We have our fields to get ready for our 2018 garlic, for the calendula and other herbs we will plant next spring, for the planned juneberry bushes and now for Ron’s wildflower swath. I am actually looking forward to that. Lots of lovely flowers that will hopefully attract bees and butterflies to THF. And our friend Dick bringing some of his bee hives out so he can take advantage of all those soon to be blossoms. Jo is not as excited about this part of the plan as she simply does not like bees.

Which is why I bought her a this great t-shirt. I am such a good mom.

First thing we had to do is cut more landscape cloth for our calendula rows.  More weed control.  Come next spring we will move the strips off the planting areas and onto the walkways between them.  Getting a double benefit from the work.  We headed back to our favorite large parking lot to get the cutting done and then out to the farm.

Ron had already drilled holes into his wood blocks and Jo and I had picked up the stacks we needed to hold the cloth down.  It is very windy out at THF (thinking windmill?)and it is struggle to keep the cloth in position.  We tried using mulch on top of it around the fruit trees, but that just appears to lead to more weeds.

We cut enough cloth to put between the rows of garlic too.  The straw had helped keep weeds down in the actual garlic patch, but the weeds were crazy everywhere else.  Got to do some serious research about the best ground covers to use.   Keeping in mind Ron’s future plan to have chickens on the farm.   Everything we do out there has to be done factoring in our future plans or added benefit.

This is going to look so pretty next year with the yellow and orange calendula, the lavender, and then our fabulous elderberries.

Getting the rows set for planting was pretty easy.   We had left the strings used for our tilling guide in place and just laid it out.  Then we tacked it down with the wood blocks and spikes.  That did not go so well.  Even with the holes drilled, the wood tended to split when we hammered it down.   Ron is already busy trying to find a rubber washer that he can used instead.  I am sure he come up with something.   When we got to the garlic rows, we hit a stumbling block.  Last year we had to scramble to get a fourth row ready for planting.  Already exhausted by the time we started, we made what turned out to be a major mistake.  Instead of hauling the rocks to our rock pile and out of our way, we just tossed them in a row a few feet from where we were working.  Lesson learned.  Don’t leave a job half done.  The weeds had grown over the rocks so Ron had to weed whack just to uncover them.  Then Jo and I had to dig them out, toss into the wheelbarrow and move them.

Lucky for us, Ron had just bought us the perfect tool for the job.  We each got our own rock rake.  What a guy.

Our garlic really needed to be planted, but mother nature had our plans on hold.  Rain, rain and more rain.  On Saturday, Nov 4  the weather finally cleared and we spent a few hours breaking apart each garlic head.   FYI, use a butter knife to help with this by inserting in between the cloves and giving a gently twist.  Makes the job much easier on your hands.  Now that it is fall, we have to wait for daylight and slightly warmer temps before we can get going on our work day.  The first row we planted went just like you would want it to.   Using Ron’s template we plunged the dibbles into the ground and then dropped a clove into each hole.  From start to finish it took us just over an hour.  Even with our late start we were home by lunch time with plans to head back to get the second row done.  That is when things went wrong.  In the few hours we were gone, there had been a major change in the soil at THF.  This time we struggled to get the dibble down far enough and it took more effort to pull it back out.  It felt like someone had poured glue everywhere.  Took the three of us a bit longer, but we got the second row done and gave up for the day.

Sunday morning was bright and beautiful but windy.  Two more rows to get done.  Again we struggled with the dibble.  Most annoying but we got through the third row.

While Jo and I covered each clove up with dirt, Ron tried one hole in the fourth row and said no way.  We need to till this up at least one more time.  Another delay in getting this task done.

So next weekend we have to finish garlic, give the planned wildflower patch another quick tilling so we can scatter the seeds and try to get a few more rows of landscape cloth down for our juneberries.  With record low temps forecast, not sure just how much we will get done.  But we have to make an effort.  That is the first lesson we learned on this adventure, some things just have to get done.

Normally I would be really looking forward to winter so I can have a break from all this farm work.  Not this year.  Ron has been nagging me about elderberry jelly, lavender sachets and lip balms.  He wants ME to come up with non perishable things THF can sell based on the products we grow.   It is going to be a busy winter.   Anybody got ideas for me?  Or even better, an idea of how to make Ron’s brain stop coming with more work for me?