Rain pt.2

Not eight hours ago I posted a message saying I was thankful for the rain... well no more. Around 10-11 this morning a storm moved in with STRONG winds pulling the plastic off one of the green houses and destroying most of our fellow incubating farm chicken pens.

Rain

We are finally getting some much needed rain. After a wet early spring we didn't get much rain until Memorial Day weekend (1.25"!) and more today. Our transplants are finally growing, seeds are germinating and the field is looking good. Now we just have to keep up with the weeds which are loving the rain just as much as the crops.

After a couple initial glitches our tractor is becoming a huge help. I have been doing a lot of seeding over the past month and I have just started to use it to do some cultivation. With a little fine tuning everything should start to fit together nicely!

While we're in the midst of planting our crops, receiving rain periodically and enjoying the green growth of salad leaves in the sun, I can't help but think of others who might long for what we have.

I've been paying close attention to everything happening in Asia lately, and I heard on NPR about the "hungry season" in Myanmar today. In Myanmar, May is the season where the pantries are depleted and many await eagerly for the spring crops to grow into much needed food. A recent New York Times article more thoroughly explains the situation and really made me appreciate what we're able to produce and provide.

Oink Oink!

Pigs have arrived at the Prairie Crossing Farm! Five families (we are one of them) are raising four pigs. So far it has been great, we are splitting the chores and the pigs are doing great. One of them, a female Tamworth, has taken a special liking to my boots. Every morning when I feed them she eats a little and then comes over, wipes her nose on my pants and starts to chew on my boot. I don't know what I have been stepping in that is so tasty but she seems to like it!

We decide to raise these pigs for a couple reason. First was the delicious, humanely raised pork. Second was to see how they would do in a pasture helping us weed the soil. Especially the roots of Canadian Thistle which is a very difficult weed to get rid of and one we have a lot of. Cheers.

Spring has sprung!

We have gotten a lot planted in the last couple weeks. The brassicas are planted, we are almost finished getting the onions in the ground and we have seeded many different crops in anticipation of our coming markets and CSA shares. It feels great to see things growing in the field... pictures to follow soon!

Help arrives

We now have some help on the farm. Chris started this Monday and will be working for us throughout the summer. It is great to have some help in field and not always behing on what we need to get done!