After a week of heat, we didn’t want snow.
It felt like we jumped from winter to summer this week. From the cool temps to sunshine and hot. Beautiful weather makes me want to plant everything outside, but the future-cast said that I needed to hold that thought for a little bit longer. Because we dropped again to the cold and snow.
My daffodils are in the beginning stages of blooming- one of our first signs of spring. Buds are developing on the trees. Chickens are hatching in our kitchen. So far, this April has been a great improvement on last year’s April, not too hot, not too cold- with the obvious exception of this past week in the 70s and sometimes 80s.
Peas were planted on Good Friday, as tradition sometimes dictates. Usually I don’t put much stock in those sorts of superstitions, but this year, it happened to line up with when I wanted to plant anyway. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, this tradition can be traced back to both the Southern United States as well as Ireland. When Easter is celebrated in March, Good Friday is often too early to plant any seeds, even if the plants are cold hardy. I planted radishes, lettuce, peas, and kale the first week of April, but with limited success so far. I hope between this week of heat and the rain we’re getting next week, more success will come.
Livestock acquisitions typically happen in April and May. Our March/April chicken hatch was wildly successful, with almost a 95% hatch rate on our fertile eggs. As this is our first year incubating, we will likely take a break as we approach our mid-May planting season. If all goes well, we may try for an end of June hatch for the birds we want to keep for ourselves.
We are also still working on some larger livestock projects, and may add feeder pigs, sheep, or goats into the equation this year. However, our main focus is a successful garden.
As April turns into May and summer approaches, our busy farm season will soon be upon us. Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for more snapshots of our farm life, as well as vegetable and flower availability as we start our early summer harvests!