Our Farm Garden Fresh and Flowers Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 2
May 10th, 2020
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful, loving, caring mothers out there. I was very blessed to have my mother and grandmother as mentors in my passion for growing things. I have many memories of Grandma giving us snacks from the garden, such as crunchy slices of kohlrabi, a bowl of peas, and crisp green beans. Sitting on lawn chairs in the open doorway of the garage with Grandma and Grandpa shelling peas, snapping the ends off of the freshly picked green beans, peeling apples in the fall, all while visiting and passing the time in each other’s company. My wish is to continue this passion for growing and simple joys of life on to our children. Seeing Emerson’s excitement in being able to help Mommy and Daddy in the garden is amazing and so rewarding. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!! Enjoy your day!
Dandelions!
Our lawn and pasture may be full of these bright golden little pom poms, but the bees and butterflies (we have had a few of the painted lady butterflies in the yard already) will be very happy to see them. As some of the very first abundant blossoms available in the spring here in Minnesota, the bees need them as a food source as they start their quest for pollen.
I remember Grandma taking the blossoms and rubbing them on our cheeks and noses to make the pollen come off and give us cute yellow cheeks instead of rosey cheeks. And making wishes while blowing the fluffy seeds into the wind. My childhood memories are full of dandelions.
Here on our farm we love the bees and the butterflies that frequent our plot of land. So we do our small part in leaving them a little extra food here in the early spring until our field is full of plentiful pollen for them to enjoy.
Update from the Farm...Making Progress
One Hoop at a time. Our first attempt at putting up a small hoop house is going very well. Neither one of us is an expert in building structures, but we are giving it our best and getting it put up one hoop at a time along with the help of amazing friends. Huge Thank you to John for borrowing us the skid loader to drive in the sidewall posts a little more safely than our original attempts. And a huge Thank you to our other friend John in helping Craig and giving tons of guidance and knowledge with the construction of the remainder of the structure.
We will soon have it covered with plastic and planted into later this week. Our plan to extend our growing season is coming to life! It will be filled with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Greens, and Herbs.
Until next week, Take Care everyone!
-Craig, Kathryn, and Emerson