Beginning in the spring, we started prepping garden beds. First, we had to dig all the weeds out of them. That was a job! We also moved our asparagus patch from the bed along the hoop house into 3 garden beds in the main garden. In the process of dividing up the original 12 or so asparagus plants, we ended up with 80 separate crowns! That filled up our 3 beds and we gave some away. I love self-reproducing perennials.
second load of asparagus crowns
We decided to build sides for the beds this year out of some of the live cut boards we weren't using for the house. We also dug hugel trenches along each bed. The trenches got filled with old logs and wood chips up to the level of the aisles. The idea is that the wood will soak up water when it rains and then release it to the garden bed during the dry periods. I have to say that the strategy worked. Even though we had drought weather for an extended period this summer, we only watered the garden 3 times and it was still one of the most productive years we've had for the limited crops we planted.
I have to say that it felt absolutely amazing to be back in the garden again. The smell and feel of dirt, little seeds tucked in and then growing into plants taller than I am, the joy of the first ripe tomato...these are the things that brought us to the farm to begin with. It is wonderful to be back at it again.
In addition to the usual annuals, we also bought and heeled in 50 root stocks for pears, plums and cherries. We hope to graft off of our existing fruit trees to these root stocks to increase the orchard.
We set up the chicken coop this spring also and stocked it with 10 laying hens. We lost some in the summer heat and had to replace them, but overall the girls are keeping us in plenty of eggs. It is wonderful to have farm fresh eggs again!
The garden harvest was very rewarding. We didn't plant as much variety as we normally would, but we still canned over a hundred quarts of tomatoes, green beans and soup. It was another return to normal to get the canners out. It was also an awesome opportunity to really test out our 6 burner propane stove! It was an investment, but so worth it to be able to put 2 canners and a large pot of tomatoes on the stove at the same time!
Corn and melons thriving in the garden
harvest waiting for canning
New stove ready to go!
Along the way, we did finish the beetle kill pine wall boards in the living room and dining room. We still have to wrap up the upstairs landing with them, but we got to check 2 more walls off the list as finished. I think it turned out really well!
Living room pine wall
We also hired out the building of the kitchen cabinets. They were delivered and installed last week and they turned out perfectly! The doors and drawers are made out of the douglas fir we had milled from Colorado and we finished them to match the staircase. Now we just have to do the counter tops and then we'll have an actual kitchen again. Woo hoo!
