The Guys Hard at Work

Jeff had only 3 guys show up this morning to help him with the market. Those 3 were also late because they forgot to change their clocks ahead before bed. It all turned out well though because the 3 that came in were 3 of the harder workers. They got quite a bit done. It was a gorgeous day for it too. The only thing was the wind. If there isn't a breeze anywhere else there will be one on that farm. I was kind of worried about them being on the roof with the wind the way it was. But I am happy to say that all survived.

This is the view from the front. I just wanted to show you what the roof looked like with the roof paper on. They had actually tacked it on yesterday before leaving but went back over it again today to secure it better. Isn't the sky in the background just beautiful?

This is Jeff, Carlos (red shirt), and Feliciano working on the over hang of the roof on the back of the market. I was joking and asked where Anthony was-hungover? Jeff said you have to be sober first to be hungover and all the guys laughed at that one. I know it sounds like I give Anthony a hard time but he really is a nice person.

While the guys worked on the market I transplanted 144 iceberg lettuce plants (Saturday) and then on Sunday I transplanted 144 swiss chard (red). I am worried that the chard was too young to plant but they all had a really good root system on them. The plants were just small. I think it's because chard likes cooler weather and the greenhouse has been getting up to 100 degrees. I also took the carrots (288) out there with me but ran out of energy to start those. They are on the schedule for tomorrow. I had done some reading on the swiss chard because I knew very little about it. I had thought it was only used in salads but you can actually cook the leaves just like you would cook collards or mustard greens. You can also cook the hard base parts of the stem and stalk like you would beets or turnips. It is also a plant that will last the whole season because you harvest the outside leaves as they are ready and the plant will reproduce more. I actually didn't mind sowing those seeds because they were huge compared to the cabbage and tomato seeds. The plant will also do well in some shade in areas where it gets really hot so we have decided to plant a row of corn next to it to block some of the sun. Tomorrow I will snap some pictures of them so you can see what I mean about being on the small side. I'd also like to take some pictures of the onions and compare it to the pictures of when we first planted those. They are looking really good but there is some dead parts on them that need to be snipped. 

I realized that I didn't have enough time to start transplanting the carrots and also needed a break from the transplanting process. So I decided I would start pulling weeds from around the strawberry plants. I plopped down between 2 rows and worked on the inside rows of each side. I "ruffled" the dead leaves off of the plants. While doing that I would run my hand along the plastic at the base of the plant to check to see if any of the plant was growing underneath it. There were several plants like that. So I would pull those pieces out from under the plastic and into the sunshine. Then I'd check for weeds and pull those. It sounds like a long process but it really on took seconds once I got a routine going. I had almost finished a row when Jeff hollered at me that it was time to go. Since I was so tired and that wind had gotten progressively colder the longer we were there I didn't argue with him at all. I dug a spot in the dirt so I'd know where i stopped. 

This weekend has been full of visitors at the farm. I think I mentioned that my dad and his poodle Nanny had stopped yesterday along with my mom when she got off work. Today Josh and Molly (son and daughter in law) stopped by to check everything out. So i gave them the grand tour of the whole property. They are both really excited about it. Molly says she will work for us in the air conditioned market running the cash register ( I don't think so haha). Later in the evening Will and Melissa Greene came by (Jeff's cousin and husband). They are also really excited about our venture. Melissa said she would work for us during the summer-she's a teacher. She is also expecting their first child and I told her that we could strap one of those papoose things to her and her and the baby can come on work the farm. Could you picture that?

Well I have you all filled in on the farm for the day. I have to help pick out the colors for the siding and the tin roof on the market. This is not going to be a fun thing to do. He likes gray siding with dark green roof and I like dark brown siding and a red roof. Let's see who wins.....