So I finally have some crops in the ground! As of this evening, I have planted oregano, parsley, dill, fennel, thyme, potatoes, beets, Swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, winter squash, peppers, tomatoes, basil, and a variety of flowers. I also spent an hour stirring the horn manure in my boyfriend's grandparents' driveway, which I later sprayed on the garden with a pine branch from the yard. It feels really good to finally have this started, and I actually don't care that much how productive the farm is this year as long as I have the opportunity to try it out. Well, that's not entirely true. Of course I want all of the plants to thrive and develop into robust, healthy, delicious beings. But I am willing to adapt and accept a little failure. Speaking of which, somebody (some bunny?) has eaten most of the broccoli already! I received a generous donation of Russian banana potatoes from Dr. Hans Aas, owner of Lakewood Berry Farm and my part-time employer. I'm hoping to make some money on those and on some cut flowers, and whatever is left will feed us in the late summer and fall. The space is small, water could prove difficult to deliver, and there will probably not be a fence this year. I am just happy to have the space to try this out.

At other folks' farms I had felt anxious about working fast enough. I tend to work a little slow, taking care to put plant starts in a good spot and pack it in well, but as I was told by an employer last year: “our time isn't valued so we have to work quickly.” I was glad to not have to worry about that this year...until the mosquitos started biting. My help evaporated immediately and I planted as quickly as I could to finish the job and get away from those merciless jerks.

We are getting a good amount of rain lately so I'm putting off coming up with a solution to the water dilemma. I'm considering a tough love type situation, where I don't baby the crops and see what happens. 

Things are changing so fast with the farm. Today I'm moving for the first of 3 times in the next 3 months or so. I still don't know if I'll have access to water, so I may end up fashioning a water tank out of a rubbermade container or trash can so that I can ensure my crops won't dry up. The timing on this stuff is terrible but I will make it work somehow, and I'm sure I'll be able to harvest a good amount of stuff this year, and that next year will be a lot better since i'll be able to start sooner and be more established, I won't be moving anymore, and will either work much closer to home or will not have another job to eat away at my free time. I have winter squash and rainbow chard sitting in my car as I type this, waiting to get transplanted in their new home. I also have some horn manure in there, which I will be applying either today or tomorrow.

ch-ch-ch-changes

Some interesting developments have transpired in the last two weeks. I now have access to a large chunk of land in Cloquet, Minnesota, which is about 20 miles from Duluth and it is where I plan to be living within the next 2 months. I have decided not to farm at Duluth Community Farm because it is so far from my new house and because the organizers have asked for, in my opinion, too much of my profits. I have nothing against them. I understand that this is the first year and they are just getting started with the program and they are lacking funds, but for me a major part of farming on my own is keeping the money I work so hard to earn.

I still haven't planted anything yet, so that is not a problem. The new place will still have to be tilled and it's possible the soil isn't as good and that the farmers' markets I might end up selling at might not have the visibility that the one at Duluth Community Farm will have, but farming in Cloquet means I get to spend more time with my boyfriend (and hopefully get more help from him) and it means we can grow perennial crops and benefit from our own soil-building efforts, and that we can start right away at making the land productive. A fellow gardener has offered us such treasures as weed-blocking fabric, a rain barrel, and a worm compost bin. We found horsetail and raspberries on the land.

It's a little scary to be doing this more or less by myself but it's also exhilarating. Something similar happened to me last year and the best outcome possible was the result. I started the season working for farm managers who didn't value my hard work and I ended up leaving for another farm where I was treated and compensated much better. Now that I find myself in limbo again, I am comforted by the fact that I found the right place to be last year, and I trust my instincts.

I will post more information as I figure it out, and I will let you know in which farmers' markets I will participate once I know. Once that gets started, I will post my produce availability each week.