It’s almost as if I can hear the fields breathing a sigh of relief…  When the sun comes out again, it will be madness out there! The crops, the weeds–everything will take off.  Right now we get a little respite from weeding.  Just enough time to catch our breath.

We have finally added chickens to our little farm.  Last night we picked them up from farmer friends of ours.  They spent the night in the back of my truck and were excited to get out of it in the morning.  They’ve laid some eggs, which Justin has ‘reserved’ for the farmstand, even though I’m dying to eat one!  The hens are big and gorgeous ladies.  The eggs will not be certified organic but we will feed them primarily on veggies, bugs and organic layer pellets.  It’s lots of fun to have more animals on the farm, especially ones that are so completely different than the rabbits.  I have to be careful that I don’t let these entertaining creatures distract me too much from growing vegetables!

One of the exciting developments in the past two weeks is the appearance of flowers on our tomatoes.  We had such a terrible tomato crop last year that the health and beautiful of our current plants seems miraculous.  Everything growing on the plastic mulch is doing so well, partially because of the increase heat under there but also because we’ve been able to irrigate them regularly.  The greens in the field have had to rely on their root systems to get to moisture under the hot dust.  Last week we finished planting the melons and the long-season brassicas (storage cabbage and broccoli).  When I think of all the tender roots we put into hot soil I’m even more thankful for this rain!

Tomorrow we open our farmstand at noon!  We’ll have salad mix and mustard greens, fresh eggs, radish, and plant starts for all you procrastinating gardeners.  If you’ve planted your garden and found you just need a couple more zucchinis or maybe a hollyhock next to your front door, we’ve got you covered.  We have limited supply of plants and we’re only offering them tomorrow and Saturday, so don’t miss out!  For the adventurous, we even have some popcorn plants!

Last year’s hollyhocks at the farm. We have a small number of hollyhock plants available for sale!