Gardening at the German Farm

Pheeew, progress is a lot slower than expected due to the current "labor shortage". By that I am of course referring to me single-handedly turning the dirt in the garden while entertaining the children. I have spent the past four weekends turning dirt and have about a third done. And it is really not a very big area.

Also, in the past two weeks the farm has completely exploded into green. The fields are unrecognizable from a fortnight ago. And the weather has been fantastic, in the mid 70s I would estimate. While we had some visitors stopping by I looked up and we had some amazing cirrocumulus clouds puffed into the sky.


All right, better get back to turning dirt ... :)

Planting at the Bell House...

We got all of the peppers put in at the Bell House on Sunday. Next will be the squash, just as soon as the seeds sprout.

The girls helping me in the garden found a few surprises in the mulch. Mostly bugs and spiders.

We are still looking for starters for some blackberries. I sure am looking forward to some blackberry jam this fall.

Next week we will finish with the last of the beds we need to set in the garden. Then it's just setting the herbs, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and potatoes.

I found that trying to bake anything (like cinnamon bread, or banana bread) in the woodburning stove while you are working in the garden is impossible. You cannot maintain the fire, check the baking and turning, and work in the dirt at the same time. NOW I understand why there was baking done early in the morning before any other chores were done.

Thanks to Miss Olga, the old rag rug has been taken apart so that I can re-use the strips to finish my rag rug on the frame now. Hopefully, I can get that finished before the end of this month.

Sunday Activities

Sunday will be another day of gardening at the German Farm. Hopefully we will get everything done this time and post some before and after pictures of the gardens. We are also looking at cooking in our outside kitchen and churning butter. The weather forecast for Sunday is great, a lovely 85 F (29 C) degrees.

Sunday Update

Well, progress was a little slower than expected. Due to being one (wo)man down I did not get as much done as I had wanted at the German farm. Among the things that were accomplished:

• rake the garden and clear away dead leaves
• build a compost heap to generate organic plant food
• enjoy some of Donna's excellent cookies
• show the house and garden to the visiting scouts

I did find some garlic in one of the older parts of the garden which I re-planted in the herb section. It was overgrown with weeds when I found it so it was hard to spot. Next week we will try to pull the rest of the weeds and get some planting done as well.

Christa was a big help today, taking care of the kids. Many thanks for that.

Activities this Sunday

Sunday, March 1, 2009

At the German farm we are planning on turning over some more dirt and to get started with the herb garden and some veggies. Come out and visit us between 1pm and 5pm.

Spring has sprung

Welcome to our new blog for Pioneer Farms in Austin, TX! Spring has sprung, which makes it a busy time at the farm for all us volunteers.

Today at the German Farm we churned butter and began turning the soil to get the kitchen garden ready for spring planting. The basil and cilantro went in this afternoon in a small herb bed. Hopefully we'll get some lettuce in the ground this week. We're all anxiously waiting to see the first peek of green.

At the Homestead Farm, the garden plots were taking shape as volunteers gathered rocks to outline the bedding areas.

At Bell House, things were hot in the kitchen! Freshly butchered turkey was being cooked up on the iron stove, and it was delicious! The aroma carried all over the fields.

Yes, it was a busy day at the farm. The woodworking and blacksmith shops entertained visitors, as usual. Several scouting troops visited and worked on various projects to get the farm ready for the busy spring season.

Next week, look out for some more cooking and textile demonstrations. At the German farm, we're going to try to tackle the laundry, 1800s style! Come watch as we perform back-breaking labor to clean the clothes. Better yet...lend a hand!