ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(AKA Emily)

Ok,I will write in regular handwriting, and then I will write in code.Ok, I will write in regular handwriting, and then I will write in code. 

Our Newest Greenakeys Contributor

Emily is the newest contributor to the Greenakeys blog.  I know that she will add a unique perspective to the blog.  Emily has a great sense of humor and this is her debut to blogging.

Welcome Emily!  

Mothers Day Gardening

Today we planted the brussel sporuts, yellow onions, white onions, ringmaster onions and sweet potatoes.  Margaret also planted a whole bunch of sunflowers.

Below are videos of the garden and the kids in the barley field.  Hard to see them- it went almost up to their heads.

Sheep and Wool Festival

We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival today.  Wow--- lots of sheep and lots of wool.  I think I want to learn to spin- not yet but maybe next year.  I'm getting better at knitting but its a whole level of new 'stuff' when you want to spin.

I have no idea what kind of sheep I'd want for fiber.  Actually, I'd want a little of them all.  Maybe 2 ewes from 4-5 different breeds.  The sheep that I have for fiber I really don't want to create offspring- just have them so that they can be sheared and then have lots of different fiber.  It's good to mix some of the different fibers so that you can create, dye, etc the type of yarn you want.

My beneficial herbs came on Friday.  Those are plants, flowers, herbs that you plant so that they attract the correct bugs that eat all the bad bugs in the garden.

Mike will have to take over this week with the garden posts as well as all the work as I'm out of town all week.  We need a new picture of the garden as it is really started to take shape and look like a real garden!

Tomatoes!!!

Last night I quickly planted 70 tomato plants with Kevin.  He helped dig the compost in the wheelbarrow.  He is such a great helper and he is just adorable.  I love the kid.  To see him working that shovel that is as long as he is tall just about brought me to tears.

Today Mike and I went and planted the rest of the tomatoes-- the rest being another 140 plants.  We then planted garlic as well.  We will get showers tonight so the garden should get some needed water.  Mike also planted peas- dwarf and climbing peas on Friday.  

Here is the list of 37 varieties of tomatoes planted:

These are the smaller cherry type tomatoes:  (I envision them all mixed up in a bowl!)

Cheesmans- pear/plum shaped orange/red cherry tomato

Black cherry

Katinka cherry

bi-color cherry

small yellow pear

Kimberly- cherry 

red pear

green grape

gold nugget

christmas grapes

brown berry

yellow plum

Larger tomatoes:

banana legs

golden bison

extreme bush

cherokee red

Heinz 1439

Giant Tree

Earliana

Moskvich

Red Stuffer- this one looks like a pepper on the inside and you can stuff it- hence the name

Yellow Stuffer

Bisignano #2

Australian Giant Oxheart

Brandywine- pink

Tennessee Heirloom

Orange Heirloom

Prue

Moneymaker

Salsa

Principe Borghese (sun drying)

Saucy- good for making ketchup

Sausage- good for canning

Orange Banana

Black Plum Paste

San Marzano

Amish Paste Tomato Heirloom

Maggie

Nothing to do with the farm- but Margaret turned 8 and this will likely be the last picture with her 2 front baby teeth.

She is also playing softball along with Emily and Dad is the coach.  Go Coach Mike!

The Electric Fencing and First Plantings

We put up fencing on Saturday and it gave the garden definition.  The fencing was easy to install.  Kevin and I planted about 500 potato plants and 30 shallot bulbs.  I didn't realize till I opened the garlic package and read the planting directions that garlic grows out from the individual clove.  So I had Kevin sit in the field and start tearing apart the garlic bulbs to the individual cloves.  I didn't realize how many I'd get-- looks like 250-300 cloves.  So we had to bring them home to finish the job up and will plant them this weekend.

After reading several ways to plant potatoes, I think I did ok with the method.  I planted them in a small trough in the hills.  Some websites show them being planted in the trough and then you use the hill to cover up the trough throughout the summer.  I think next year I will want to try out a method that uses more straw as covering.

We planted:

From Seeds of Change, 

Banana Potatoes

Yukon Gold

Yellow Finn

All Blue

Desiree

Red Sangre

Purple Viking

Russet Nugget

German Butterball

from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds,

French Red Shallots

Early Italian Purple Garlic

Red Ruby Potatoes

Princesse LaRatte Potatoes

Russian Banana

All Blue

Potato Bintje

I then went back and planted the strawberries.  I have Alpine Strawberries, and Seascape, Albion, and Aroma.  The Alpine were everbearing but the other 3 are June/July berries.  The Alpine Stawberries I grew from seed and the others I ordered as strawberry crowns.  What I got in the mail was a bag of strawberry roots about 6-8 inches long with a 1/2 inch strawberry crown on it.  We got our soil tests back and the soil is a PH 5 so the strawberries took off after only 3-4 days.  This will mean that the other berry bushes we get at some point should thrive as well!

It is so calm and peaceful on our lot.  There is no traffic noise, just the wind and the birds and animal sounds.  Sometimes there is a plane landing at the local airport- but not that often.  I cannot wait to move there and be able to experience that calm every day.  I might even have to make myself a little area in the middle of the property where I can sit and meditate each day.  I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.