garden was used up.
It was a very satisfying feeling to straighten my back and look across the garden to see the work we had accomplished. Of course, I realize that having our schedule so far out of whack means that some things will not turn out all that well. I anticipate that a couple of the cold-weather crops at the southern end of the garden will bolt in protest of the hot summer weather. As well, some of the long season crops may not have enough time to make it to maturity before the frosts come in the fall. Some of my co-workers have mentioned that their gardens were all severely damaged by a late frost at the end of May so I may accidentally come ou
t ahead.
Sunset last night found me poking the last of the pole bean seeds into the ground. As the light shifted from yellow to red, the thunderstorm that had been threatening all evening finally arrived. The roiling clouds in the last rays of the day made a dramatic display overhead that was quickly followed by an impressive lightning show and torrents of rain. I ended up getting caught for the worst of it while ushering the chickens into the coop for the night.
We rode out the storm together in dry comfort beneath the temporary roof. I sat on the floor in the dry wood shavings enjoying the rest for my tired muscles. I sat with a satisfied smile on my face as I listened to the thunder overhead and watched the chickens all about me busily pecking at their dinner. It was a golden moment. It just doesn't get much better than that!
John_3
12:00 AM EDT
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