It is finally clear and we have only had sprinkles the past couple of days! Perhaps the bludgeoning of our garden, wheat fields and chickens is over!  Wouldn’t that be nice.

I’ve had to go through the glass half empty/full debate in my head over the garden.  It was probably naive to think this thing would go without a hitch considering I’ve never done it before.  BUT, I hate to fail, and the less than stellar look to some of the larger leaf and fruiting plants makes one kind of ache, especially after having nurtured them indoors for 2 months.  The reality though is that there is a lot growing in a garden of lesser soil quality that I have yet to amend, and some of the most brutal storms I’ve seen in a very long time.

The tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillos are the worst hit.  But that is only 4 beds out of 18.  The strawberries are leafing out.  WE HAVE ASPARAGUS SHOOTS EMERGING!!  The squash, onions, black beans and potatoes are all up and growing.  The beets are up and there are a few carrots showing themselves.  The sweet corn is having some trouble breaking through the crusty soil but they are coming up non-the-less.  The peppers that got hailed on are now looking better than the one’s I bought to replace them.  So tomorrow, we are pulling out the store bought hybrids that got pummeled last week and putting in the heirlooms.  So all in all, if there is any loss it will be the tomatoes and tomatillos and I have 30 tomato plants at the urban farm all doing fabulously well.  We are considering putting up a greenhouse next year to house the more delicate plants.  An article I read about increasing tomato yield has intrigued me and would involve a greenhouse no matter where the garden was located.  The corn patch, which is about a tenth of an acre was planted with corn for meal and kidney beans.  The kidney bean seeds washed away a bit but there are still bunches coming up.  The dent corn looks as though most of it is coming up.  Once some of the earlier crops are harvested, I have 5000 green bean seeds to sow and will have us busy canning into the fall.

So I think I should stick with glass half full considering the challenges we have just faced.  I am going to be going on many lumber scrounges to find some boarders for the beds.  I need to stop the erosion that happens every time it rains.  By damning it in place and mixing in lots of our manure pile and the straw we should get from the cutting and baling of the wheat field, the soil should begin to improve.  I will also be planting alfalfa on the beds, digging it in and covering them all with burlap for the winter.  Lots of work….. I can rest when I’m dead.

On my way back from the store I saw a cute sight.  It was about 75 degrees and sunny and on top of two round hay bales on the farm next to ours were two goats sleeping on top of them.  The picture is hard to see as it was from my phone but I posted them below.  One way or another, we are going to have goats.    I need poop factories and they qualify.  I don’t want horses or cows.  These guys will do nicely.  Aaron and I will begin working on our pig pen shortly as well.

The last picture is the farm across the road from us.  That isn’t a lake.  It is still undrained flooding from the past couple of weeks.  The mosquitoes are beginning to emerge.  Going to have to get out the dedicated outdoor garb and douse it with bug juice.  I hate that stuff… but I hate mosquito bites and West Nile Virus worse.

Tomorrow, while I plant the peppers yet again, Aaron will be on the business end of the diamond hoe and the garden weasel, breaking up the crust on the beds yet again.  I have half a mind to buy and replace the tomatoes.  I doubt it, as they may still yet come back.  If they get pounded again maybe they will just turn into green beans.