This Week at Ramsey Farms

Wow the weather was so nice here last Sunday and  Monday! Chief Farm Hand, Chris got lots more brush and overgrowth torn out making room for the new compost bins in our northwestern corner.

I got a little crafty last Sunday! It was nice, warm, and sunny enough out to spray paint....so....I made an awesome piece of art (for FREE!) and got several components of other projects painted and started really thinking about Valentine's Day foods and crafts and activities. I am ready to have a craft & wine party! Who's down for that?

I am finding that spring fever really brings out my creativity. So did reducing my personal screen-time and technology usage. My brain can really be much more clever without the constant influx of phones, facebooks, emails, texts (all right in my hand in that phone), television, and movies. Don't get me wrong! I am not opposed to technology. I'm using it now to write this blog, I use it in my digital camera, my kids love Netflix on their computers, I have a basic cell phone, I couldn't earn my livelihood without technology. But I think at some point the constant digital connection can deteriorate one's natural creative flow. That's the case for me personally and I really like having more time to create and enjoy the life around me without the constant interruption of external and sometimes non-tangible sources. (Do my crock pot and food dehydrator count as technology?)

Valentine's Wind Chime

• I had to re-pot my watermelon seedlings. Those suckers are like 3 or 4" tall and the flat they were in (see photo below) was not deep enough for them. I know, I know...It's way too early to have these started, but I couldn't help myself in my spring fever craze the other week! Plus it was good to at least "test" these seeds in this manner since they are from 2008 and have spent the last five years in the freezer.  There is a greenhouse in our future.  
• And we're growing some green onions from the base of other onions used. The stem/scallion part of the onion will nearly grow before your eyes!! Try it - mine has grown about 3" of scallion since I dropped it in water a few days ago. 
  
• I am also rooting some spearmint and rosemary. 
• Did you know you can make your own rooting hormone from the bark of willow trees?! I must have a willow tree on the Big Farm! :) (I get excited over the simplest of things.)

 

Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Sweet Basil 

Sweet Red Peppers

Green onion has grown over 4"!

Snow Tuesday! We might get an inch of snow a year here and maybe one "good" snow every two to three years. School let out early Tuesday and was closed Wednesday and Thursday with a two-hour delay on Friday.  We got about .07 inches of a light, soft, powder and super cold temps. Made delicious potato-cheese soup in the crockpot (click here for recipe) and sourdough rolls on our snow day Wednesday! The kids made blue doughnuts with pink icing and had a blast playing outside in the unusual winter wonderland. Of course I still had work to do (I do have a "day job" ya know, how else can I expect to buy The Farm? but this week isn't overly hectic luckily (or not).

Following the Blizzard of '14 (I know you Northerners and Midwesterners and anyone else in most of the country is laughing at my blizzard), my Thursday assessment in the garden is that all seems to be in fine condition. No apparent change in condition of the cabbage, few remaining kohlrabi, or garlic. Well other than the ice on them - no change. A few of the kale plants seemed to have experienced some damage prior to the snow storm and have yellowed outer leaves, but some appear to be just fine. I had just done a big harvest of all but the four inner leaves from every plant. My broccoli I raised from seed shows some minor yellowing of the flower buds. The harvested broccoli on which I was waiting for some side shoots don't look too good, but the three remaining whole plants that never grew to full size appear to be fine. Check out the continually updated (including the new snow pics) Garden 2014 pics here.

It was only 34 degrees Thursday afternoon and I had not opened the cold frame in a few days for fear of letting out the precious humidity and heat. I quickly opened the lid and a deluge of indoor-humidity rain watered the little 4x4 garden plot. I snagged the thermometer, closed the lid, the red in the thermometer was dropping fast but it had been around 75 degrees inside the cold frame! I opened the lid just a crack,dropped it on the soil in between seeded rows, and closed the cold frame's lid tightly against the rays of the winter sun on the south side of my property. The snow cover helped insulate the cold frame Tuesday night, but if the forecast is for anything below 32 we cover/insulate the frame. Friday's weather was so nice, sunny, and even warm (57 was the high) that I needed to vent the cold frame about noon or so then close it fully before sunset and cover it up with sheets for a cold night!  It was over 75 degrees inside the cold frame Saturday when outside temps were about 46.  We have radish sprouts! You can check out the soon to be ever-changing Cold Frame pics here. (This was the most popular post on this blog during January, so be sure to check it out and check back often for updated pics!)

We're making apple cider vinegar using scraps, cores, and peels. I am so excited about this since vinegar is a primary ingredient in so many things from cleaning products, herbal remedies, hair rinses, skin salves, and plenty of food items. Never did I consider making my own! (It is a highly addictive undertaking, this "DIY" mentality and the desire to eliminate the chemicals in our home.) I cannot wait until we pick and process apples in the fall - there will be gallons and gallons of vinegar brewing...er...fermenting!