Our farm is becoming more and more green. Especially now, after a few days of rain, it is more visible, when the soil is moist and black. I’ve heard that it is good for the eyes to see a lot of green—so we are in luck! We’ve got trees, cover crops (like hairy vetch and oats), emerging crops like radishes, lettuce, spinach and more plus an expanse of green grass.

We got to experience some cold weather during these wet days, and one time we had to cover our strawberries to keep them safe from the last – hopefully – spring frost. After May 15 it should be safe to plant most vegetables, but you never know, the ancient rule is to wait till Labor Day with some warm loving crops like tomatoes or peppers.

Last weekend there was the annual Pick Up Sticks family event on the farm. Like every year, Kelly’s uncles and aunts and their families come to help with spring cleaning and repairs on their family farm. This year among other things a big machine shed a.k.a. „The Blue Tin House” got some new staples for a better protection against winds. Also, the idea of an improved washing station was transferred from the rough draft form to the final planning stage and hopefully by the end of May we will have a brand new place to handle our harvest efficiently.

Soon we are going to plant prairie grass and some plants beneficial for good insects in the borders of our fields. I am really interested in this project and its outcome as for pest suppression on our field. Good night, don’t let the bad bugs bite (your crops)!

It was a good month, April. As I have learned, usually the windiest month in Minnesota. I don’t know if I will ever get used to that wind, it is not easy to move around in the field the hole day with a constant blower set straight at your head on maximum speed. Particulary when planting fine lettuce seed, or kale, not mentioning ultra light parsnip seeds.

But it was a good month, with some good rain, and the lettuce, radishes and spinach have started to grow. Even the peppers and tomatoes are out, out in the hoop house. It is a real hands-on experiment for us, using high tunnels for the first year. So far everything is growing fine, but we’ve learned that we were extending the season not only for the vegetables, when we discovered something biting our tomato, lettuce and pepper leaves. According to our research it was a flea beetle. An organic method to repell these little creatures is to pour hot water over some garlic and cayenne pepper and let it sit for a day or two, and then spray that on the plants. It has helped so far.

In the end of April we recieved a lot of deliveries of fruits, like rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, but also onions and asparagus. I am hoping that pruning and trellising berries will become my hobby. Kelly says that everybody loves berries. Somehow I like taking care of them than eating them. That’s a good match!