Miscellaneous Photos and Musings

I didn't have a category to put these pictures in for one posting of their own.

A picture of the market from the strawberry field. All the white pipe on top of the hill was taken out of the field so that Jeff could get in there with the tractor.







My brother Johnny walking through the strawberry field. Little does he know in a short time he will be bent over picking berries.

A picture of one of the guys mixing the weed killer for the grass that is growing between the hills of berries. The grass has really gotten out of control.

A picture from the big door on the side of the market. Just on the other side of the tree is where the herb beds are going. I had orginally thought of putting the cut flowers here but thought against it. I didn't want the bees coming from their corner all the way over here and possibly stinging a customer. So the cut flower beds are going on the side of the hill next to the strawberry field. Besides the bee situation it will also be beneficial to the garden. The flowers will help distract some of the plant eating bugs from the fruits and veggies. They will also draw beeneficial bugs to the area.
As you can see I have my work cut our for me in getting these beds ready. I am going to have one of the guys dig out all of these beds this week and then  put down some weed block. Jeff is going to get a small load of top soil brought in to put inside of them. There are 6 existing beds in place and I have plans for another 3.





Another shot of one of the beds. This photo shows a rosemary plant that Robin had planted there. I have more growing in the greenhouse to fill in this bed. I am wanting to fill in between the beds with something like the thyme that can be walked on and it releases a scent when crushed.

Spring has arrived at the farm!! This is a daffodil that is growing with a group of about 4 other plants. I am planning on digging these up and moving them closer to the market. They are at the base of the black walnut tree on the right of the driveway. I have a ton a new shoots of day lilies sprouting up all over the farm at the house and I am planning on transplanting those around that tree. There are some hanging branches that kids might try to climb on and I am hoping if i have flowers planted around the tree this might discourage that kind of action.


This is the Black Walnut Tree that I am planning on putting the daylillies around. you can see another small just behind this one in the background. What I am hoping to get done this week is to tie a rope between to the trees to line off one of the parking areas. On the other side of the rope towards the field I am planting some of the oak leaf hydrangea that I got from my grandma. Maybe I can get some cross ties and line it so that there won't be any confusion. Jeff is going to grade the land between the driveway and the trees so that it won't be such a steep slope. Between the wlanut tree and the field (to the left in the photo) we are going to set up a little spot where customers can pick up their buckets for picking. There are also septic lines running from the that black walnut tree towards the highway so we can't have anyone drivign or parking beyond the trees.

I have a meeting in the morning about value added items and transitioning your farm into organic. It's a 4 1/2 hour meeting that I am hoping will be beneficial for us. We are really interested in taking part of our farm in the organic area. There are so many rules and regulations that have to be met and I hope I will learn what those are tomorrow. There are also regulations and restrictions on jams, jellies, etc. I am really anxious to get started on all of this.

I also wanted to enclose a link for all you. We found this in one of strawberry newsletter and I listed the farm on it. I thought it was pretty cool. If you click on the map it will show you all the farms that have been listed so far with a description of the farm, what they sell, expected days of readiness for what they are growing, etc. I think it's great because if you are going on vacation somewhere you can find farms in just about all of the states. It is relatively new so if any of you have friends who own farms, markets, or wineries, let them know about the link.
http://www.farmermaps.com/
I have also listed our farm on the NC Fresh site. We are waiting for approval so in a couple of days I will post that link on here as well.