Trust your instints!

Greetings from snowy, springy Colorado. We've gotten over twelve inches here in the past twenty four hours, and if you think that's crazy, you're gonna love the week I've had! Mid March (meaning Monday) was my goal for breaking ground here, or at least, trying to figure out if we could break ground! Being high in 4B/5A territory (USDA growing zones based on elevation and longitude), and on the side of a lovely if not rocky plateau, we had no idea if our fertile field would wind up being a boulder field once we began. 

I started this week trying to rent a small tractor with a box scraping implement to rip up our soil and was promptly turned down by a man who thought it would be better to try to sell me on dragging a horizon auger backward with a bobcat (oh, and only for twice as much money). Surprisingly, for once I trusted my instinct and told him I would give it some thought. I'm really fighting an urge to swing by his shop and let him know my awesome 72 year old dad and I tore up the whole field a day later with a 15 year old BCS rototiller with a broken gear lock. Not to worry, Walt, we had some channel locks to hold things in place. 

As of Wednesday we have tilled all our Wonderland plots, and as of Friday, half are marked for rows. Friday also revealed perfectly neutral soil pH at 7.0 for three of the four plots, with only our tiny cabbage garden needing a little soil amendment! That's gonna save us some scrill, or clams, or cash, or whatever you call it, for sure!! Inside, the tomatoes and eggplants are stretching their cotyledons, and we even have a few peppers popping up as of this morning! Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts are doing great, though I have to admit, it's taken me some patience, as their germination hasn't been great, or even really uniform. I have some late bloomers peeking their heads out even now, three weeks later, after some early risers have decided it wasn't their day, and withered away. I think it's probably my fault, with inexperience in growing cole crops indoors from seed, but still, I feel victorious! My lovely cabbages are growing like crazy, and even if every cell isn't filled, the ones that are, are really taking off. I'll take the wins I can get. On that note, here are some actual DAILY pics of the week!:

Mar 18

Mom and Rudy, wearin' my Carhart jacket while we get started with rototilling!

Mar 19

           First rows tilled! Dad, showing me how it's done on the OG BCS!  That's gangsta for 'tilla, yo. (that means it's an old and awesome rototiller, if you don't speak gangsta...or tilla...)

Yup, that's me.

 Mar 20

The Valstar's first official farm bizness. Taking the OG BCS with ramps (ie; boards) to Old Gun Club Road. Yes.

Mar 21

The late blooming Buscaro Cabbages looking well. Boo- Yah!

Mar 22

The late blooming Red Buscaro Cabbages looking well. BOO- Yah.

Mar 23

Heirloom tomatoes gittin' going! Go, babies! BOO- YAH!

Mar 24. Boo-lizzard.

Just kidding. (but not by much)

Bonus Foto:

Looking forward to next week! Our completed Granedde Square plot, with complimentary rainbow of course!

Also, as of today, our pricing is up on our Join Page at WonderlandColorado.com. If you are in Colorado, please check it out! Freshly harvested, local produce, delivered right to your door, with some fun perks thrown in! What could be better? Can't wait for next week, our last week of preparation before seeds go in the ground! Until, or rather, TILL next time!!

XO,
Val

March First is Back to Farmstyle!!

Oh, wow. So, I have just completed Wonderland Farm's first nine flats of seedlings to be started indoors under our awesome grow light set up!! Bent over all day with a pair of tweezers centering tiny seeds into tiny plug flats definitely reminded me of the hard manual labor and focus farming requires. My back and neck are definitely saying hello to me right now! I also took Ted on a run this morning. We figured we had better get back into it, sooner rather than later, before this season gets going and we are trying to go from zero to hero in .6 seconds! I planted cabbage, Brussel's sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower today, roughly 2,500 seeds altogether!! Yippee, it's really real, we are really doing it, we are gonna plant things and have a farm! I can't tell you or really even comprehend what this day means to me. Here below are some pics of the inaugural first planting of Wonderland Farm:

Mar 1

Ted looks mad, huh?! Getting ready to go, compost, soil and water buckets for mixing, plastic on the table and everything!

Filling plug trays with 512 mix. These trays are 1.5" 288 plugs each. I seeded at a one to one ratio about 1/4" deep for the cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts)

Spokes Puppy Teddy Edde, still looking good! Maybe a little confused, but good!

Brussels sprouts! The very first seeds to be seeded, gettin' ret to GO!

Brussels sprouts! Best technique for me ended up to be individual application by tweezer.

Grow Babies!! In their warm and bright new home, complete with grow lights, heating mats, and humidity covers! 

Eight of nine completed trays! We're exhausted,, time to chillax on our parent's hippy futon! Yes!!

Who ever knew it's possible to be so excited to put a tiny seed into some smelly potting mix and jack your hands up and get dirt under your nails that won't come out for a week (if ever!)...I can't wait to see them peek their tiny sproutling heads out of the soil in a week's time. I can't believe it's March! I can't believe we are really starting our farm. It's so unbeleiveable and exciting and I just can't wait for it all to happen and to keep happening!! Until next time, stay warm, and let the sunshine a little, right into your eyes.

XO,

Val