It's been awhile

Well, I have to admit that I thought I could do it all but realized now that I can't.
I haven't been back to the farm since the end of March (when the last pictures were taken).

1st) The worry about getting our van stuck again. The weather was not warming up and I wasn't taking the chance of getting stuck again.
2nd) With the pregnancy progressing, it was just too hard to get out and work. Plus, I was just too worried that if I did get out there I would want to work.. The last time I worked at the farm, I spent the next day with Braxon Hicks contractions. I just knew I had to stay away to keep me safe. .Sad isn't it.
3rd) Just too tired to get out there.

I know my fellow farmers have been working over time there and sounds like the farm is growing happily..

Baby is due in 2 days, so hopefully I will be able to get out there in a month and check things out.

Until then, it's the little garden in my backyard that will keep me happy!

Day 1- March 27th, 2010

This morning we head to the farm to start plotting out our sections.

What a interesting morning.. I headed to our old farm plot to pick up the stakes from last year (forgot to get them) and was on my way out when my trusty, non 4X4 suburban minivan got stuck in the saturated soil of the farm land.


Thank goodness my neighbor Barb was being me, otherwise a 7mth pregnant suburban wife and her 2.5yr would have been in real trouble.
Barb tried to help out for a bit, but we knew we couldn't do it on our own. Thankfully, she had a 4X4, so off she went to get some help. During that time, the DVD player in the van came in really handy to occupy Matthew, who was so good through this whole process.. Thank goodness for Duck Tales!
About 15mins later, Barb, Becky (my other neighbor), Ryan (Becky's coworker), Abby and their kids all came back to help out. Now, this still was a funny site since we are all suburban farmers and really don't have much of a clue on how to remove a minivan that is stuck in the mud

After some spitting of mud (sorry Becky!), the farm owner Joe came to the final rescue.

Plowing down the road in his pickup truck, he hooked up my van to his truck and pulled me out!



Woohoo, we have been rescued!!!

As soon as I got out to the road, here comes dear Husband.. Kinda late, but he did run 10miles from our house to the farm so I will give him some slack..

Finally, I got to the new farm plot and have decided this year to do smaller plots that are more manageable for everyone. This is for the veggies that don't need alot of room to grow.
IE: onions, lettuce, beets, carrots and mostly every other "root" vegetable.
The larger areas will be set aside for the pumpkin patch, which we learned after last year, need alot of room to grow.. Those silly vines just love alot of room. We are going to attempt melons this year, so let's hope for a warm summer!! And, many more wonderful vegetables.

We laid hay between the plots to keep the weeds down and give us pathways between the veggies.

Planting Schedule for 2010 Season

For all you gardeners, here is the schedule for planting your seeds or transplants for our zone here in Seattle.

It's a great resource to review and not feel overwhelm with all the options out there.

A great start is peas, potatoes and tomatoes




A Garden Planting Chart

http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-7-8-planting-schedule

The tragic end....

Well, we had a rough start at the beginning of May. Becky, Barb and I worked really hard tilling and digging to start prepping the soil for official seeding. We had gotten about 4 rows of starters (seeds we had started back in March) in and thought we were on the ball..Well, as luck would have it we got screwed by the neighbors.. Farmer Joe had thought he gave us the right 1/4 acre plot, but he got it wrong and gave us an area that had already been committed to other seasonal farmers. Those farmers were not happy that someone else was on their land, so the first week of May, Becky and I went to work a bit on the land and boy were we shocked to silence (ya, that is amazing!)..

Becky and I arrive at the land, only to find that these "neighbors" had pulled all our stakes and label, thrown them aside and had the whole field tilled.. That's right, everything we had worked on was GONE!!! Completly GONE!!
We just stood there in such shock, that it was kinds errie..You just can't believe this has actually happened. Someone was that lame to go in and completely destroy everything that you had worked for..
So, after we recovered from the initial shock of the destruction, Becky blurts out "I wish them rashed in places that would hurt".. I thought that was hilarious, since alot of people would start ranting and swearing and thinking off all the revenge they could pull off, Becky just wishes bad charma on them.. I had to just laugh!

So, to make a long, hilarious story short, Farmer Joe felts so bad that he hired another farmer with a tractor tiller and had him come till the "right plot" so it was all ready for us to plant..

Ok, that is it for tonight.. There will be more about the actual process soon..

Chow!
~Leanne

The view that welcomed us

Farmer Joe showing us the land the was assigned for us to use


Syndey hanging out with Matthew and Chloe while the mom's get the lay of the land.



Well, this is a pre picture of our land. Being April 4th, the season is just about to start. We are waiting for Farmer Joe (the owner) to bring out his tiller and prep the field for us to use.