In the beginning, again

There is really no one absolute moment when a new growing season begins, so I guess today is as good as many to make the call. All the familiar gear is in a new farm home (there’s a bit of backstory here, that I’ll eventually get to in the About…), and right now,  we’re setting up the light racks and getting ready to seed. This will be my eighth season of tiny farming, and it should be an interesting one!

Related posts1440 onionsWhere carrot seed comes fromTomatoes galoreTomato seedThe seed…Tags: light rack, seed, seedling room
Possibly similar posts: • 1440 onions• New seed started!• Making space and saving space• Grow lights, on!• Grow lights on again!Permalink

12 Responses to “”Tony says:Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 7:46 am

So excited for the new growing season.  I started my peppers last weekend.  I already have my onions and celery under the grow lights.  Within the next 2 weekends I will start my tomatoes and broccoli.  Woohoo!!!
Nice to see you come back after a long winter!

Leslie
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1440 onions

the first transplants of the season! This is the look of 1,440 onions, starting out. These are 72-cell plug sheets, and the plan is to multi-plant four onions in each spot. Do a little multiplication
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Farm animals

After only chickens last season, it’s in full force this time around. In the pic, Montana with the new-to-the-farm pair of Percheron work horses, the Shropshire sheep, and Rollie, the youngest of four Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs, looking on. Elsewhere, there are heritage breeds of pig, chicken, turkey and goose, plus other dogs, and two cats, as well. I’m looking forward to learning a lot. And if I ever fall behind in posting to the blog, quick and easy photo opportunities are…everywhere! :)

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Tug-o-war

The farm this year is an animal farm, for sure! I farmed alongside cows and goats for a few seasons, raised chickens for meat and eggs for the last two years, BUT, this is the year I’m plunging headfirst into the world of FARM ANIMALS EVERYWHERE, critters of all shapes and sizes (and breeds), woven into the daily tiny farming experience.

The relationships between the seven dogs and two cats alone is complex, entertaining…and useful. The four Great Pyrenees are working livestock guardian dogs, living outdoors (and in the barn) year round, keeping watch and patrolling the property. They keep predators out, killing intruders when necessary (you don’t want foxes in the henhouse!). This is a critical job because there are also free-ranging chickens, turkeys and geese, baby pigs, sheep about to lamb…lots to look out for, lots to EAT.

Meanwhile, with all that protection work, at least one of the Great Pyrenees still finds lots of time to kick back and mess around. In the pic, Rollie, the youngest GP, and just a huge puppy at around 8 months, tugs it out with Pi, an Australian Cattle Dog, also under a year old (it’s just a stuffed animal they’ve got there). Business as usual!

Related postsFarm animalsTags: dog
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15 Responses to “”Liz says:Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 5:01 pm

Adorable! We have a german shepherd pup who is constantly in play with either the cat or our goats.  Not sure if she thinks they are also dogs or just her toys, either way she’s looking out for them :)

Bonnie Story says:Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Oh thank goodness, I thought that was a chicken they had! I love to see your Great Pyr dogs, they are just gorgeous!! I really enjoy your blog tidbits and look forward to more as the season gets into full swing!.

Edie Frederick says:Thu, Apr 01, 2010 at 7:46 pm

It is funny that these stalwart protectors play at being predators.  :-)  EF

Fox Jones says:Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 12:29 pm

Honeybear, NOOOooooo!!

“…just a stuffed animal…” ?! That’s my childhood teddy-bears girlfriend! : ( where did they get that…

Alviti says:Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 2:08 pm

Love it, Dogs are great work animals.
Yesterday on my parents farm I opened the big grain shed door to gid rid of the last of our wheat, when our mad spaniel darted for the top of the shed. I thought that it was to catch a rat or mouse as usual, but a few seconds later a fox darts out with the dog running along side gripping its neck (the fox was bigger than the dog). They then ran up and down the shed a few times before tearing up the yard and up the road followed by me waving my arms, shouting the dog and trying to get someone to help before she got run over. Luckily she stopped about 10 yards up the road came back looking pleased with herself and let the wounded fox carry on, (she’s better trained than I thought).
Dogs have a nack of making the day interesting!

Teresa says:Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 4:56 pm

What a lot of doggie personalities to manage.  It looks like they have a lot of fun, but I’m not so sure about the stuffed animal–not near as much fun for it.  My two dogs have  a lot of fun together too, but usually just chasing each other.

the inadvertent farmer says:Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 10:39 pm

I was raised with just those lovely white big loves…oh you will love having Great Pyrenees!  Kim

butik ciftlik says:Tue, Apr 06, 2010 at 12:50 pm

Hi,Tiny!
I’m Figen.My blog is name,butik çiftlik(butique farm).My farm in  Turkey.I following your blog and this very beatiful.
P.S.Im speak English is bad.Sorry.

Rachel says:Thu, Apr 08, 2010 at 9:32 am

Great picture. Lovely to see them playing. Need to wait till fencing done in my garden until my 3 can play like that or they are off out around the village. Mind you here in France, everyone else just lets their dogs roam free.
Smallholdings for sale

Sue says:Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 5:13 pm

Hi,
Your farm sounds wonderful. I have always wanted to live on a farm. I have to settle for a small backyard garden. There are not many/any organic farms around here. Your dogs are so cute…..animals are so entertaining. Have a wonderful day.

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Toughening up

C), overcast, gray day, with a light breeze. In the next week or so, the unheated greenhouse is to be relocated, set up, and outfitted to house hardier seedlings. All things considered, right now is a fine time to start this season’s hardening off… In early afternoon, we set outside trays of onion, cauliflower and broccoli, preparing them to head out from the cosy shelter of the seedling room to the real world. They’ll stay out till early evening, then it’s back in for a few more hours under the lights, and more of the same for the next few days. These first acts and sights of spring on a tiny farm never fail to excite (I think it’s the gambler in all of us)…

Related postsSeedlings queue upTransplanting team…Seedlings aplentyOnions in the sunGarden in transitionTags: broccoli, cauliflower, hardening off, onion, seedlings
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12 Responses to “”Curbstone Valley Farm says:Tue, Apr 06, 2010 at 4:37 pm

Your seedlings look very content to be outside, as are ours at the moment, now the sunshine has returned after last week’s sloppy weather.  Now if we can figure out how the deer are breaking into our gardens, we could fix the problem, and finally get our seedlings transplanted!

Teresa says:Tue, Apr 06, 2010 at 6:13 pm

The plants are looking beautiful.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we people could be “hardened off” in our lives.  Or is that college?

Nathan (2AF) says:Tue, Apr 06, 2010 at 9:10 pm

Do you always carry them back and forth for hardening off? I usually just cover them with a sheet or shade cloth once they are moved outside and remove it for an hour on day one, two hours on day two, three hours on day three, then I jump to six-eight hours on day four, and finally its off for good on day five.  It works for me. Have you ever tried anything like that?

the inadvertent farmer says:Wed, Apr 07, 2010 at 10:07 am

There is no lovelier sight!  I’m starting to harden off my tomatoes today…wish me luck! kim

Urban Farmer Wannaby says:Wed, Apr 07, 2010 at 8:43 pm

Can you share with us where you get your plug trays from?  (I’m in Ontario, Canada too)  The ones you can get at most local hardware / gardening stores seems kind of flimsy and probably won’t last more than a few years.  I’m looking for a sturdier varieties in all the usual sizes that would be used in  professional greenhouses like those in your photos.   Thanks in advance.  Love the blog!

Mommypotamus says:Thu, Apr 08, 2010 at 8:02 am

That’s incredible! I get so stirred up when I read blog posts like this. My husband and I hope to buy a home on some land so we can begin to cultivate an organic garden. I just love reading about other people’s experiences.
Thanks so much for encouraging me, even if unintentionally. :)

Laura says:Sun, Apr 11, 2010 at 9:38 am

I just found your blog today–it’s  lovely and informative! I will be back again to read more. And those young plants are so beautiful–isn’t this time of year so exciting?

Remote Gardener says:Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 12:28 pm

My tomatoes just pushed their way out a week ago. They just can’t grow fast enough. I moved the peat pots to the greenhouse yesterday which felt good but as usually happens there is a forecast for light snow this weekend. So, back in the house they go until next week. Most of what I plant I do in recycled two liter bottles but this year I am giving some outdoor soil a chance. I’m a bit of a lazy grower and hydroponics works well because all I have to do it top off the reservoirs each week. Outside will be getting a drip system. :)

Kentucky Farm Girl says:Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 8:29 pm

OMG, what beeeeaaaaUUUUtiful plants!  Mine are looking so pathetic mostly because I keep putting off sticking them in the ground.  Sad, sad, sad.

gardener says:Tue, May 11, 2010 at 6:20 am

Great site, I think we can all learn something from your idea.this is fantastic looking blog..and I love the way you write!

Bill says:Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 11:51 am

Hey this is a great blog. You have tons of content which is really cool. How long have you been working on this one? The plants looked great starting out, how are they doing now. I bet they are awesome.
Thanks,
Bill M

Vegetable garden says:Sun, Jul 04, 2010 at 8:46 pm

Those plants are very very healthy. You did a good job taking care of them.
Congratulations!

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Field to go

Here’s the new field, in various states of readiness. Up front, it’s only been plowed and disked, with big hunks of sod waiting to be busted up. Further off, the trusty Kubota compact tractor has done its thing with a 48″ rototiller, and the ground is nearly ready to go. This time around, more or less everything that’s early and direct seeded will go in at once, including a first planting of PEAS. New year, new garden
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Another season, another field

Peas are coming along…once again. While the action in the field is familiar, this, my eighth season of tiny farming, is a particularly unusual one, way more about PEOPLE and RELATIONSHIPS, so far, than production. It will be interesting to watch… (The peas are trusty Sugar Ann edible pod
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