That said, we are also dealing with the joys of a 100 year old farmhouse. Water in the basement. A lot of water. Luckily it is an a room designed to catch a lot of water, unluckily the drain in that room seems to be clogged with sludge. Lucky again, we found a septic guy that is trustworthy AND will be here in the morning. Also, for all my friends who have followed the saga on facebook.....Dearest brought me up a bag of bacon so I don't have to worry about rigging a boat to fetch it. Mmmmm....bacon.
In other news I am making plans for spring. Big plans that involve more bacon, I mean, pigs. We raised 4 last year and had a waiting list for the pork. I am thinking we'll raise 6-8 this next year and never get bigger than that. The pigs are a side to compliment the orchard health (and make lard for divine pie crust) not our main goal for the farm. That said, pretty much all the projected pork is spoken for, but I will add a waiting list. Last fall, the waiting list was used almost immediately and I even took one new order. So cool. I am also excited about picking up cheese for me!....I mean whey for the pigs. I seriously love love love the micro dairy we get our whey from. The cheese is AMAZING (so is the owner, btw).
My plans for the orchard are two fold. I will plant 6 more trees, attend an apple grafting session at Seed Savers in Decorah, IA in April, and make contact with the one other (the only one?) organic apple orchard in central Iowa. I am ready to ask questions, but I will put off making variety decisions until after 2010. The 6 trees we'll plant this year will simply be what I would plant for my own use, not for market. I also hope to get a graft or two from Chad's co-worker's tree that had the most amazing pie apples EVER. It is an old tree and may not have a lot of time left. Apples are not redwoods, they have a relatively short lifespan unfortunately.Then there are the bees. This is the year that I will actually, after 8 years of wishing and yearning, become a beekeeper. More to come on that later I am sure.
The gardens this year will be bigger, but I plan on making smaller managed beds. Chad fall plowed and since he was using a tractor plow borrowed from a family at church, he expanded the beds to the West, doubling their size. I think I might still do a Spring bed in the small plot though, simply because it has full sun right until late May when the Oak and Walnut trees leaf out and then it is part/mostly shade. Perfect for peas, greens, and broccoli. My only hurdle there will be keeping the deer from eating all the peas to the ground again.
In the big bed, I will have some work to do with the grape vines so neglected last year, and the strawberries need to be weeded and straw laid down before they fruit. I also need to thin them in May so if you are local and interested in some plants let me know.
I also plan on doubling my dry bean crop. These were easy to grow and harvest and really delicious. No watering needed at the end since I was intending them for dry harvest. I experimented a bit with the last bucket brought in, they are not shelled and jarred, just still in their husk in the bucket. We'll see which do better. The difference in flavour between my beans and store bought dry beans is amazing. I didn't expect that at all.
I also want to try pole beans so I'll have to figure out how to do that. We have a bunch of cattle panels not being used.....anyway, I also want to grow more cabbage and broccoli and try potatoes. Oh and brussels sprouts which are now a family favourite. I know now to water my tomatoes early even if the rain makes it looks like they don't need it or they seem to do fine when I forget. My 50 plants produced maybe, maybe 5 tomatoes. Ugh. The chickens destroyed those before I had a chance to harvest them. So frustrating. I also need to weed and mulch better. Or convince Dearest and/or the children that it is their "job" or duty or whatever to tend and weed and water the tomatoes and peppers. I'll be busy with my trees and bees. :)
I don't expect that we will have extra produce this summer, but we'll bring what we do have and eggs to park day. So it goes.
We start fiddle lessons next week. I am really excited to learn, as is Lil'Bug. I am so glad we found an instructor that just fits with us, you know? We should be picking up the instruments early next week, just rentals at first in case we hate it.
Oh, and I plan on picking up the pen again. I mean more than just for blogging. More to come on that I am sure, but I have a light class load for this Spring and I might as well get some things out before planting begins. I have some ideas brewing, three different genres dabbled in drafts.....I'll need focus and to pick just one to complete.
2010 is going to be a crazy busy wonderful year!
PS.....still praying that the Des Moines house would sell. Just found out it qualifies for NFC $$ so that's good. Hopefully that will make the difference for someone. Hopefully soon.
