The weather and the seasons dictate much of our lives. The same can be said for most people, but when you carve your living off the land this is especially true. This spring has been abnormally cold and wet, which has really delayed getting some crops in the ground. Last week we got a break in the weather and finally got a chance to get into the fields and get some corn planted. This, of course took its toll on the regularity of new posts. You have to make hay when the sun shines.
The corn is all in the ground and today we will be switching the planter to beans and waiting for the ground to dry from our most recent series of thunderstorms that came through last night.
The garden is started, and will really begin to take shape this week. Almost everything should be in the ground by the end of this week, including all the starter plants that have been incubating in our greenhouse for the last many weeks.
We will be establishing many new beds by laying down cardboard and mulching. We are taking this approach this year for the first time. Usually we would have used a sod cutter to remove the sod and then tilled the beds. This year we are trying this less invasive method to attempt to preserve a lot of the soil structure and fungal hypha. This is supposed to increase the efficiency of the plants’ nutrient uptake and growth. We will take lots of pictures and let you know how it goes.
Our new trees have leaves on them. All except the Honeycrisp apple tree. We hope it will wake up soon, but it may not have taken. This is a picture of one of the other apple trees.
Also last week, we attended the NICHE conference in Des Moines. NICHE stands for the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators. Those who know us know that we are very passionate and take great joy in home schooling. This was our third year attending, and it was a really refreshing weekend. Attending the conference each year helps us to get away and renew our vision for educating our kids and it always encourages us to see so many like minded people. Walking the exhibits, or sitting in a break out session, its wonderful to be around so many people who are totally dedicated to loving and bringing up their kids. It’s an encouraging event for any parent, and also is marriage enriching. Plus, the night away for Mama and Papa is always nice.
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