It's a new season!

It's been a beautiful spring so far and all of our plantings have gone according to plan. We've got our broccoli, cabbages, radishes, onions, etc in the ground and they're all looking great. The rain has been perfectly timed for keeping our garden watered. Now we just have to sit back and wait.

We left a lot of our stuff in the ground from last year, and all the greens and roots have bolted. Not only does this give us tons of yellow flowers all throughout the farm, but it attracts a lot of beneficial insects. The bees and butterflies are going crazy out there. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to plant flowers before you plant any vegetables. You won't have to spray near as much!

The vineyard's looking great too. The middles of the rows are full of weeds, but since we don't have any leaves on the vines yet, I'm not really concerned with the height of the weeds. We'll get it mowed soon enough. Plus- the more weeds we have growing in the middles, the more water the field can absorb. And that's always a challenge in the spring in North Carolina- keeping the field free from mud. I think we under utilize weeds in North Carolina. I think when properly used, they can truly improve the winegrowing process, and result in less work for the grower. We just have to adjust our concept of what is a 'maintained vineyard'. But we'll see- I'm only three years into this venture.

While we wait for the buds to break and for the weather to get warmer for our next round of crops, we'll continue to clean up the property. We've had a major effort this winter to restore the fields to their boundaries from 1947. This has taken well over three months of on and off work. We're to the final stages to taking brush to the road (the city is going to regret annexing farms, but we'll get out taxes' worth). I can't wait to see the fields after we're finished with all of this.

So, CSA signups are coming to a close. We're almost at our maximum. Get your money in soon if you want a spot!

I must keep up the discipline of blogging. It might be a challenge when things get busy...