While we are watching a thunderstorm track to our west, it doesn’t have near the power of the storms of the past two days.  In fact, it doesn’t look like we will get any rain from it.  YAY!

This morning Grandma, Aaron and I went out into the muddy garden and laid down the plastic mulch for the beds.  This mulch is the type used by most organic producers.  It keeps the weeds down and retains moisture.  Out here, as we have seen with the storm and wind, it is essential to keep this sandy loam soil covered.  If we don’t, it will simply blow away.  To succeed in gardening out here, the biggest task will be to try to keep the soil covered with either mulch or by planting cover crops.  We aim to do both.  After the growing season is over we will be laying down straw and then anchoring it in place with rolls of burlap.

We are holding the mulch in place with sandbags.  We have some landscaping staples to hold them down as well but it is pretty apparent that they will be practically use-less.  The weight and movability of the sandbags will give us the flexibility to move them around depending on where we cut the holes for the plants themselves.

The drippers for the corn patch arrived today so yet another project is waiting in the wings.  I switched the tiller off of the tractor and put on the middle buster to plow the trenches for the potatoes.  If it stays dry we will be planting 3 50 foot rows of potatoes tomorrow.  If we still have any energy left after that then we are going to figure out our seeding tool and plant 4 rows of beans as well.

So despite this violent weather, planting is starting to get underway.  I have to admit I am rather nervous about this all.  It is a big task and this weather has, understandably, left me full of self-doubt.  Self – doubt makes me anxious.  Everything else that has been built in the past year has gone great.  Now we are to the reason why we started all of this and the new variables of growing out on the plains has made this such a challenge.  It is going to be quite an adventure this summer to see if any of this actually works.  If it doesn’t, well, the JAZ Farm will evolve.