That old guilty feeling

That old guilty feeling of neglecting my urban farmer duties was just plain boring.  I finally dusted off my gardening gloves and headed out to the garden last weekend to turn the earth and prep out 9 small hills for the pumpkin/melon/squash patch.  Yes, yes, I know that pumpkins are squash, but squash patch just doesn't incur those fuzzy feeling of walking through the floor forest of orange globes.  Back to the garden,  I turned the earth, added the last of the compost that had been curing and sitting for the last four months, and prepped the little mounds.  I planted four starts, two watermelon and two cantaloupe, and then planted out seeds in the remaining five hills.  I planted three types of pumpkin varieties:  Rouge Vif d'Etampes, Conneticut Field, and Jarrahdale.  The two other hills were planted with two different types of squash:  Yellow neck and Pomme d'Or.

I also tended to the neglected compost, which stopped cooking months ago and has been ready to be spread out in the garden.  I then turned two of the bins together into one, added some water throughout and waited to see if the temperature went up at all.  The spike in temperature was slight, but it around the 90s, so something is cooking in there, even at the low, low temperature of 93 degrees.

All in all, I am very happy to report that life has begun again in my garden.  Roots are growing into the earth, the chickens are happy as can be, the bees are doing their big job of pollinating and cross-pollinating, and I am watering away, happy to see my little urban farm back in the swing of things.

My new full time job as a 5th grade teacher has taken up residency in my life, thus taking time away from my urban farming and blogging about it.   Life is good but ever-changing.   Hope to update more soon.

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's been over a month since I have posted.  Life has been so incredibly crazy these past couple of months, but now that we are in the new year of 2012, I can finally take a deep breath a do a little reflecting.

I have started a new job in a wonderful 5th grade classroom.  I have 24 great students and am really excited about everything they are going to teach me about being an effective teacher.  I know that may sound backwards, but it seems to be the way it works in these early years of my chosen profession.

The chickens are doing well.  A few just finished molting and I am surprised at the number of eggs we are getting every day, about seven.  Unfortunately a couple of them have learned they can fly up to the garden gate and over the fence into the garden.  I have found Big Spoon on more than one occasion cruising through my swiss chard patch and enjoying the greens like I planted them for her.  It's not the worst thing in the world considering my winter garden is pretty uneventful right now.

The one colony of bees is doing well.  We are experiencing a very warm January so far, and they are out foraging on the nectar of winter bloomers, like our azaleas and rosemary.  I am grateful that we have one colony left.

In this new year and a time when resolutions are made, I refer to my dear friend Mike and what his view on resolutions is.  This year, with every resolution I make, it will start with the word more, not less:

More Water, More Fresh Air, More Reading, More Running, More Activity, More Patience, More Time With Friends, More Music, More Smiling, More Living.

Happy New Year everybody!