Decisions-Decisions

I have tried getting Jeff to add some of the more technical things to the blog about the farm but time is never on my side with this. So I will try to add what I can and maybe not confuse anyone along the way. We decided that this blog should be of interest to those looking for a fun family outing and if there is anyone out there looking to do the same they may learn from us. So on that note there will be very little technical farming things to learn. You can come to the farm and Jeff will be glad to talk your ears off with what you need to know.

While at the farm yesterday with the girls, I had Jeff inspect the snipping that I did to the plants last week. Luckily, I did it right. In the center of the plant are the crowns and I had started snipping what looked like would be a flower if we had another warm snap. That was wrong-Jeff said there needs to be about 5 crowns in the center for good plant production. Luckily, I got a little tired of trying to "dig" out the little buds. Plus, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be snipping them. Everything else looked good though so I thought to myself, I can be a strawberry farmer after all.

I am feeling a little nostalgic today. Maybe it's the holiday season or just spending some quality time with the girls yesterday but I just want to express how excited I am about this venture that Jeff and I are undertaking. I can already picture next year at this time. We will be selling Christmas trees, wreaths, etc and hopefully in the market all the goodies from the kitchen will be flying out the window. I was thinking of having a certain time set up each evening where someone locally would come into the market and read a Christmas story to the children while the parents visited or shopped. I also want to have Santa Claus out there of course. I can just imagine the kids listening to a story and then going out to help mom and dad pick out the tree they will carry home. Maybe even have a section set up where the kids can make their own ornament or a pinecone birdfeeder to carry home.

I picture Easter and having someone dress up like the Easter bunny and having a huge egg hunt for the area kids. I am hoping to have baby ducks, chicks, and rabbits for the kids to visit and purchase with parent approval of course. Maybe we can have a dye your own egg station in the market or an egg decorating contest one Saturday where everyone wins something of course.

I would love to have a day like I see in the old black and white movies I love where there's a pie eating contest, a jam and jelly contest, sack races, egg toss, etc. Maybe that would be an idea for our grand opening especially if we do it right before the strawberries are ready to pick. This would probably do best around the time when spring fever hits everyone and they want to be outside in the sunshine. I know when the spring fever bug hits me I am out in the yard raking and planning my garden. So offering a day of fun instead of work might be just the trick to get people to come in. Plus, on the financial side of it we might be able to sell some flowers, flags, birdhouses, etc. I don't want people to just associate our farm with a place to buy fruits and vegetables but also a place to have fun and to visit.

I picture the fall with all the pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows and the kids picking their own little pumpkins from the garden. I can even imagine a bobbing for apples barrel, having a make your own candy apple center in the market complete with all the trimmings, and of course all the seasonal pies and baking that will be going on in the market kitchen. Maybe I could even find someone to come to the farm to boil peanuts over a fire.

One of the things I am trying to figure out right now is our logo for signs etc. Our town is known for buggies and has a huge Buggy Festival each year in May. I had originally thought of a wagon with fruits and veggies but now I am leaning toward a buggy type of thing. I am going to have to talk to my aunt Cathy (the artist and sign lady) about helping me come up with something. We would like it to tie into the whole buggy heritage our town has along with the agricultural aspect too.

My sister-in-law, Robin, the bee lady, has been going to the bee classes each week and is so excited about it. She can't wait until she has her own hives and is tending them. I have learned so much from her already and I am just as excited too. We have decided to put the hives at the far end of the strawberry field away from the market and all the customer related interests. We have also decided to encircle the hives with holly bushes/trees. Honey bees like hollies plus we are thinking/hoping that if someone does get adventurous and wonders around the farm that the prickly holly will keep them from being nosy and getting stung. Robin is teaching me about the food sources and how much and how long the bees need a source of nourishment for. In light of that, I have been researching herbs like crazy. We have a slightly sloping hill next to the strawberry field that I am planning on using for a tiered herb garden. Once I finish all that research I will be working on researching all the flowers that we can grow that will be beneficial for the bees. Along the far end of the field, I am hoping to have various beds of flowers for the bees plus a small walking path that customers can walk through to check out what's there. I am trying to find some plant signs that I think will work well so that people can see what herbs and flowers are planted. I have been working hard on information sheets for the herbs and flowers that I already plan on planting and carrying. The little tag that comes with the plants at garden centers really don't hold much info and I want the customers to have the information there to extend the life of their plants or little tricks found over the years that help in the garden. I am not sure how I want to display this sheet. I was thinking of some kind of rack like you find in the library with various sheets of interest or maybe just a small shelf with notebooks filled with the info sheets. The information sheets would of course be free. The ones I have done with the herbs so far have the following sections on them: health benefits, gardening, cooking, harvesting, and folklore. If there are any other categories you'd like to see please let me know.

I have been scouring our local thrift shops and goodwill store for vintage coffee cups and saucers. With these I am going to make butterfly and bee baths. I learned that bees really need a water source for the honey but I also learned that it doesn't have to be something as large as a pond. I am going to glue the cup to the saucer and then a piece of pipe the bottom of the saucer. These can then be inserted into the ground in the herb and flower gardens. As we water the beds the cups can be filled with water and this will be beneficial to the bees and the butterflies. I am also hoping to have some of these in the market to sell to customers.

After I get my flower and herb info, my next project will be bats and bat houses. Here in the Sandhills the summers can be miserably humid and filled with mosquitos. I have seen some things on gardening shows about bats and the numbers of mosquitos they can eat. So I am hoping that we can make these and place all around the farm plus be able to sell to customers as well. As I get all the information on these I will post all of that. In that same area I know there are certain plants and herbs that will repel the little buggers as well. So maybe I can devote one entire blog to mosquito prevention. I am also going to try to find out all that I can about ants. There are tons of fire ants on the farm and I have got to figure out a way to get rid of those things! I would love to find an organic way of getting rid of them if possible. So once I get all that research done and any test results I may have I will post that. I have heard and tried all the old tricks like grits on the hill and they will eat it and swell. But that one doesn't work. After being heavily stung this past summer I resorted to chemicals. I am not proud of that but couldnn't afford more stings just to pick my garden. The problem was that where I spinkled the ant killing dust it also killed everything else-weeds, grass, plants, everything! If anyone out there has one of those old tricks to getting rid of them please feel free to pass it along to me. I will gladly try it and post any testing results on the blog. Oh and I will give you full praise and credit for the one that works. Maybe there can be some kind of reward or prize for one that proves to work.

Lastly, we are hoping to have a community bulletin board for things like services available, things for sale, garage sales, and just a general info board for anything of interest.