Farm Notes
It seems I was a little too optimistic about spring’s arrival with all the beautiful, warm weather we had last week… alas, all the cold + rain we’re getting this week is putting me back in my place! On the bright side, I’m grateful for the extra hour of daylight in the evening thanks to daylight savings, though it has not been easy to wake up in the morning when it is still pitch-dark out! Let’s just say I’ve been hitting the snooze button the past few days…
Over the weekend, Matthew and I took advantage of the warm, dry weather and got a lot done on the farm. The main task we tackled was prepping a new planting area, on a spot where we’ve had a silage tarp for the past several months to kill any grass/weeds in the area.
Our task over the weekend was prepping this area for spring veggies – this is how it looked after we initially took off the tarp.
After we removed the tarp, we measured out the dimensions of the new growing area, and then laid down landscape fabric around the perimeter. We get 4-foot wide landscape fabric (also known as ground cover, sourced from Country Farm & Home in Pittsboro, NC) and fold it in half and staple it down with 6” landscape staples, which does an amazing job preventing grass/weeds from creeping into the beds over time. It’s an extra step, but very worth it.
Laying down the permanent perimeter of landscape fabric.
Next, we pulled out the measuring tape again and staked out our rows (30” wide) and our pathways (19” wide). For this area, we had room for 7 new beds (with 6 pathways in between). All of our beds around the farm are 50 feet long – we keep this standard so that all our irrigation lines, frost cover, shade cloth, etc can all be cut to 50 feet and will fit on any row. I mark the edges of each bed by hammering in these wooden stakes, and then we tie twine to the stakes and string the length of the row, so we can clearly see where the beds and pathways should be. Next is my least favorite task… digging out dirt from the pathways and placing it on top of the beds (and thankfully Matthew did most of the digging this time)!
Matthew starting to dig out the pathways…
… and a few hours of back-breaking work later!
That’s as far as we got this weekend, but over the next few days I’ll work on broadforking each bed, and then we will apply compost + any other amendments, and use the tilther to work everything in and create a smooth bed.
Kitchen Notes
I’m a liiiiitle embarrassed to report that there has been very little cooking going on here over the past few days. Alas – I’m really excited to try out this slow cooker recipe tomorrow for Chicken Tikka Masala that I found over at The Kitchn. During especially busy times of the year when I don’t have quite as much culinary imagination/bandwidth, there are a few blogs + online recipe sources that I turn to, and I thought I’d share some of my favorite recipe sites with y’all, for whenever you need some inspiration in the kitchen!
My favorite sources of culinary inspiration:
The Kitchn – a great place for resources and to answer almost any kitchen question you can imagine.
Smitten Kitchen – I’ve yet to make a recipe from Smitten Kitchen that hasn’t been a total crowd pleaser. Deb is an amazing recipe tester and I trust anything she writes!
Cookie & Kate – I feel like these recipes strike the perfect balance of being healthy and vegetable-focused, while still being absolutely delicious and packed with flavor.
Minimalist Baker – my go-to spot for plant-based/vegan recipes.
Dishing Up the Dirt – these recipes by farmer + cookbook author Andrea Bemis are pretty much the epitome of what I love to cook… dishes that are simple, seasonal, flavorful, and delicious!
Today’s Stats
Low temp: 41F
High temp: 45F
Sunrise: 7:26am
Sunset: 7:26pm
Moon phase: Waxing Crescent
Additional notes: Cold and rainy all. dang. day!