Spring. Like the Energizer bunny.

This spring just keeps going and going. It is cool and rainy for yet another week. While I adore hot, my greens and peas are loving the weather and are showing their love with a bumper crop of tasty food. I had no idea lettuce could get so big!

We had some hail last weekend, but it didn't do much damage. The flat, orange bugs have showed up and are infesting bolted greens and radishes. I don't know what they are and will try to remember to look it up in my bug book. We are reinvested with voles. This has made adopting Vole Cat Jr. Look pretty good.

All of the seeds were finally planted this past weekend. Now it is time to wait for them to sprout. And by wait, I mean weed, finish installing the irrigation system, build the cedar trellises for the cukes and melons, put a bird net over the peach tree, and weed some more. A farmer's work is never done! And thank goodness for that!

Lost post

I wrote a long post last week and it disappeared into the TTA's ether. It makes me nervous to blog on the bus, but I'm getting back on the proverbial bicycle and giving it another try.

This has been a big week for the garden. The asparagus is coming up like crazy; we are harvesting every other day now! Yum yum yum.

The greens are growing rapidly as it warms up, and the radishes are ready. We've been eating delicious salads at every meal.

The drip irrigation system is partially in place. I ran out of 1/4 inch drip tubing, so the project is on a temporary hold. It doesn't really matter yet, as it keeps raining. Speaking of rain, it has been nine kinds of crazy out here. There were over 100 tornados on Saturday in North Carolina. Durham barely got rain, but a few miles away, there was serious destruction and loss of life.

I'm glad for a lot of reasons that the weather stayed relatively sane by us, not least of which is that Will and I picked up the bees on Saturday. I already adore being a bee keeper. Bees are awesome!!! I really really hope they survive. I had words with the bees upon pickup about their duties regarding the cucumbers. Hopefully, this will prompt them to pollinate them! I already want a second hive.

One final note: I went on CFSA's farm tour for the third time this year. I wondered, "will it still be cool? I've already gone twice....". Oh MAN was it cool. I absolutely loved it!! I am so glad that CFSA and the farmers do this every year. It's this amazing chance to see where our food comes from, to get inspired about my own farm, to see baby animals, and to eat amazing food. Thank you CFSA and participating farmers! I'll be attending again next year!

Sleet, kiwis and asparagus

There is so much going on in the spring! Seedlings are getting bigger. I thinned arugala and endive yesterday and they made a tasty garnish for the yummy soba noodle salad I made with . . . FRESH ASPARAGUS!! Yum yum yum yum yum. This is year number three post crown planting, so we get to harvest until we're sick of it!

Will and I started construction of an arbor for the kiwi vines. It is awesome. I will post a picture when it is done. Then, we got the kiwis, the second pawpaw, the second raspberry and the goumi in the ground. And none too soon, as it proceeded to sleet on Sunday night and give us one more hard frost last night. I'm afraid to go look at the apple trees, a couple of which were in full flower. I guess it doesn't much matter; they're still babies, so I wasn't going to let them bear fruit this year anyway.

The indoor starts are doing okay. I've upped my game, by adding The Mister to my seed starting regimen. The Mister is something I saw at petsmart the other day. It is a watering device for reptiles, but it struck me that if it was gentle enough for a lizard, it would probably serve nicely for seedlings. And boy is it awesome. Pump up the air pressure, press a button and every seedling is well watered in under two minutes. It used to take me 15 minutes, and my hand would hurt from spritzing a million times.

On tap for tomorrow evening will be a second round of seed starting. I need to start a bunch of the seeds I got from Bountiful Gardens. I am especially excited for the approximately 90000000000 artichoke seeds I ended up with. I am hoping I know some peeps that will take some off my hands. I should probably start a seed starting business now that I have so many seeds and The Mister.

Location:S Mangum St,Durham,United States

Planting planting planting

I'm slowly reclaiming the garden from the winter weeds. Each weekend, there are more mulched paths, more beds, and more sprouts! The seed starting cabinet has a jam packed level full of seedling flats and I'm about to start more. Seeds arrived this weekend from Bountiful Gardens! We've also been putting in useful plants all around; one pawpaw is in the NE corner of our yard, nearby is a choke berry bush. The hardy kiwis aren't planted yet, but they will go in the old greenhouse beds and the pergola will sit over the path. The elderberries went in the garden itself, and we got one of the raspberries in on the western side of the weedy hillside. We have another pawpaw, a persimmon, and a goumi berry still to plant... And I have to set up the drip irrigation system asap, as it is going to be in the mid 80s today. I have to remember to water the mushrooms today too, lest they dry out and die. Busy busy busy.

Conquering the weedy hillside

This has been an awesome week in farming! On Saturday, I had help planting lettuce, peas, beets, carrots and radishes from my sister, Darko Urban Farm's new volunteer, and my friend Danny who walked by and contributed 30 minutes of mulch moving. In addition, two students from Duke's Center for Documentary Studies came to the farm and interviewed me and Will. They were learning to make a brief slideshow with audio. We had a lot of fun and hope to get to see their finished product.

On Saturday, we also mulched the berm. It looks good, but needs more understory plantings to obviate the need for mulching in the future. Thankfully. . . There are tons of plants on their way to us from Useful Plants! I am excited to put into practice some of the amazing things I learned in my Edible Landscaping class as we add hardy kiwis, pawpaws, cherries, elderberries, persimmons and more to our landscape.

Then, on Sunday, Will and I implemented the best idea I have ever had. No kidding. Best idea ever. Ready? We got a bunch of pine trees from a guy who was cutting them down in his yard. We borrowed an angle grinder from Amber's dad (thank you!), and cut rebar to 3 foot lengths, pounded it into the ground so that about a foot was sticking up, built up the pine logs against the rebar and backfilled with mulch!!! Voilà terrace! There are three levels. I ordered King Strephoria mushroom spawn from the really helpful folks at Mountain Mushroom in South Carolina (thanks, Tradd!). These mushrooms are edible and they have strong roots (or whatever you call them with mushrooms) that will help control erosion. They will decompose the wood chips, hopefully leaving us with great soil in which to plant...more food!!!!!

Also (I said it was a big week), I started seeds in the awesome planting cabinet Alexis made for me, and cut up potatoes to be planted later this week. Let the growing.....BEGIN!!!!

Cold comes back

It was about 70 yesterday. Tonight, it will be below freezing by several degrees. I am planning to come home early from work to make sure I can get the row cover on the hazelnut, which is already leafing out. I think all the rest of the trees will be okay as they all still seem dormant.

Nothing much else to report today.

The big time

Ladies and gentlemen (all three of you who read this);
It is possible that the Darko Urban Farm will hit the big time. I am so excited that I can't even use exclamation points. They would be an understatement.

The upshot followed by the backstory: Darko Urban Farm may appear in the next edition of Urban Farm Magazine. I have goosebumps.

I have been busting my flabby garden muscles this weekend. Friday at the DUF (best acronym ever), Saturday at Leigh Farm with my edible landscaping class, and today at my friend Nick's house with Crop mob. A reporter from Urban Farm was also at the crop mob and my friend Danny pointed the reporter in my direction. She says she will call me for an interview tomorrow.

My sister gets all the kudos. She was the brains and about 85% of the brawn behind the DUF CSA. Alexis, you dreamed big and helped make my crazy farmer dream come true. Happy birthday. I am so glad you are my sister.