Taters, Remay, Good Luck & Gratitude

So far, potato planting has been the favourite activity for David and Chelsea. How could it not be; making sure each little circle has a potato in it and that one drops when it should (it's not necessarily as easy as it sounds, especially when the potato is too big to fit through the hole).

Planting in action!

Let it be known that rolling out brand new remay (aka floating row cover) is a glorious experience. Chelsea and David got to experience it on Monday -- the double wide remay means that for the same amount of shoveling, you cover twice the space. It's awesome!

What a delight it was to see a shadow hopping along in front of me as I walked through our packing shed to close the start greenhouse at night. I couldn't help but take it as a good sign, as frogs (okay, this is a toad) have been a symbol of prosperity, wealth, friendship and abundance in many cultures and a symbol of fertility in others. For the Romans, the frog was a mascot believed to bring good luck to one’s home. The native Aborigines of Australia believed that frogs brought the thunder and rain, to help the plants to grow (excellent on the rain front!). Given how things are going so far on the farm this season, there is much friendship and abundance to acknowledge. We have repeatedly been in awe of how much we've been seeding, singulating, and transplanting. If everything takes (and we can keep up with the weeding), we'll have a rich abundance of vegetables this season.

There has also been much gratitude for the help of Don Cavers, so that we could get a new rototiller that sets gorgeous beds, Sahaltkum Daycare for providing wonderful care for Avé (which means we have a solid day to get farm work done), our interns David & Chelsea for their keen interest in growing food and living in community, and Anne Grube for her help with cooking, window cleaning, Avé-care, weeding, tending to the currants, chicken care, and on and on. So much thankfulness for everyone who contributes to this farm!