March begins at Shady Maple Farm

As some people are curious who does this blog, I am Lorrie Meier-Sutherland, primary photographer, author of this blog and manager of our family farm. I am lucky to see my relatives and friends on a pretty regular basis out at the farm. My sister, Lisa, along with two of my nieces Angie (with her two cherubs) and Anna (with her three, very soon to be four!) get together weekly beginning at the end of January to plant seeds and discuss activities at the farm. They will be in the photos quite often, me, not so much!

I hope you enjoy viewing our farm through my camera lens. 

Spring daffodils out by the greenhouses.

An onion seed on my great nephew Ethan's hand.

The seeds come up with the new plant and eventually fall off.

Onions start out looking like this, then straighten themselves out. Oh Mother Nature!

We are adding to our herb supply this year. The sage looks happy, like its leaves are reaching up like arms.

These rhubarb seeds will grow and produce for the boxes in the next year or so. 

Anna on the left and Angie on the right planting seeds into 50 cell flats. Angie looks like she can't quite see her little seeds in that packet.

Our task table for the day. That list is of the tomato varieties for this year. (Since then we have added 3 more varieties.)

The girls have been picking daffodils and are now looking at critters.

This bumble bee was trying hard to get OUT of the greenhouse. During the sunny days the end doors are open.

As I was planting seeds this little guy's movement caught my eye. He popped up and then right back down through the hole in the flat. Creeped me out...

A Christmas cactus from a couple years ago is blooming on its own schedule. So pretty.

According to Florencio, this prickly pear fruit is ready to eat.

Our new crop of Italian parsley is up. 

Basil has popped through, seemingly like overnight.

Garlic chives, a new twist on chives for the farm.

Tiny lobelia seeds have grown into lush clumps.

Brussels Sprouts are stretching to the sun.

We do love our colored vegetables. Red and green celery.

Electric Neon Swiss Chard. Another new variety this year.

Snapdragons are up. Tiny seeds that seem like a miracle to grow so tall and pretty by summer.

This basil smells so gooooood.

The two types of kale in this flat are both somewhat curly.

The red celery is starting to show some RED!

On the left is the green, pointy tipped cauliflower variety. On the right is an orange cauliflower. I see colorful dishes ahead.

This flat of spinach didn't germinate very well. :(

The first peppers have popped through. I peeked under the domes and the Jalapenos came up first. I look forward to making lots of Cowboy Candy this summer. It is a sweet and spicy bit of deliciousness to put on a cracker, sandwich, or in your eggs. So good.


See you next time.
Lorrie

Greenhouse activities = good times!

Seed packets with petunia seeds. Seed packets usually contain helpful information to aid in successful growing.

These are in an airtight container to prevent moisture from getting to the seeds. They are also covered in clay as they are extremely small. A rather large packet for a few seeds.

We will plant one yellow clay coated seed in one cell of this 50 cell tray. Tiny seeds will grow into beautiful flowers.

A lady bug found Ethan's shirt in the greenhouse.

My niece Anna and her youngest, Louise, planting seeds. Louise is making the holes with a pencil. Anna is expecting her 4th in April. :)

My sister, Anna's mom, just got her new doggy today! Cody is sitting on Louise and tickling her. Lisa is nearby as Cody meets all of us.

Basil for planting in the greenhouse is growing well and smells delicious. We will have a bed of basil growing all summer in the greenhouse. Basil loves heat.

The first Golden Beet is poking up.

These Alyssum seeds are the little yellow/orange seeds on the surface. They need light to germinate. Also, they can't dry out or they will die before they germinate.

This is the first planting of Alyssum that was planted 3 weeks earlier than the seeds in the previous photo.

Red celery on the left, green celery on the right. They both start out green. It will be interesting to see when the red variety starts showing red.

Peonies are just starting to poke their reddish stems through the soil.

Newly seeded flats in the foreground. These are on the propagating mats for bottom heat. Not all seeds like bottom heat. A few flats are actually outside for a couple weeks to "chill" as it gives them the sensation of a winter.

These are beets planted two weeks ago. Unless specifically noted on the packets, beets are a seed that actually is a cluster of seeds in one. Hence, more than one coming up in a cell.

Two different varieties of cabbage in this flat.

Lobelia has tiny seeds, really tiny. Several seeds are intentionally sown in each cell. These take about 20 days to germinate. So we don't give up on them, we put a tag in the flat to remind us. Also notice the one rouge, tall plant in the middle? It appears a cabbage seed has found a home here. 

Two varieties of kale await planting outside.

The two different plantings of Alyssum, the back left flat was seeded 3 weeks after the back right flat.

Slicing cucumbers and in the background, tomatoes that will be planted, grown and harvested in the greenhouse. These are started much earlier than our field cucumbers and tomatoes.

Clear domes cover trays of seeds to help prevent them from drying out. Domes also help keep the temperature more constant.

Dad 's lemon trees in the greenhouse are covered with fruit and blossoms.

Their flowers are very fragrant.

From the middle of the greenhouse, Lisa is planting at our workbench. 

The four inch pots have 25 onions per pot.

These are onions just coming up. They were planted earlier.

Lisa gently watering the freshly seeded flats.

As things grow and grow, we will transplant them into larger pots. We will also keep seeding more vegetables and flowers as spring draws closer.