I was able to get the seedlings going this year.  After that, my back and health deteriorated to the point that I couldn’t get them planted out in the greenhouse and its surrounding beds.  Grandma and Zina took over and got it all planted along with a new Blackberry patch in the big garden.  I tried to help but I’m afraid it didn’t amount to much.  Here are some pictures of what has been accomplished.  I am so grateful for the help and tomorrow begins the food storage and canning process in earnest.  We won’t have root crops like onions and carrots, or squash and beans, but fortunately we have grown oodles of them in the past so it should bridge this year without too much trouble.  I am determined to get back at this as soon as possible.  After all, what else to life is there?

Just before I had to hit the floor for several months we managed to get a dozen apple trees planted.  So far all but one have survived.  We had to use a post hole digger to make the holes for them because our soil is akin to concrete when it is really dry.  Planting trees is a very optimistic endeavor.  You believe that you will actually be around in five years when they actually begin go produce!

Because of the fierce winds we have hear we have been trying different things to keep the beds covered when fallow.  This set up has potential but the plastic sheets are like sailboat spinnakers.  We eventually started weighting them down with car tires.  This poor garden is completely over grown now because of my neglect.

I love my seedling room.  That is all.

One of the JAZ Farm migrant workers.  Commutes in every year from Michigan to play in “her” greenhouse!

Another adventure because of the wind was that we had  an old dilapidated section of fence finally blow down.  Because of it, there was now a back door entrance to the big garden, and then to the chicken coop.  Of our 40 hens we lost 20 to foxes.  Again, I couldn’t do anything about it.  We will be hatching more out in the spring.  It was sad to come home and see a field full of feathers.  Because we pay Aaron’s tuition and feed him regularly, his job was to use the old materials and rebuild the fence.  Now that it is rebuilt and that we have a new gate to close it all off, we are hopeful that our fox whoas may be over.