Posts Tagged ‘Diego Rivera’

Beware of that Internet!

I should learn to be more careful on this Internet thing.  It turns out I was being stalked by Vanessa and Matthew of Willow Springs Farm.  They found out I was going to Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply last weekend by, now this is how fiendishly clever they are, actually reading my blog entry.  I know, right?

They invited me over after I picked up a bunch of tomato and melon starts to replace the ones that didn’t in our greenhouse (As my mother used to say, “The operation was a success, but the patient died.”).  They were having a plant sale themselves, so while Vanessa took care of the customers Matt and I geeked on farm stuff.  Then Vanessa came back over and they showed me the rest of their farm.  What a great day!

Vanessa and Matt have a wonderful setup and they are some of the nicest and most passionate people I know.  If you have a chance to stop by their farm at another plant sale or their booth at the market, be sure you do!  It’ll make your day.

I was on my own this weekend, so I plugged in my iPod and listened to Dream Theater while I double dug rows for 59 starts.  The 200 basil starts we planted last week (They did okay in the haunted greenhouse) seemed to have survived the ice storm.  I reset the drip line so that they can get a better drink when it gets warmer.

I put in the t-posts for the deer fence 10’ outside of the rabbit fence but didn’t put up the fishing line yet.  It turned out that my neighbor, Kevin, was up and I went over to hit him up for some tractor help in moving some of my other neighbor’s (Dave)  horse manure.

Kevin didn’t like driving his tractor down the steep and slanted hill, so he lent me his one ton pickup and filled it with 3 or so cubic yards of composted manure.  I got to unload it into the end of the veggie field.  The tailgate wouldn’t come down and I got to do it all with a shovel.  And while I fancied myself a figure in a Diego Rivera painting, once I dug out a place to stand in the truck bed it went easily enough.  Sort of a zen thing.  I finished up after a while, swept the truck perfectly clean, returned it, and set off on the three hour drive home.

The week is supposed to be warm and clear for the tomatoes and melons.  The trees are doing great and apricots are coming out right on time.  The electrical needs in the field shed are being more than met with three portable batteries and a 15 watt solar panel.  We have as much water as we need.  If life was any sweeter it would cause cancer in laboratory rats.