>Please don’t get excited, thinking this means we’re picking vegetables again. The new season begins way before we pick anything. I’m going to try and keep up to date with how we prepare for a new season.
I started ordering seeds, finally, just what’s necessary. I usually like to get them all ordered in January, but we didn’t have enough cash reserves to do that, so I’m doing a little at a time. The tomatoes, celery, artichokes, and some herbs are on the way. A little early cabbage and cauliflower, and the onions. These are things that need to be started now to be ready for planting out in April/May. I am determined to have onions this year, and we’re getting it done. One of our subscribers works for the Auburn School District, and they have a horticulture program. Gina offered to start plants for us in their *heated* greenhouses, and I will gladly pay someone for that privelege. We don’t have heat in our greenhouses, so we really can’t start anything in February—it freezes in there at night, just like outside. And we can’t justify the cost of heating them ourselves.
The parts for our broken greenhouse arrived yesterday. We decided to replace the flatter “quonset” hoops with the pointy “gothic” type this time because they’re stronger. I don’t want to replace it again next year, and it will be worth the extra money.
We sold our big cow to a wonderful family in Snohomish, and we’ve now moved the remaining cows to the farm side of the street, where they live in a cozy tent with a night light. We’re working on barn construction estimates now, and hopefully we’ll have one by summer. (FYI, we’ll have one calf in July from Juniper, and another in September from Beauty.)
The building permit for our house has been approved, but the septic system hasn’t, so we’re still waiting. We can’t actually get the building permit until we have the septic permit. It’s been 16 weeks since we submitted the application. King County is requiring us to put a sprinkler system in our double-wide, previously-owned manufactured home. Apparently it’s not enough to have the fire department just minutes away and a fire hydrant across the street. It baffles me, but I also have to find a contractor to do that job, and find the $$$. We found an electrician, and were happy to find out that we brought enough power to the farm to power the house and everything else 10 years ago. I remember spending a lot of money then, so that was a relief. I was prepared to spend thousands hooking up electricity. I am looking into solar panels too, but that will happen gradually after all the initial house costs are past. The house has a huge gas stove with two ovens—today the propane guys are coming to give us an estimate for that.
During Presidents Week, when the kids are out of school and there are no school buses to drive, we will be purging our garage and hopefully those dark corners of the house where things hide. We will actually be moving in the near future! Time is running out before we are busy with farming, so we want to get it done as soon as possible. I’ve been collecting paint chips, looking at flooring, and thinking about curtains too. It’s so exciting to be moving to the farm!
Whistling Train Farm 