Each season on the homestead is filled with all manner of tasks, but Spring always has the most positive energy it seems.
It's probably because I am feeling positively crazy, but I am going to blame that state on my children. Having a senior who is graduating high school in a little over a month, and a child in competitive shooting sports and track makes things a bit more exciting anyway.
But as far as the homestead goes, well, I've got all the excitement I could ever desire on my acres that I am blessed to be the steward of.
One project that the hubs has been working on is soil regeneration. The front pasture near my garden area has had animals on it since the 90's. Now, that means there is tons of awesome organic matter in the soil of said pasture, but it also means the poor field is way overdue for a breather.
So the hubs got the cultivator out. He scraped up big piles of composted manure for me to use on the flower and garden beds, culitvated the field, and is currently out spreading rye seed where he cultivated as a cover crop. I can't wait to see that gloriousness sprout!
While the hubs has been in full field regenerative mode, I have been in plant cultivation mode. Since I am crazy and decided to start a flower farm on top of everything else I do, I have been spending a ton of time tending to and starting seedlings. Along with starting cold crops in the garden.
In the greenhouse I have flats of strawflowers, celosia, sweet peas, hollyhocks, calendula, marigold, zinnia, and Pro-cut sunflowers growing, along with my yearly peppers and tomatoes.
Two days ago it dawned on me that it was time to start some cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkin plants, as the last frost date in sight! Usually mid-May is our average last frost date, but I think this year it will be sooner. Some years we get frost clear into June, but I don't think this will be one of those years. And I have frost cloth if I'm wrong😉
I usually transplant some warm weather crops and direct seed some too so I don't have everything ready all at once. All the years of practice and gleaning an understanding of my microclimate and soil has its perks!
That said, I feel the crunch time-wise now, and have reacted accordingly. My carcass is sore because of it. With the warm weather coming I felt the pressure to get everything in that needed to be planted for cold-weather purposes, as here for the last few years we haven't got any gradual season transition at all. We are going from snow and mid-20's at night to almost 80 degrees Saturday. Which of course meant I made sure my potatoes and peas were in the ground.
I also installed the sweet pea trellis in the new flower field, and tomorrow the hubs is going to pick up the several hundred feet of landscape fabric I ordered for the annual flower beds.
This week was also the first application of fish and kelp emulsion for the season! My seedlings in the greenhouse lapped up that foliar feeding greedily, as did the garlic patch, asparagus bed, and the rhubarb.
One of the other chores I tended to was the last of my indoor seed starting. I did a plug tray of basil along with a bunch of other flowers, as I am making sure I succession plant all the pretties.
All in all this was a seriously productive week and I feel myself coming alive just like the landscape around me. It's so great to emerge from hibernation and just GROW!
Plus, thanks to all the hard work, I am sleeping magnificently.😁