Life on the homestead

Things are really starting to come together around here. The weather is finally warm enough to plant the gardens without danger of frost. I pushed it a few times with my flower barrels and the potato vines got a little frost bit but they're coming back nicely. The new flower garden I put in around the weeping cherry tree my mom got me for Mother's Day is all planted, I just have to get out there and sheet mulch it. 

The lower veggie garden got an expansion, thanks to my uncle Dale for coming down and tilling up more of the lawn, or what we call a lawn, into more garden space. I think I'll need all the extra space I can get. My veggie starts weren't the biggest hit at the markets so I may as well plant them and get something out of them. 

Once the weather cools down a bit I'm going to get out there and add compost to the new beds and mulch the walkways and put the rest of the plants and seeds in.  I finished planting my raised beds the other day and have been chipping away at mulching them too. 

I can't wait to see and try some of the new stuff I planted.  I planted some sun berries, goose berries and ground cherries all of which are in the nightshade family that I have yet to try. Hopefully they are a hit cause I planted a ton of them. 

My peony bushes have about 50 buds ready to start blossoming. For anyone who knows me they know that this is very exciting for me, peonies are my absolute favorite flower. Not only are the absolutely gorgeous but they smell heavenly! 

I love to cut them and make arrangements for all over the house and especially next to my bed so that I can take a big wiff of them before I go to bed at night and first thing in the morning, there's no way you can have a bad day after waking up to that. 

My little peanut has been so good the past few days doing things on her own so that mommy can get things done. If this hadn't occurred nothing, I mean nothing could get done. She's finally gone from wanting to be held even while sleeping to actually being stoked to go in her swing for a long nap. She's so cute you turn on her tunes and give her her blanky and she gives you a huge smile and just chills out and takes a snooze. I can't wait to start feeding her the food from the garden and see what she likes and doesn't. She's really starting to get big and show some personality, it's pretty neat this whole being a mom thing. 

All in all things are pretty good and starting to pick up around here. Excited for what summer brings and hopefully it will bring a few more customers to the market too, along with beautiful flowers, scrumptious fruits and veggies, and a growing happy girl. 

~ Megan ~

First Farmers Market of the Season

Yesterday was our first Farmers Market of the season. I've been getting ready for it for weeks now, tending to my plant starts and buying all the gear needed for selling, like a tent, tables, cash box and receipts. It hasn't been easy with a newborn or the many set backs that I've endured, like my cold weather starts all getting knocked over or the chicken pecking at what was left and the one and only time we set up our tent it got broken pieces from the wind, but the time finally came and I was somewhat ready for it.

After forgetting to bring chairs and to get change for the cash box we made due and I had to run to the bank while my mom watched Mila. We set up the broken tent with help of our neighboring vendor and pulled my moms truck up and used the tailgate as seating. 

It was a slow day and not sure it was worth the headache really but we had a good time and I had a few friends stop in and chat is up so my only making the market fee of $5 in sales wasn't so bad. I'm hoping that the coming weeks will be better once there is actual produce to sell and people know the markets have started. 

Here's to hoping today's market will be more profitable. A new town and a new outlook