Mary – Sunrise Farm Project

Sprouts

When spring starts to creep closer, we start thinking about the summer vegetable garden. Last year was my first year starting seeds indoors with a solid game plan. I sprouted peppers, tomatoes, squash, and a few flower varieties inside with the hopes of having a head start on several of my plants. This year, I have done more research and have a better plan of attack for the sprouting and transplanting of my early plants.

One of my big errors last year was mixing trays. Something that wasn’t immediately obvious to me was the variance in germination rates between different plants, leading to some early issues with my tomatoes. For my zone, and for the varieties of plants I am growing, it is most beneficial to plant a full tray of a single plant, rather than trying to maximize space. Peppers and tomatoes get the most benefit from being started early, both plants needing heat and a longer growing season than sometimes is available in Michigan. I’m starting my peppers first, and tomatoes will be a few weeks down the road.

Another issue I had last year was the hardening off process. Seedlings grown indoors need some exposure to the outside world before being planted in the ground for the season. I struggled with gradually moving plants outside, not to mention the transition from part-time outside to full-time outside. I am working to set up my growing space to better kick start the hardening process with an oscillating fan (simulates the wind) and up-potting the bigger seedlings as May approaches.

My peppers and tomatoes did alright last year, but I’m hoping with the correct adjustments this season, the harvest will be more bountiful. Sometimes it is hard to wait to try new things, and I’m finding that a large part of farming and growing is trial and error. As I work to solve the problems from last year, I’m sure there will be a different set of problems that come out of this growing season.

As far as the varieties themselves go, I more intentionally planned my choices around our food needs and the probability of our CSA launch. The kids really enjoy pasta sauce, so I needed a few heavy paste/sauce tomatoes. On top of that, two of our three enjoy snacking tomatoes, which necessitates the inclusion of some cherry and grape varieties. I also am trying some early producing varieties, so that fresh tomatoes are available all summer long. In regards to peppers, I applied similar principles- snacking varieties for the little kids, spicy peppers for making salsa. I hope to narrow down my options going forward, but I’m also excited about all the different colors my garden will hopefully produce this year.

In this third year of planning and tackling a garden, I’ve come to realize more and more that my own ideas of ‘what I like’ and ‘what I don’t like’ have matured and grown. As a student, I loved reading and history. As a teacher, those same things still apply. However, as a gardener, I’ve come to appreciate and understand more of the applications of “real math” and “real science”. The stuff in the textbooks never comes close to the lightbulb of comprehension when considering the life cycle of a pepper plant or the geometry involved in building a fence.

Stay tuned for updates on the sprouts via Instagram or Facebook. We’ll have a seedling sale in early May, and hopefully our cool weather veggies will be ready to go too!

-Mary

New Year, New Plans

The winter months are a good time to make plans for our more active spring and summer seasons. The biggest planning event is our vegetable garden relocation and expansion.

With the end of our farm field lease last fall, we made the decision to tackle large scale farm expansions. The first expansion is for our vegetable garden, which will be expanded to the scary size of one acre and relocated to get less slope and more sun. I am actively planning the layout and varieties for this new larger garden and am really excited about the potential of the new space.

In addition to the vegetables, we may also be growing the flock. We have enjoyed our first year and a half with our birds. The responsibility of caring for livestock has stretched all of us but seeing the joy of our kids feeding the birds snacks in the sunshine definitely outweighs the negatives. The bird expansion requires some new buildings once the snow is gone, but we are hopeful that we can successfully bring in some new members to our flock.

Our expansions don’t quite cover the breadth of our new vacated field, so we will also be working on additional projects in the fields to prepare them for future livestock expansions. The research is currently focusing on growing pasture lands and creating deer sanctuaries. Fencing and fast growing hardwoods are also on the research topic list. As some of the other expansion projects get crossed off the list, we’ll intensify our research to get the lesser priorities handled.

We’re excited to be tackling some bigger projects this year. I’m very excited about the new garden and will be sharing more about that soon.

Dirt Disappointment

Or how we learned about amending the soil

I’ve always loved the idea of having a blueberry bush. I have fond memories of going picking with my family when we were younger, and I love to eat blueberries. Unfortunately, that is not something they cover in marriage prep, and I learned the hard way that Evan did not like blueberries at all. Something quite the opposite of me—he had bad memories of picking blueberries.

When we bought the farm with the apple trees almost ready to pick, i hadn’t yet thought about other plantings we would make. I knew we would need to replace our trees eventually, but I didn’t really think about other fruit plans. Evan was talking about our hopes and dreams for the property to a friend, and they actually convinced him to add blueberries to our list. And so our blueberry planning began.

My research started with soil, space, and a place to purchase young bushes. MSU Extension is a wealth of resources for most of our agricultural needs, and I started there. Blueberries require lots of sun, and we thought we had a perfect spot. They also require what is considered a relatively high acidity for garden plants.

Evan and I measured out the distance between each bush, and we cut sod out for mini-raised beds. I researched and bought this soil test kit from the local hardware store. It is very easy to use with clear directions, and includes additives to test for not only pH but nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. I collected dirt samples from three different holes. All three tests came back as VERY alkaline. I was disappointed to be sure. We were hopeful that our soil would be at least slightly neutral so we wouldn’t need a lot of amending.

Now, you may ask, why amend the soil if you are making raised beds? We weren’t planning on very tall beds, and full expect that once the bushes reach maturity, their root systems would be creeping into our dirt. So now we are on the hunt for fool-proof methods to create a more acidic environment for our bushes so that when they arrive in the spring, they will be able to adjust well and flourish.

If you have any recommendations for us, we welcome tips and tricks! I’d love to hear about others’ experience growing blueberries or amending soil for more acid-loving plants.

My Favorite Flowers

Growing up, my mom always had the most beautiful flower garden. She grew chrysanthemums, day lilies, zinnias, dahlias, snapdragons, irises, daffodils, tulips. Her garden was a riot of color. Spring and summer and even fall brought gorgeous cut flowers into our house, and I have fond memories of bringing flowers from my mom’s garden to my teachers.

Several times over the years, I grew my own flowers. One year, a marigold I had planted grew to be several feet tall. I was thrilled when we bought our first house, and I found daffodils and hydrangeas in the garden.

This spring on the farm, flowers were first on my list for our garden. I bought zinnias and marigolds and added those to my collection of seeds from the previous year. My son added sunflowers to the mix. I waited anxiously for the first flowers to bloom.

Having cut flowers on my dining room table brings me a lot of joy, and I love being able to share that with others. We’ve been able to sell some bouquets at the roadside stand so far this year, and I am already planning next year’s plantings.

Cut flowers are not always the first thing to occur to people when they plan a garden. However, I think the beauty that they can bring is an important factor in planting. Flowers bring bees and butterflies. They can come in so many different colors- from sunshine-y yellow to rich reds and purples. For me, flowers are worth it.

Welcome to our Farm

I never set out to be a farmer.

I grew up with a field behind my house, and the open space was nice. My parents had a decent sized garden. It just wasn’t on my radar to have a bunch of space of my own.

Through a series of circumstances, Evan and I were drawn to property near his parents’. We didn’t think it was possible; we thought it had sold shortly after we bought our first house. But we met the owner, the woman who built the house with her husband back in the 1960s. She agreed to sell her house to us, with the farm property to go with it. The house came with a few apple and pear trees, lots of yard, and a farmed-out field behind it.

So here we are, at the Sunrise Farm Project. Evan’s morning person tendencies rubbed off on me, and together we enjoy the sunrises out our dining room window. We are learning about the land, and learning about our abilities to cultivate the land. The apples were our first project, and are our biggest continuing project. We started our garden this spring, and are in the process of adding chickens.

The Sunrise Farm Project is a learning experience, and we are sharing that experience. We are not perfect; we don’t have it all figured out. This is our ongoing story, how we figure out what the heck we are doing.