Winter market this weekend! Hope you can join us!

This Saturday we will be at the St. Louis Community Farmers' Market in Tower Grove.  This will be the second winter market for the season.  Surprisingly, we will still have a limited amount of fresh produce.  Bonnie checked the hoophouse this afternoon and said she will be picking tomatoes, lettuce, swiss chard, bok choy, kale, green beans and fava beans tomorrow afternoon.

We will also be bringing handmade soaps and candles with us.  Danny has been making candles in wonderful scents that make the house smell amazing.  Come and check them out!

We are also working on gift baskets!  If you have a favorite product (or products) of ours you would like to see in a basket, please let us know!

Great day at the market today!

What wonderful weather we all enjoyed at the market today!  It was a very welcome change after the heat wave we have all been enduring and the storm we got hit with two weeks ago at the market.  It was nice to see so many return to the market and so many new visitors.  We hope to see you all again this next week!

Beginning next weekend, we will be able to start taking credit cards.  We hope this will make it easier to shop with us. We will be able to take Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover.

Come see what the cooler weather predicted for the week does for the produce.  Hopefully the tomatoes will finally ripen.  We have 22 heirloom varieties growing in the new hoophouse, they are all full of green tomatoes that have been just staying green.  We've been told that they need below 90 degree weather to ripen so the forecast has us anticipating a bountiful harvest by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the basil and cucumbers have been loving the heat.  Even the kale and swiss chard have been surviving fairly well, at least when the bugs allow it.  If you got some of these from us today, Enjoy! 

Here's a recipe we've been enjoying lately.  It's a wonderful Summer Salad.  It includes kale, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and fresh basil.
 
Begin with the kale, wash in cold water, then remove the stems and cut into small pieces.  Cut the cucumber into small slices.  Chop  the tomatoes.  Finely chop a small onion.  Finely chop fresh basil.  Add minced garlic if you like.  Sprinkle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.  Toss it all together and enjoy!

By the way, if you missed us last weekend, we were at the Washington Fair.  Nate competed in the talent competition for the first time.  He played a ragtime classic, "Cleanin' Up In Georgia."  He wore a tux and we spiked his blond hair.  He looked adorable.  He got 2nd place in his age group!  We are very proud of him! He's looking forward to doing it again next year.  He's already started practicing a new ragtime piece.

We'll Be Missing From the Market For the Next 2 Weeks

Just want to let everyone know that we are taking a much needed little break from the market. We will be back on July 16th!
Hope to see you then!

First winter market of the year this Saturday!

Hi Everyone! Hope you're enjoying the new year and the sunshine today! We're busy getting ready for the market coming up this Saturday. It sounds like it's going to be cold but otherwise a nice day.

We hope as many as possible will be able to join us. I've heard from a couple of people already who need to stock up. I'll be bringing lots of freshly ground flours and plenty of healthy mixes. I'll also have my healthy muffins to tempt your tastebuds.

If there is anything in particular you'd like me to be sure to have enough of, or if you'd like to place an order in advance, just e-mail me today or tomorrow and I'll bring it with me. The address is drwissman@sbcglobal.net.

It's been a very eventful fall and winter so far and we have lots of pictures to share. We'll try to post some of them soon.

Good News!

Have you heard? The Tower Grove Farmers' Market is being extended an extra two weeks to give everyone a chance to get the produce that is still being harvested. According to the weatherman, the rest of the month is expected to stay 15 degrees above normal. That gives us all a few more weeks to enjoy fresh, local, naturally-grown produce.

Come by and get some for yourself this weekend!

Fall is here!

Fall has arrived and we're enjoying the cooler weather. The flowers are still in full bloom and we're happily bringing in beautiful bouquets to brighten up the house. You can pick up a bouquet for yourself at the market. Bonnie has been doing a wonderful job making the arrangements in assorted colors.

It's been a very hectic summer but the harvest has been pretty good in all of the gardens. The tomatoes have been wonderfully delicious and most of the varieties are still producing. The okra went crazy this summer and are still covered in blooms to be enjoyed every morning. The cooler weather has slowed them down a bit, but they're still producing. The rainbow swiss chard is looking beautiful again. The bugs are finally leaving it alone.

It's finally time to harvest the sweet potatoes. We have two different varieties this year. Danny and Bonnie began digging them last Friday. If you had a savory crepe at Oh Crepes this past weekend, you got to enjoy some of them! This evening, I tried to duplicate the same mixture and filled tostada shells with it. It was delicious!

If you'd like to try it, come by our stand on Saturday and pick up some freshly dug sweet potatoes, an assortment of peppers and swiss chard. Then saute some chopped onions in a little olive oil, add chopped peppers (whatever kind you prefer) and cubed sweet potatoes. Cover pan and allow to cook on medium heat until sweet potatoes are tender. Add chopped swiss chard and cook just until chard begins to reduce. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste. Use this mixture to fill a tortilla shell and fold over. Then enjoy for yourself!

If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying our heirloom watermelons this summer, you'd better hurry. The Sugar Baby variety is gone now, but we still have the Desert King's. It's a deliciously sweet yellow variety with big black seeds. Bonnie picked the last of them and I'll be bringing them with me this weekend.

It's not too late to fill your freezer with tomatoes for the winter. We have 20 different varieties and they all freeze very well. Just wash, cut in half, take out the core and fill freezer bags with them, squeeze out as much air as you can and put in the freezer. Then take them out as you need them all winter. I love cooking with them. They taste like you just picked them from the garden.

There are only 3 markets left at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. Don't miss out! Hope to see you there soon!

Market tomorrow!

It's been another crazy, busy week here on the farm. It is so hot! Danny has worked out in the heat all day. He's been working on getting the irrigation system in place for the summer. For me, today has been all about getting ready for the market.

I'll be bringing lots of eggs with me tomorrow, both from our chickens and from nearby Sunrise Farm. Plus, we have fresh produce again this week. We have kale, swiss chard, yellow squash, zucchini, new potatoes and green peppers.

Did you see the interview with Michael Pollan on the news yesterday? Take his advice and come and get your locally grown produce from us tomorrow! Bear will be coming with me, come by and say "Hi!"

I won't be at the market today after all.

Change in plans. We woke up to heavy rain again this morning. Now it is storming. According to radar and the local weather forecast, by the time we could drive to St. Louis, the storm will be there too. It's supposed to last all morning.

So, I will plan to see everyone at the market next week.

Join me at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market Tomorrow!

The summer market got off to a wonderful start last Saturday! The weather was beautiful, just a little chilly and windy. The turnout was tremendous. I hope all of you who were there had an enjoyable time and will join us again. To anyone who missed it, I hope you can visit soon. Stop by and say "Hello."

I'll be bringing lots of tomato and pepper plants again. And I've been very busy grinding flours and making mixes this week. Why not try out something new? I hear there will be lots of fresh strawberries again tomorrow. You could serve them over my Healthy Pancakes or Waffles on Sunday morning.

You could even make them with our delicious Free-Range Eggs. Speaking of eggs, I be bringing more this year than in the past. We have added more hens on our farm and they are happily laying. We have also partnered with another local farm, Sunrise Farm, and I'll be bringing their eggs as well. They share our commitment to Naturally Grown and Organic practices, as well as Free-Range chickens for the best possible eggs.

Hope to see you soon!

Opening day of Tower Grove Farmers' Market is this Saturday, May 8th!

Come and join us! It promises to be nice and sunny and not too hot! At least that what the weatherman has to say!

Read all about it at http://tgmarket.org/

Opening day runs from 8:30am to 2:30pm. We'll be there bright and early.

I've been preparing grains and flours and mixes for days. I'll also be bringing lots of bedding plants. I have 18 different varieties of tomato plants, most of them are heirloom varieties. And I have several different varieties of peppers, both sweet and hot varieties.

I'll also be bringing lots of free-range eggs. We're getting two to three dozen a day now. Taste and see for yourself what a wonderful difference there is in the way they look and taste when the chickens are allowed to roam. And the nutritional content can't be beat.

More sprouts!

I have lots more little sprouts in the basement. In the last two days, the sweet peppers, hot peppers, cilantro and more eggplants have sprouted. Soon it will be time to transplant them into larger containers.

To make room, Danny is recovering the hoophouse in greenhouse plastic. When he's finished, we will be able to move quite a few plants out there. It will help to toughen them up a bit before we plant them in the garden.

On Friday, the plan is to plant potatoes and onions and as many greens as we have time for. We also have to get ready for the market on Saturday, so Danny and the boys will be doing more planting on Saturday while I'm at the market.

I will be bringing tomato plants with me on Saturday. I'll plan to bring a few of each variety, but if you want very many of a specific type, let me know ahead of time and I'll bring extra.

Winter is here! Join me at the market on Saturday.

The calender may not agree, but winter has arrived. I can't believe how cold it is outside. Danny finally gave in and cleaned out the flue last week so he could start a fire in the wood stove. The house feels so much more comfortable now, there is just such a different feel in the air with the wood heat as compared to electric. We're all wanting to be in the basement to enjoy it. Danny and Zach moved all the plant starting equipment out of the way, and then set up the ping pong table and they've been playing ping pong and board games and watching movies and hanging out as much as possible. They even want to work on their schoolwork near the wood stove.


Out in the gardens, there's isn't much left. What the cold hasn't killed, the chickens have shredded or devoured in most of the gardens. We have quite a number of chickens that are impervious to the electric fence. No matter how often I move the fence, they still escape within just a short while of letting them out of the coop. At least they fertilize while they eat.


Over in the far garden there are still beets and turnips that have survived. We're enjoying them, I put a couple turnips in the Mixed Beans and Peas Soup that I made today. I love having fresh veges in December!


I'm hoping to be able to bring some turnips with me to the market this weekend. I guess it will depend on the weather. It sounds like we're going to get rain and ice maybe even snow this week. I sure hope it warms up a little before Saturday.


This Saturday, December 12th, is the next winter market in Tower Grove. Bear and I are planning to be there and we hope to see as many of you as possible. Remember, I won't be at the market in January, so you'll need to stock up enough to last until the February market.


Tomorrow I start filling bags for the market, so if there is anything in particular you would like me to bring for you, please let me know asap. Special orders get priority. Larger quantities are available if you e-mail me in advance.

I just updated the list of available products and prices. Hope this helps.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the chickens are in full egg-production now. I will have plenty of fresh, free-range eggs on Saturday as well.

I've been told it's time for an undate.....

So much has happened since my last post. The summer market is over, the Harvest Festival on October 24th was a success. Our whole family went to the market that day. The boys kept me very busy the day before making muffins. Nate had a ball selling them. It took him all day, but by the end he didn't have a single muffin left. Now he can hardly wait for the opening day of the market in the spring, he wants to do it all over again.

We were happy that we had fresh, ripe produce for the market right to the end. As each thing ended, Danny had something new starting to produce. The last day we still had swiss chard, kale, bok choy, Michihili chinese cabbage, green and purple beans, tomatoes, potatoes and more.

If the chickens leave the gardens alone, we will even have fresh greens for the first winter market next Saturday, Novemeber 14th.

We had enough of a frost a couple weeks ago to put an end to most of the summer veges, but the winter veges love the cooler weather. The excess of rain in October made it impossible to harvest the last of the beans, they could only pick the one outside row. Bonnie said every time they tried to step in any of the rows they sunk. Danny tried putting boards down to walk on, but they sunk, too. We had such a productive fall harvest of beans that we didn't feel too bad about it.

Since the end of the market season, the boys and I have been concentrating on schoolwork. I'm still playing catch-up on grading and logging their schoolwork and trying to organize everything.

Danny finally has time to do some projects around here and work with the boys on school projects.

Were all happy to have a break from the gardens for a while...before we know it the gardens will dry out and it will be time to clean them up and put them to bed for the winter.

Hope everyone's enjoying the beautiful fall weather this week!

The bounty continues!

Do you like the pictures? They give you just a little glimpse of what the gardens are like this year.

Right now, everywhere you look there seems to be something that needs to be picked. The okra is growing like crazy. It's well over our heads. Mom & Bonnie picked it again this evening & they said they had to reach way up to get it. I'll be bringing lots of it to the market this weekend.

The cucumbers are all finished now. Danny pulled up the last of the vines this evening & took down the trellis & t-posts. He tilled up the whole area around it & started hilling up new rows to get ready to plant more lettuce & spinach.

The tomatoes are still producing quite well, although certain varieties seem to be about finished for the year. We have a new variety that started producing this week. It's a yellow cherry tomato that came up on it's own in the front flower bed. They're delicious, I'm hoping to be able to bring some to the market Saturday. (If I can keep the kids from eating them all.) That makes our 18th variety of heirloom tomatoes for this year.

Are you hungry for zucchini? The new row of plants started producing last week. There are several varieties & they look really pretty together. I'll bring extra of my Zucchini Muffin Mix this weekend to go along with it. (I ran out last weekend, sorry if you missed out.)

The cantaloupes & honeydews are gone now, but the watermelons are going strong. They were all so delicious this year. Mom was telling us this evening that she just heard you have to have really good soil to get a good tasting melon. Since this is the first time we've planted in that particular garden plot, we feel very appreciative that it was so rich & provided us & so many others with such wonderful melons. We thought our favorite variety of watermelon was the White Wonder, but tonight Bonnie talked us into trying a Sugar Baby. It's a red variety & every bit as delicious.

The amaranth is beginning to flower. It's not as tall as we expected, but I guess that will make it easier to harvest. We have to wait until after the first frost.

Our second biggest producer right now is the beans. The Fortex green beans and the Chinese Long Red Noodle Beans are way up over the 8ft trellis & are covered in beans as well as blooms. The new rows of bush beans are all covered with blooms & should begin producing any day now.

All the flowers in the front flower beds and in the garden are covered in bright, beautiful flowers. The zinnias are a rainbow of color & the cosmos is a whole variety of pastel pinks & purples, now that the onslaught of Japanese Beetles is over. The lack of beetles has also allowed the Marigolds in the gardens to break out in blooms. They are a bright splash of color among all the shades of green in the gardens.

Fall is in the air now, I'll keep you posted as things continue to change.

Summer's harvest is keeping us very busy!

I suppose you've noticed the lack of recent posts. The gardens have been in full production and it's taking all my time to keep up with the bounty of the harvest. Bonnie and her helper, Katie, come twice a week to pick. My mom and Danny and the boys pick too.

My friend Sally has been coming on two other days to help me with the processing. My Grandma helps out as well when she's able. Today, another friend came and picked tomatoes and okra for me. (It's hayfever season for me now, so I don't venture into the gardens very often.)

The okra is finally producing, it seemed to take forever. Up until last week we were only getting about a handful at a time (off of two 70 foot long rows.) Now, it's needing to be picked every couple of days. I should have a nice basketful again this weekend at the market.

You would be surprised to see how much all of the chicks have grown. The ones that hatched in May are almost as big as the adults. It's getting hard to tell them apart. Of course their coloring is different. We love seeing all the variety of colors as they walk around the yard. My mom commented on how much she enjoys them when she was here this afternoon.

The second batch of chicks have grown a lot, too. Except for two of them, they are still tiny little things by comparison. One of them is dark brown and black, the other one is mostly white with little dark spots. The white one is our newest pet. It loves to be held. It comes up to your feet and just waits to be noticed and picked up. It wants to be petted and carried around. Nate carries it all over the place. Last week he brought it in the garden with us while we were weeding the squash. It just walked around eating bugs and enjoying being near us. But, when Nate walked away to get rid of some weeds, it tried to follow him and started peeping loudly when it couldn't keep up. We named it Peeper. It is so cute!

The gardens have changed a lot since the last pictures. The cucumbers and beans are over the top of the 8 foot trellises. The tomatoes are almost all to the top of their trellises as well. The okra is almost taller than Bonnie. And the new variety of sunflowers Danny planted are taller than all of us, even Zach . I think one of them must be close to 15 feet tall!

We got the first of our watermelons last Friday. We've been getting cantaloupes and honeydews for the past few weeks. They are so delicious! I remember now why we planted all heirloom varieties. I've even discovered that I love honeydews. I had a man at the market complain that everyone brings them before they're ripe, that they need to split open before you pick them. Well, I came home and tried one that was split open...it was the best tasting melon I had eaten in a long time. He was right. I suppose other people knew that secret as well, because I brought a split one with me this past weekend and it was the first one to sell.

All the potatoes have been dug now. Danny and Bonnie and all the kids, even little Phillip, dug the last of them Monday. This time they got some really big ones. I'm pleased because the final ones they dug were from the starter potatoes I saved from last years harvest.

This past month Danny started tilling the areas where the potatoes and a few other veges were and began planting the fall crops. We have a new crop of beans and zucchini and yellow squash and a lettuce mix that are off to a good start. Tomorrow, he's planning on pulling up the last of one row of cucumbers and planting peas. I'm looking forward to the fall peas because the spring ones didn't do well at all. We did get a few to eat as we worked, but not enough for a meal. I'm hoping to be able to get some in the freezer for winter.

Well, there's so much more to tell ... but this will have to do for now. I've got to go finish up for today. There are still tomatillos and cucumbers and okra and eggs waiting to get put away before I can go to bed.

Great day at the market!

What a wonderful day for the market! The temperature was perfect, there was a slight breeze and there was a wonderful turnout of shoppers.

I hope everyone enjoyed all the fresh produce. This was our first week with a good selection of fresh produce. We dug our first two rows of potatoes, Yukon Gold and a great red variety that I can't remember the name of. We had some of the Yukon Gold for dinner tonight, they taste amazing. I think Bear ate four of them. I'll have more of them at the market next week.

We also had lots of colorful Rainbow Swiss Chard. We had that for dinner as well.

I brought the first toteful of peppers, large bells, poblanos, jalapeno, anchos and more.

I brought lots of cucumbers, they're really busy producing now. We got a little basketful of tomatoes this week too, but they disappeared very quickly. We had a cucumber and tomato salad. We've all been waiting impatiently for them to ripen. It looks like there should be enough ripe next week to be able to take some with me to the market. Of course, the cool weather being predicted for the week may slow them down again.

Yellow squash and zucchini are in full production now too. I brought plenty of them with me today as well. We've been enjoying them for several weeks now. One of our favorite ways to fix either one is to thinly slice the squash and an onion and cook them with just a little butter and seasalt. Or, we make larger, thicker slices and Danny grills them after brushing them with olive oil, garlic and italian seasoning and sprinkling them with seasalt.

I've been chopping up lots of them and putting them in the freezer for winter, and spring. I use the chopped squash in my salsas and use the chopped zucchini in my Zucchini Spice Muffins and Zucchini Bread. I package it in ziploc freezer bags in the quantity called for in the recipies, and then it's easy to defrost and use all year long. I love putting it up while there is so much fresh, organic produce available. I highly recommend the practice to others as well.

I also had lots of our free-range eggs. The hens aren't laying quite as well as in the spring, but I'm not complaining, the ones they are laying taste so wonderful.

I took some new pictures of the chicks when we moved the coops a couple days ago. They are growing so quickly. The first batch of chicks are getting close to the size of the adult chickens.

Have a good night!

Summer's bounty is beginning!

Squash, squash and more squash..Bonnie keeps on picking and bringing it in. Plus, cucumbers, swiss chard, a few peppers and just enough beans to eat while she picks. This evening I found the first two ripe cherry tomatoes, I was nice and shared one with Bonnie, Danny was jealous. I discovered them while we were all busy pulling weeds and weaving the tomato plants through the cattle panels.

I'm still trying to get the transplanting finished. This past week I transplanted three more rows of Rainbow swiss chard and Bonnie planted a few more eggplant. And this evening, I finally put in the marigolds at the end of each row of tomatoes. Danny's been taking pictures so you can see the progress.

You should see how hard the bees are working. They seem to be everywhere. Danny says they're very busy filling the hives with honey. He added another hive body to one of the hives last week. Unfortunately for him, he found out firsthand why the longtime beekeepers warn about being careful around the bees when it's too hot or the weather is changing. Friday, he went down to check on the bees without putting on the beejacket with the veil. The first two hives were just like usual, he picked up a handful to "pet" and let them crawl all over his hand. But when he got to the third hive, they were not in a good mood at all. They swarmed all over him and he got stung four times. He said he went running away shaking them off as he ran. He had quite a bad reaction in one arm. But, he's much better now, the swelling's gone and he said it's finally stopped hurting. I bet he'll remember to put on the suit the next time he goes to "pet" the bees.

We were all happy to see rain over the weekend, the excessive heat wave was about to bake everything in the gardens. It came just in time to save us from having to start watering all the gardens. The plants all look so much better, they've really perked up.

It was just too bad the rain hit on a market day. It was storming so hard here we decided not to try to make it to the market. I'm sorry if I disappointed you by not being there. Unfortunately, I won't be at the market this weekend either. This is the one weekend I told everyone I would be missing. I'll be back at the market on July 18th!

The first of our squash is here and delicious!

Monday, Danny picked the first basketful of yellow squash and zucchini!! We've already had it for dinner 3 times and had the leftovers for dessert. We love it!

This evening, Zach picked two more basketfuls of yellow squash and it looks like there will be even more ready to pick tomorrow. This will be the first market this year that I'll be able to bring fresh produce with me.

I sure wish this heat wave would let up, the weeds are going crazy. It's hard to get motivated to go out and weed when it's this hot. I so much prefer the air-conditioning, but I have to set a good example. We all went out again this evening to weed and mulch. When we all work together, it doesn't take too long to see definite progress.

I was hoping we'd at least see the rain the weatherman's been predicting for today. After all the weeks of endless rain, you wouldn't think we'd want or need any more, but the gardens are getting rather dry. If it doesn't rain tonight, we're going to have to start watering tomorrow.

Hopefully we'll be able to do some more planting tomorrow evening. Danny has quite a bit of swiss chard that's ready to get in the ground. The initial row of rainbow swiss chard is just about ready to begin picking. We got it all weeded and mulched again this evening. It looks so pretty with all the different colors.

Oh, here's a warning for all the tomatoes growers reading this: It's time to check your plants for hornworms! One discovered our extra plants on the back porch and devoured most of the leaves before Danny stopped it. They're not the only pests attacking the gardens though. My parsley suffered the same scenerio from a parsley caterpillar. Potato bugs are out in full force and Japanese beetles have arrived.

Danny's fighting back with organic remedies for each of these pests. I'll keep you updated...

The chicks got a new home today!

We moved all 27 chicks to their new home today. They have really grown quickly, except for the two little ones that hatched last, they are so cute and tiny.

We knew it was time to move them out of the garage when they started getting out of the brooder on their own when we went to refill their waterer. It was just too crowded in there.

So, on this beautiful, sunny morning, Bear, Nate, Sydney and I carried them out, one or two at a time, to the "old big coop." Yesterday, after Danny got home from work, he and the boys moved it alongside the new coop and got it ready for them. It was fun to watch them as they discovered the big outdoors. The coop has a rather large screened in area with a tarp over it for shade, so they have room to explore. They all move around it in a pack as if they were still in the brooder.

After they were all settled, we moved the fence around both coops with fresh grass for the rest of the chickens. We had to laugh when I opened up "The Eggmobile" (that's what I'm calling the new coop) and the chickens came pouring out of it. It didn't take them long to check out their old coop. They seemed totally mystified when they couldn't get inside, and then taken aback when they noticed the chicks. We're hoping that by the time the chicks get big enough to integrate into the flock, they will already be used to one another and get along.

As the day progressed, we realized we moved the chicks outside on a rather frightening day from their prospective. New home, new neighbors and then rain followed by major storms. We had a lot of lightening, thunder and even hail (but nothing compared to last year's hail.)

This past week has been very productive in spite of all the rain. Danny took a few vacation days off work to be able to work even harder on the farm! He and the boys finished putting up t-posts and cattle panels for the tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. They spread a lot more hay on the gardens, and Danny got a lot planted (transplanted and direct seeded.) He also built inner covers for the beehives and got them installed. I'm almost finished planting the tomatoes, I think I have space for 12 more plants.

This year we are closely guarding our "just-in-case replacement plants." We have moved them in and out of the hoophouse repeatedly because of all the storms. Last year, when the golf-ball sized hail hit, all the extra plants were either on the back porch or in the hoophouse and they got shredded along with the ones in the garden. This year, we're not taking any chances.

Well, the summer market in the Tower Grove Park is off to a good start. If you haven't been there yet this year I hope you can join us soon. We're there every Saturday from 8:30am until 12:30pm.

Good news!

Two more 'little peeps' were waiting for Danny this morning when he left for work. They seem so much tinier than the others. I'm waiting until tomorrow to introduce them to the rest.

We still have hope for the other fourteen in the incubator, but we haven't heard any peeping for a while now. Oh well, we'll wait and see.

Today my Dad and Grandma came to see the chicks. Grandma seemed as excited as I was. She was hoping another one would hatch while she was here, but it didn't. Grandma also came to help me transplant various plants to larger pots to get ready for the weekend.

This Saturday, May 9th, is the Kickoff Celebration for the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. It lasts longer than the usual market. It runs from 8:30am to 2:30pm. Check out the website for all the details: http://www.tgmarket.org. Hope you can join us!

We'll be bringing a lot of heirloom varieties of tomato plants, such as Green Zebras, Brandywines, Tappy's Heritage and Reisentraubes (at Earth Day I found out that means enormous grape). We'll also have hot pepper, sweet pepper and banana pepper plants, as well as herbs and flowers.

I've been taking more pictures. I'll try to get Zach to post some tomorrow. I even managed to get a good picture of Grandma working, not an easy task because if she sees the camera she makes a face.