Hi everyone,
Not too
much to report, but the unusually warm weather (this is the first week of April, right?) has sent everything into a growing frenzy. I think I can actually watch the leaves of my rhubarb plants unfurl. I was over at the farm today helping Sue prune and clean out the raspberry beds before the plants leaf out completely (they're still supposed to be somewhat dormant). She has a lot of plants; enough to usually give out quarts of raspberries in the CSA, so it took a while and my arms look like war zones, but the plants look great this year. With the weather last summer (wet, cold and crummy) and marauding bands of hungry rabbits during the previous winter, there wasn't much of a crop last year. But we managed to keep the bunnies out this winter and with some decent weather, there should be lots of lovely raspberries to give out (and plenty to eat while picking :>)
Sue showed me what she's been able to do with the greenhouses so far; there's plenty of great-looking lettuce, some spinach (but it's actually gotten too warm and a lot of it has bolted), kale, turnips, and carrots. This is really exciting, because even though this spring has been awfully warm so far, we often can't start planting anything outside in Central New York until late April, and even then it's a gamble. But with all these hoop-houses, next year we might even be able to start the CSA in April or May!
At home, I've been getting all my flower beds ready and Andrew helped me get some super deer fencing put up around the vegetable garden. It's actually more of a fortress: I have 8' T-poles, heavy duty 7 1/2' netting, and a (mild) electric fence around the whole thing. Andrew thinks if this doesn't work, our last resort will have to be either a dog or a moat with crocodiles. His vote is for the crocodiles. My garlic is up, the rhubarb is rapidly expanding, and now I'm anxiously waiting to see the first asparagus shoots to emerge.
Well, that's the news. Hope all of you are doing well, eating good food, and are planning on growing something in your yard this year. You don't have to be able to eat it, but I think it makes it more fun. I won't say that gardening is always easy, but it is incredibly rewarding.
All the best,
Sarah VanNorstrand
