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.

Transplanting time is here again!

Last night, I transplanted over 200 tomato seedlings into larger containers. This afternoon, my Grandma came and helped transplant almost that many more. Tomorrow she is planning on doing it again. She says she can almost taste the ripe, juicy tomatoes she's been waiting for all winter.

Over the weekend, Danny got chard and basil and parsley and more eggplant started in flats. Last night, I finally got sweet bell peppers planted. Tonight, I'm going to plant several varieties of hot peppers. The only problem is that we're running out of room on the heat mats.

If the weather cooperates the way they're predicting, we should be able to get onions planted in garden #5 this week. That will free up a lot of space on the plants racks in the basement, so I'll have room to keep transplanting tomatoes out of the flats.

Got to get busy!

Tomato Seedlings

I am so excited! I have hundreds of little tomato seedlings in the basement. I just finished watering them. Almost every single seed I planted last Sunday has sprouted and quite of few of the ones I planted just 3 days ago are up too. I'm really pleased with the germination rate of this year's seed.

Next comes the tedious part of transplanting each of them into individual pots. My Grandma is coming to help, she's been looking forward to this for a while now. I took her downstairs yesterday to see the progress. She says this is the best time of the year.

I've started planting!

Gardening season has officially begun for me now. I have 16 different varieties of tomato seeds planted in seed trays in the basement. Just 2 to go. I'm going to try to finish them tomorrow.

There are a number of veges we'd like to get in the outdoor gardens but they are just still too swampy. Even with going no-till on beds 1 and 2, they're too soggy to walk in.

Hopefully, with a couple days of sunshine and warmer temperatures being predicted for this week, they will dry out enough to get at least a few things planted.

Friday, Danny is planning on moving the "Eggmobile" over by the cows. The plan is for them to follow behind the cows in the rotational grazing. The chickens will help clean up after them and keep pathogens from having time to multiply.

There is never a shortage of things to be done on the farm.

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 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.

Changes on the farm

There is so much happening on the farm now! The little peach trees have bloomed. Flowers are popping up all over. The peas have sprouted in the front flower bed. The chickens are back inside their movable fence. Or maybe I should say, we're trying to keep them in. After all these months of freedom, they're not too happy about being restricted from the gardens. But we are trying, because every time they get out they eat the seedlings popping up in the gardens.

You should see the progress Danny and the boys are making on the new chicken coop. Both ends are up and connected, the doorways for us and the chickens and the openings for the nesting boxes are all cut out. It has a trap door in the floor for easy clean-out and its almost ready to put on the top. Danny's making it up as he goes along because he couldn't find plans for what he wanted. I think it's going to look like an old-fashioned covered wagon when it's finished. We're trying to find a good name for it, so if you'd like to make a suggestion, feel free.

I've been trying to hurry him up building it, because I expected to have a lot of new little chicks by now, but none of them hatched. I'm disappointed, but I'm about to try again. This time I'm going to use an automatic egg turner in the incubator.

We have lots and lots of little plants in the basement. There are literally hundreds of tomato and pepper plants. They've all been transplanted into larger pots now and are getting bigger everyday. We have about 15 varieties of tomato plants, most of the heirloom varieties. The Brandywine and the Old German Striped varieties are really taking off. Last night when I went to water them, they were so tall I had to raise the grow lights over them again. We also have a number of herbs that are growing quite well.

It looks like we'll have plenty of plants to bring to Earth Day at Forest Park. It's on Sunday, April 26th this year. It was a lot of fun last year. We hope you can join us.

I'll also be at the St Louis Community Farmers' Market this Saturday, April 11th. It's the last indoor market we'll be at this season.

I've been working on a new mix for Buckwheat Pancakes. If you'd like to be one of the first to try it, come see me on Saturday. It's wheat and milk-free, but I add milk and yogurt to the mix when I make it at home.

Hope to see you soon!

Excitement is in the air now!

The first tomato seedlings made their appearance today! I'm so excited, I started them in flats just a few days ago. When I came home from the market today about 6 different varieties had popped up.

It's been a busy week. Last Friday, Danny added the needed amendments to each garden bed and then tilled them all. Two of the beds he expanded, one a little, one a lot. We're hoping it will allow us to spread out a bit, some of the rows were just too crowded last year. Oh yeah, the chickens were thrilled. I got several great pictures of them following behind the tractor.

Since then, we've been working on starting seeds and ordering needed supplies in the evenings. Yesterday and today Danny's been working all over the farm. He built a very nice set of compost bins. He's been putting in raised beds for herbs, and putting in stakes for trellises along the edges where he can reach without stepping in the garden. After tilling last week and all the rain this week, you just sink in the mud if you try to walk in the gardens. He also planted snow peas in the front flower bed. We've never had them there before, but we're envisioning walking out on the porch and picking and eating them as a snack. (Last year my little nephew named them green M&M's.)

Besides all that, I'm trying to hatch chicks in an incubator. I set 46 eggs in it a few days ago, so it's keeping me busy turning them several times a day and monitoring the humidity level.

We were also getting ready for today's market. It was such a beautiful day, it was nice to see so many join us at the market.

Now I need to go turn the eggs.

The gardens are definitely making progress!

I found new seedlings all over today, the zucchini, yellow squash and cantaloupe all had more sprouted than the last time I looked.

Danny got the new raspberries planted yesterday. We decided to put them in this year's pumpkin patch. Now he needs to make trellises for them. Although that may have to get put on hold for the time being.

The cantaloupe and cucumber plants my mom and dad transplanted seem to be doing well. Of course it's going to take some time to collect all the newspapers that were covering them and are now scattered all over the place.

This evening I finally started planting the watermelon seedlings that have been patiently waiting in the basement. I got about half of them in the ground and then got sidetracked weeding the eggplant. By the time I got back to planting, a storm had blown up and I had to go indoors. At least there was no damage this time. Just a downpour and then a beautiful double rainbow to enjoy when it was over.

The bees seem to like their new home. We're seeing them all over the place. I felt sorry for them last week. They had only been here two days when the hail came and took out all the flowers. But the clover came back quickly and it seems to be their favorite thing anyway.

It's fun watching the boys with the bees. All three of them want it to be their turn to take care of them. Yesterday, the two oldest went down by themselves. Zach couldn't resist tasting some of the honey and the comb. Danny told him he's not a beekeeper he's a predator. They all wish they needed to be checked on every day. The youngest one is jealous that he hasn't had a turn to wear the beesuit and help dad. I can't say I blame him, I'm still waiting for my turn too.

Things are sprouting!

Yesterday, my little sister came to see me. She dragged me out of the house to look at signs of improvement all around the farm. It helped that she brought her kids with her. They brought lots of hugs and kisses and I got to hold the baby and play with him while we walked around.

First she took me out to see the long row of lillies, there are lots of new shoots with buds on them. It looks like we will get to enjoy them this year after all. One of the red and yellow ones is already blooming.

Then we went to Grandma's house. Lots of her flowers are blooming again.

Next, we checked out Danny's grapes. They are putting on new leaves and she helped them along by removing some of the damaged ones. It looks like they are all going to survive.

She pointed out a few new blooms on the sunflowers and a lot of new leaves. The cosmos and daisies and crown vetch are all beginning to bloom too. We even discoved the tiniest zinnia blooming. The plant is only about an inch tall and the flower can't be bigger than a dime, but it's determined to live.

In the garden, we found that a lot of the seeds Danny planted the day before the storm are up. The beans and cucumbers are several inches tall. Even the cucumbers he planted the day after the storm are up about an inch.

The lettuce is growing again. There was enough swiss chard to have some for supper last night. There are even new carrots and radishes. She even pointed out six new blooms on the eggplant.

My mom and dad came a little while after she left and brought cucumber and cantaloupe plants from my uncle. They even stayed and planted them for me. We had to cover them with a sheet of newspaper to protect them from the sun. They are pretty good-sized plants, almost as big as the ones we lost. Maybe we will have a crop to harvest before long.

Oh yeah, we also had a friend bring us some dill and cilantro seedlings on Sunday. The gardens are greening up again.

Gotta get back to work!

Planting again!

Well, yesterday was as busy again as usual. Danny planted six varieties of cantaloupe, and I got five varieties of watermelon started. I know they should have been in sooner, but better late than never.

I also transplanted another row of kohlrabi. The plants in the first row are really growing well, we can see the kohlrabi bulbs forming now. If you've never watched them growing you really should. It's the only plant I know of that has the bulb grow above the ground. Mother Earth News called them "space cabbages" and I can understand why. It shouldn't be too much longer now until they're ready to eat!

All over the gardens, things are really taking off. For a while it seemed most of the activity must have been going into the root systems. But now things are starting to get taller. The tomatoes are almost tall enough to start weaving them. The cucumbers and beans are getting closer to the trellis.

The okra Danny replanted last week are all up and trying to catch up to the first ones. The radishes and turnips are doing well. The lettuce and herbs have sprouted.

The only down side this week is with the potatoes. We walked back to check on them yesterday and some of the plants had no leaves left. We discovered these nasty-looking, orange, squishy, sticky bugs all over the place. Danny looked them up, they're potato beetle larvae. We have got to get rid of them! Quickly! He sprayed them with diatomaceous earth (organic friendly, all-natural) and by last night it seemed to be working.

My co-op order arrives tomorrow! Thankfully! I have been out of wheat berries since last Friday, so I haven't been able to make any of my products that need it. Tomorrow is going to be crazy. I don't know yet what time pick-up will be, but I'll be working like mad to catch up once it arrives.

I think I'd just better apoligize in advance for anything I don't have on Saturday. I will do my best to restock, but there are only so many hours in a day. Come by and see how well I do.

I'll have quite a bit of swiss chard and radishes at the market this week, as well as about 7 dozen eggs. I'll even have a dozen guinea eggs. This will be the first dozen this year available for sale, up to now I've been keeping them all for myself. If you have never tried them, they are the most wonderfully flavored eggs, they are very small, but the yolk is the same size as the jumbo chicken egg. They come from the most beautiful bird...from a distance only, they have the ugliest head you can imagine.

Sam, thanks for the comment, I hope you get to celebrate soon!

Stop by, say Hi! and stock up on Saturday! See you there!

Thankful for a rainy day!

I was so grateful to wake up to rain today! I didn't have to feel guilty about working indoors. I was able to get a lot accomplished in preparation for the market this weekend.

Besides, I needed a break from the sun. The wind abated somewhat on Tuesday afternoon, at least long enough to get all the sweet potatoes planted. Then on Wednesday, I spent most of the day in one garden or another. My mom helped me plant lots of tomatoes, 87 at last count, we're estimating there's just about 100 left to go. Zachary put in more t-posts to stay ahead of us and all three boys worked on cutting grass and bringing us the clippings to put around the plants. My grandma even came out in the afternoon to keep us company and give us moral support. We set her up in a nice comfy lounge chair and she got to enjoy a little sun that way too. I also got 2 rhubarb plants and 26 asparagus plants in the new garden plot. Thankfully, Danny got home in time to help me dig most of the holes for the asparagus, they need really deep holes and I was very tired by then.

Today, I am rather stiff and sore from all that hard labor (I talked to my mom and she is too!) But a bigger reason I needed a day out of the sun is because I got very sunburned on my arms and face yesterday! I should have at least worn a hat, I have "raccoon eyes" from wearing my sunglasses and even my scalp is red. My son says I need to write 100 times in aloe, "I will remember to wear a hat and put on sunscreen!" I wish he'd of thought of it before I burned. He brought straw hats out to my mom and grandma, but not to me. Next time I think I'll remember! On the bright side, my hair is much closer to my normal summer blonde and it's still May.

What a great weekend we all enjoyed!

The weather was beautiful, although we did feel like we were all going to blow away at the market Saturday. Many of us had to take down our tents, I resisted until the wind blew it across the aisle and into the next tent. But we had a great turnout again, thanks to all our returning customers.

While I was at the market, Danny was busy here at the farm. He got all the eggplant transplanted into the garden. He direct seeded 4 varieties of beans & 2 varieties of cucumbers. He also got half a row of peppers planted.

Sunday afternoon he got an area tilled for the sweet potatoes, another area for the pumpkins and a third area for the asparagus, rhubarb and garlic. Then he finished planting the rest of the row of peppers he started on Saturday.

I got the boys to start spreading hay on the sweet potato bed while I worked on companion planting 3 kinds of onions in between the rows of potatoes. Then my mom came to help. She worked on uncovering potato sprouts that were having a hard time getting through the thick hay and evened out the hay on some of the rows. Then we both started working together to get the peppers planted. We got 4 more rows in before it got too dark.

Yesterday, I took the boys to the homeschool field day, there were over 250 kids participating this year. Needless to say, by the time we got home, I didn't feel up to planting anything. But, Danny and I did go to the beekeeper's meeting in the evening. Hopefully, before too long we'll have our own hives. We're working on it!

Today I need to plant the sweet potato plants that arrived while I was at the market Saturday. They look really healthy, I have them in glasses of water right now. I had planned on planting them Sunday, but the directions that came with them said not to plant them on a windy day. So I decided I'd better wait. I certainly hope the wind dies down enough today to get them all in. On this hill, it's almost always windy, just in varying degrees. I also need to be planting tomatoes so if it doesn't, I guess I'll just be planting more tomatoes.

Time to get busy!

What a productive day!

Wow, we accomplished so much today!

Danny got all the beds for the peppers, eggplant & spinach formed up, put the soaker hoses in place, then covered them with black plastic & put down newspapers & mulch between the rows. He also installed the new drip tape in the tomato garden. This is our first time to use it, but it comes highly recommended. And he still had enough energy left to grill pork steaks for dinner!

The boys took advantage of an actual dry, sunny day & got all the grass cut & the clippings delivered to us in the garden.

I started production for this week's market. Then, later this afternoon & evening, I got 51 more tomato plants in the ground & mulched with the clippings. I also planted a few more potatoes.

Last night I started potting the kohlrabi & squash sprouts in the basement. I was shocked by how many roots the squash seedlings already had. This afternoon, I discovered the kohlrabi transplants had grown an inch overnight in the new pots. Now I need to go do some more transplanting & watering in the basement so I can get to bed.

The potatoes are up!

Finally, the potatoes are up! Discovering that yesterday evening certainly perked me up! Surprisingly, all 3 sections have emerged above the hay, even though they were all planted at different times.

It's beginning to look like we are going to be waterlogged forever. I can't believe it stormed again this morning. I got a few more tomato plants in the ground yesterday, but I had to stop because of the mud. I was hoping to get a lot more in today, but now I don't think it will happen. We've moved most of the plants into the hoophouse now & they seem to be doing well.

Oh, I got another nice surprise yesterday, when I started to water the pepper plants in the basement, I found 3 jalapeno peppers. What a strange spring, I can't even get the plants into the ground, but they're producing anyway!

Good morning!

Wow, that was quite a storm this morning. But the plants in the garden seem to be happy & the plastic stayed on the hoophouse, so I'm happy too. Recently I transplanted swiss chard & kohlrabi, the rain really perked them up. I also got carrots, radishes & beets direct seeded, but they're not up yet. Hopefully the rain will speed their emergence, I can hardly wait.


I love looking out & seeing green in the garden, & with the swiss chard in now, red & yellow as well.

The mulch is doing a good job keeping the weeds in check. It will save us so much time as the summer goes on.

Unfortunately, with the frost we got Monday night, all the tomatillos I had transplanted died. We had them all covered, but it didn't help. They were all black when we uncovered them. Oh well, lesson learned. It's a good thing I hadn't put the tomatoes in yet! Fortunately, I had checked the planting guide & realized it was just too early. Of course, that was after I had finished planting all the tomatillos. We definitely have spring fever & want to put in everything at once, but we're trying to practice patience.

That reminds me, I wonder if any of the potatoes are up? I think I'll go check.

Earth Day Was a HUGE Success

Thanks to all who made earth day such a success. It was a great day! The weather was perfect! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful setting. It was wonderful to see so many of our usual customers and to meet so many new people.

We hope you were able to attend, and we hope to see you again at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market. We'll be there all summer long, beginning May 10th for the big kick off.

Now it's time for us to concertrate on planting. I have 240 tomato plants to try to get into the garden in the next week. Danny got the garden plowed & hilled & mulched last week & started putting in the t-posts. This week he & the boys need to finish the job.

Earth Day is Sunday!

Hi everyone! Thanks for a great market on Saturday. I'm so glad the weather cooperated & so many were able to attend.

Now I'm busy getting ready for Earth Day this Sunday, April 20th. We're excited! I've been told there were about 20,000 people there last year. I've also heard there is even more to see & do this year.

I'll be sampling some of my products, so if you haven't had an opportunity to try them, here's your chance.

I'm also bringing pepper plants to sell, both sweet & hot varieties. Last year it was difficult to find hot pepper plants, so I decided to start them myself. I have the old standards, as well as varieties I've never grown before. The plants look beautiful, especially the variegata peppers. Last year we planted them in big planters in the front of the house. This year we will again, but we're also putting them in the front flower bed, they're so pretty.

There's so much going on this week at the farm. Danny's on vacation from his off-farm job, so he's tackling all kinds of projects. Today he's going to try to plow the tomato garden so we can start planting next week. I'll be glad to get them in the garden, the plants are huge, they're too tall for the plant stand.

I'm planning to get the rest of the potatoes planted today...it's supposed to be 70 degrees. We're all going to work outside together.

Well, I'd better go join the rest of the family, they're already busy.