The past couple of days have been very nice. Yesterday mom and I went into town to have an ice cream and pick up some straw for the garden. We also stopped in to check out the small community garden in town. When we went to Madison Farm Supply for the straw we also browsed through the farmer’s market and picked up some produce, home made bread and were lucky enough to be there to catch the cooking class. It seems to me that the Farm Supply is an informal community hub and important resource. While at the farmer’s market I met a very interesting woman who is in a similar position in terms of setting up a homestead/garden. She mentioned getting together a meeting/gathering/study group for like-minded folks interested in learning from each other so I’m excited about that.

After our trip into town we picked about a quart of blackberries behind grandpa’s garage. Not a lot but I’m fairly certain that I’ll be able to get another two quarts from the patch as it ripens over the next week or two. Last night dad and I went fishing and ended up with a six pound bass. I cooked half the blackberries this morning as a topping for pancakes and four of us ate the bass for lunch.

I also finished off the planting of the last three fruit trees, 2 plums and a peach which are 60 feet from my front door near to the site of our future arbor. In the garden I added a new bed and planted broccoli and a mix of salad greens. Last but not least, I put in my first order of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: Calabrese Green Sprouting (An Italian heirloom broccoli brought to America in the 1880s), Russian Red Kale, Arugula, Five Color Silverbeet (Rainbow Chard), Merlo Nero (Italian Spinach). My plan is to do most of my future seed buying from these folks who are based in Missouri and not too far away. From here on out I’ll only be buying seed that I know I can save for future planting.

So many projects, so little time!!


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