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.