I write this looking out my back sliding glass window; soybeans and corn to the east, waterway and Bossy fields due north, and our little bird feeder that we've stopped filling as of late because the thirteen lined ground squirrels (seriously, that's their name) and big blackbirds heard about it and were emptying it every three hours. Everything is a little more brittle, looks a little older, the green is a little less brilliant, and oh the weeds. There are so many weeds this year, and powdery mildew everywhere. I guess that's what we get with a cool, wet spring and summer, and a long long cold cold winter.
I kind of feel like that too, a little brittle and a little older, and my color is probably a little less brilliant. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this work. I'm so grateful to be able to work with the earth, outside, with FLOWERS, which are possibly one the greatest gifts of nature's many, many, and with my family, and, and, and. The reasons why I love my job are endless. Right now I'm a little tired. We're at our halfway point; week 8! Wow. We've learned so much this year.
I went out during Earl's nap this late morning and pulled old plants, and pruned medium aged plants, and generally surveyed the field. We've learned so much this year. I have so many ideas for next year. One huge learning for us is the utmost importance of an abundant variety of quality filler. Plants like feverfew, queen anne's lace, and greenery. Honestly, I underestimated planting, and harvesting enough, and sometimes, especially at the beginning of the year, we could have used more. We were very focused on our focal flowers. So there's that. And there's the beauty and overall awesomeness of landscape fabric. Because the twenty-year, durable variety that we can reuse again and again is expensive, we only invested in 2 rolls of 220 foot fabric this season, hoping to rely on straw for the rest of our weed control. Oh no. That was not to be. First of all, our first batch of early straw had tons of oat seeds in it, so the past few weeks' weeding have been oat plants. They are pretty. Maybe I should add them to bouquets. We learned so well that straw is not really that effective. Granted the rows where we really matted it down required less weeding, still, we've spent a lot of time hand-weeding our strawed beds. Hand-weeding because we can't wheel-hoe through straw. It's made more work. Anyway, next year we'll be buying some more reusable landscape fabric. A lot more.
I always focus on the learning, on what's wrong and what can be made better. I do think this is good, but only with balance. I started writing about some things that are going well to balance the previous paragraph, but I felt too uncomfortable. I'll just let you judge for yourselves when you come to our Member Celebration on Saturday! Please come! We're grilling, making flower wreaths and bouquets and big bubbles, going for a tractor tour of the whole farm, including Gardens of Eagan and generally giving you and yours lots of love.
The lisianthus is coming on and it's so pretty. The lilies will be blooming in time for the last couple of weeks of the share. Thanks for your support, dear members. Have a great week!
Best,
J,M&E
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| "I drive da tractor, mama." |
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