Torrential rain!

So I thought I’d do a quick update. The past few days have been really hot and muggy, which under normal circumstances is uncomfortable for me, but with this baby on board I can tell I’m getting a little more winded. 90 degrees and humid is hot no matter how you swing it, so I’m hopeful that I won’t turn into a total cliche this summer and will be able to do more than just sit in the shade and pant with Maya. But really, there are worse ways to spend half of my summer. This morning we went down the street to watch a parade, and then I had to shoot off for an appointment with a doula client, and now we’re in the middle of a thunderstorm. I’m glad that it’s actually storming, though, because I keep holding off on watering the garden based on forecasts only to spend the whole day without a drop of rain. Thank you, rain, for actually coming this time!

Yesterday morning, at Yoder Family Farms…

We finished planting the vegetable garden (mostly, I think my carrot seeds were duds, but I’ve got plenty more…), and so we set up our irrigation system. We’ll have to water in two zones to keep the water pressure up, but it should work pretty well and not be much of a job at all. That front bed that Maya is standing next to is now full of little bush bean plants. There were only a couple that had sprouted in the morning, and yesterday afternoon we noticed loads more. It’s so fun to watch everything pop up so quickly and surely. This place is going to be a jungle before I know it…

Potatoes.

One of the soaker hoses is busted, but Vera definitely enjoys it!

We caved and bought a bunch of new plants- the ones we started were basically dying. We still totally got our money’s worth, just from the few plants that will make it, and it was a good learning experience. I don’t think we got the right lights, for starters… I’m also not really a fan of starting the seeds in egg cartons. Although it seemed like a great idea at the time and other people were doing it, our seedlings started to suffer and needed transplanting, and they didn’t handle that well. Next year we’ll start them all with ample space so that the only transplanting we’ll do is into the actual garden.

Our new clothesline. I’m not sure why we didn’t do it last year, it took all of an hour to put up… but better late than never!

Jeff’s been a total work-horse. Yesterday we finished our planting in the morning before the heat kicked in, went to my sister’s to help with her garden, then came home and while I took care of some house stuff Jeff continued to mow the lawn with our push mower and then start cutting down the white picket fence that will line the garden. The fence came from a friend’s house and we decided to cut it down to 3/4 the size and line the garden area and the clothesline with it (to keep out babies and dogs if we want). It’ll also be an extra barrier between Maya and the chickens, although I doubt she’d cause much trouble. Anyway, since we’ve given up our gas mower (did you know that mowing your lawn with those things is like the equivalent of driving 250 miles in a car in terms of emissions? Yikes!), we’ve also been really motivated to turn our whole yard into garden. Whenever I think of it I’m reminded of being a little girl and imagining I was in the Secret Garden. Anyway, that’ll be a process, but we’re motivated to get rid of the grass, and soon… 

Gracie
Gracie

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