Spring brings so many new beginnings, from baby chicks and kittens to beautiful new flowers and plants. Watching so many things come to life brings such joy.

The same is true for our location of our CSA garden. In an effort to thwart off insect issues from squash bugs to potato bugs to plant health issues such as powdery mildew, as well as, wanting to ensure plenty of produce for shareholders, we relocated into our field which is just to the immediate east of our old garden. The field is split into smaller fields and divided by field roads.

When we began discussing the layout and walked the area, the idea of what could be became a plan for all of us. As we were planting, the boys were envisioning what it would look like, and they thought the patterns would look pretty cool after the plants began to grow.

While the row may be crooked and the fence follows the row,  the lessons learned are more important then a straight row.

I envisioned more preciseness and straight rows, as well as, how nice our field roads would look. All of it is still rather interesting. As I look at the crooked rows of peas and sporadic grass planting in the field roads, it is a reminder to me of what the boys learned along the journey.

For example, as we began to plant – the peas were the first to go in the ground, and the larger area seemed overwhelming. But the boys were troopers. The area has been accomplished and in the end the fact that the rows are crooked vs the work ethic the boys learned seems pretty minimal. The field roads – well I remember the mad dash to beat the downpour of rain so that the grass would get the needed moisture for a good start. Sam was mad that we were planting again, but it quickly turned into a fun race and the simple laughter of being dripping wet. The grass got a good start, and they see the importance of keeping track of where you are planting. In the end, work can be fun – it’s what you make it.

We missed a few swaths seeding grass in the field road. This area was a mad dash to plant as we saw the rain coming from the west. The field road is intended to help prevent soil erosion. This area has been re-seeded. So that grass will fill in the empty areas.

Some of you may be wondering what we are doing with the old garden area…well we have planted a pasture grass seed mix and turned it into a pasture rotation for our pullets (“teenager” hens – not yet laying) and the broilers (meat birds). With the hope that they will eat the potato bugs (will not effect the taste of the eggs as these are not old enough to lay eggs yet) and fertilize that area of ground.

The potato bugs are back even with the change in the garden location. To say our hearts sank and we were disappointed is an understatement. Here Sam and my mom are inspecting the plants to remove the bugs.

My mom helped us plant another round of salad crops and sweet corn. In the end, I think she was overwhelmed and impressed by what goes into their box of produce. A bit different then the garden we planted when I was a kid. The deer would hide their fawns in our garden because we were so busy in the fields we didn’t have time  to tend to garden on a regular basis. So the weeds made for good cover for the fawns.

We look forward to seeing you all next week.

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” – Margaret Atwood