A Spring of Endless Chores

April on the Farm

It’s April now and as I am writing this, the last frost in zone 7 is only a few days away. Though our nights and early mornings are still chilly, it feels like gardening season is almost in full swing. Farmer’s Markets are bustling, and I’ve noticed there are more small town farmers markets around me than I ever realized. At least a few of them are new this year. That’s exciting because not everyone in rural areas like ours can afford to drive into the big farmer’s market, and it also means that commerce is staying even more local. There are also local poultry/farm animal swaps I’d never been privy to before getting into raising chickens (makes sense). I haven’t been to one yet, because I don’t have any need for more animals, nor do I have any to swap yet, but it’s exciting that there are some built-in ways to engage with others nearby who are raising animals and growing food. As an introvert, the idea of going to these is both fully exciting and totally overwhelming, but I definitely want to go at some point.

We have been incredibly busy at the farm the past month. First, we’ve started a bunch of seeds indoors. Not hundreds like lots of gardeners do (because we just don’t have that much indoor grow space), but a few trays’ worth! Last year we invested in a soil block maker which has been *life changing*. A bit about soil blocks: Soil block makers look like this one (from Johnny’s Seeds):

You put soil into the blocks and press the handle down so that you have a 2” square of compacted (but not too compacted) soil that is pretty firm, and has a little hole stamped in the top to drop your seeds in. This not only saves plastic from plant pots, solo cups, or whatever else you may use to start seeds in, it is also better for the seedling. The roots are able to be undisturbed when transplanting, lessening chances of transplant shock. I highly recommend these over gathering plastic or biodegradable seed starting cups.

The grow lights we have are a set of cheap shop lights hanging from stackable shelves, but they’ve worked really well and we’ve had great success starting seeds this way. In the future I’d love to be able to produce our own seed starting soil rather than buying it from the store, but there’s a lot of research and trial and error to be done to make that happen. So for now, it’s a combination of seed starting mix, leftover raised bed mix, and pond soil. Starting seeds inside has been super helpful with having established summer plants like tomatoes and peppers, as well as for giving herbs and flowers a strong start with controllable weather conditions.

Native Trees & Shrubs

Something I’m pretty proud of is the amount of native trees and shrubs we were able to plant for quite cheap. Our local conservation district had a native bare-root plant sale that we pre-ordered from in the fall, and a few weeks ago we picked up our haul. We ordered a lot of fruit trees: peaches, plums, mulberries, and paw paws. Some non-fruiting trees that I’m still equally excited about having are eastern redbuds (edible AND one of the most gorgeous early spring blooms), pecan, arrowwood viburnum bushes (not edible, but gorgeous and great for pollinators), witch hazel trees (you know the face cleansing tonic from Dickinson’s? Yeah, I’m going to grow that, make a tincture/tonic and use it for my skin!), and what I’m probably most excited about: elderberries! Elderberries are beautiful plants, great for pollinators, and the berry (once ripe and cooked) and the flowers are super nutritious. Several of these have started growing leaves and flowering already which is a great sign. 

In the Garden

For the most part, we have been utilizing the no-dig method for our garden beds. I say “for the most part” because Fox Hollow is partially on a rocky hillside which means there are a lot of… rocks, so sometimes we have to dig to take out some of the big ones. When we do this we cover the soil with either straw or mulch so that it doesn’t lose all its moisture and beneficial bacteria and nutrients. Mostly no-dig beds mean that we don’t have much work to do to prep the beds. We grow some cover crops over the winter and early spring and when we’re ready to plant, we just pull back some of the cover crop and plant the seeds right in the soil. This has worked really well for us so far. Out in the big garden, we’ve planted some root vegetables like beets and radishes, some greens, potatoes, calendula, and onions. When I’m sure it’s warm enough we’ll transplant tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, and basil, and directly sow cucumbers, corn, nasturtiums, and probably many other things I’m forgetting.

Out by the chicken run, I put in a small raised bed for an herb garden. I did this because 1) I want to grow as many herbs as possible but don’t want the ones in the mint family to take over our veggie garden, as they’ve been known to do, 2) I wanted extra security to prevent predators from digging under the run, and 3) It looks a bit nicer than chicken wire along the rocky dirt. So far I’ve planted raspberries, spearmint, lavender, rosemary, calendula, basil, and thyme in there and everything is doing well. The raspberries were struggling initially, but I’ve noticed a couple of flowers in the last few days. Life!

A really valuable lesson I’ve learned from practicing regenerative agriculture is that gardens really do want to grow, even if everything doesn’t always go exactly how you planned. You may want rows and rows of vibrant tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers and end up growing two giant watermelons and bushels of marigolds instead (that’s exactly what happened to us last year…) and that’s okay. Each year we learn a little more and get a little closer to a self-sustaining garden that grows enough food for us and to share, and for pollinators- that’s the dream.

Foraging

We’re lucky to have an abundance of some of the best spring herbs growing wild in our yard, the field, and the forest here. We’ve been foraging chickweed, purple nettle, mullein, dandelions, and seemingly endless wild onions. We went mushroom hunting the other morning, but despite reports of Morels in our area, no luck. I did get to say hello to the neighbor cows, though, so not all was lost.

Chickens

As for the fowl, the new chicks are now fully integrated with the older girls and show a healthy amount of respect for each others’ space. You know how a few months ago I mentioned buying “Ameraucana” chicks from a local hatchery? Well, little did I know that “Ameraucanas” are a really contentious topic in the chicken world. When I ordered them, the hatchery listed them as “Americanas” and I thought, “Oh, I guess people just spell it different ways! Haha, so silly!”... This was not true. Apparently lots of hatcheries label mixed breeds as “Ameraucanas” if they have any amount of blue-egg-laying genes. This means that the “Ameraucanas” I got may not be the sweet-tempered, fluffy, blue egg-laying chickens I thought they would be. This is kind of disappointing, but ultimately it doesn’t matter to me too much as long as they aren’t aggressive and lay eggs. Who knew I would still have so much to learn in regard to chicken rearing? After all my extensive research… swindled! Anyway, everyone’s doing well, we’re up to 3-4 eggs per day from our 4 laying hens, and we’re finding lots of random guinea eggs too. Being able to eat and share eggs has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Goals

My goal for the rest of spring is to take things slowly, even when the chores seem never-ending, and enjoy small moments, go on more walks, take time to enjoy the life we’re creating in every stage of it. Things won’t ever be perfect, so I want to find the best in all the moments. Cheesy, cliche, and eye-roll-y, but my goal nonetheless. I do have one more goal for this month, and that is to finally try to make soap! I have had all of the supplies sitting in the corner of our spare room for months, but I’ve not made the time to get it all out and get my hands dirty (clean?). Any soap making tips and tricks welcome and appreciated!

Happy April and thanks for reading! Go grow something, and enjoy this season.

With all the warmth and hope of spring,

Allyson