We are finally getting a reasonable break in the weather. The wet weather has left large portions of some of our fields waterlogged, and while we appreciate the life-giving nature of the water, a few dry days have helped us out tremendously. We should be able to get into the fields to do some preparation work. We are working up about 30 new acres this spring, and weed control early is very important. In subsequent years, the practice of winter cropping and undersowing a green manure will minimize weed encroachment in the these fields. We will be planting 10 acres of human consumption corn and about 17 acres of human consumption soy this year. We are also attempting to cultivate a variety of black bean this year for seed, which we will plant next year as a row crop.

The fifty or so flats of seedlings that we have started early are doing well. We had to move them from  under the grow lights to the greenhouses earlier than we had planned due to an insect problem. Apparently, the Asian beetles the over-wintered in our siding have found a way into the southern exposure room where we had our seedlings. They began to feast on the tender shoots, indiscriminately destroying our early seedlings. Once we identified the problem, we moved the seedlings to the greenhouse. The nighttime temperatures this past week, however, dipped too low, and we had to move the seedlings into the house each evening. Fortunately, they are recovering well. I just checked the recent forecast, and it looks like we will not have to bring them in again for at least a week.

We have also had an opportunity this week to catch up with planting vegetables. By tomorrow, we will have everything in the ground that should be by this point in the year. Spinach, several varieties of lettuce, radishes, arugula, and kale are some of the vegetables that we have planted this week. We expect to plant potatoes and onions as well by this weekend. In fact, we are caught up enough, that we actually came in early tonight. We will get to eat dinner tonight before 9:30! Now that is something to get excited about.