Grow-Along Week 14

Oh My Gosh!! Hi Everyone!!

So, if you follow us on Facebook, I'm sure you already know the news and the reason the blog update was postponed until today. The ducklings started hatching yesterday and our Nibble has turned out to be a great mama. We are so proud of our girl and she is taking great care of her little charges. We also have a few garden updates to share, but this post will be mostly about the ducklings because they are so cute and wonderful that we just can't help ourselves.

Grow-Along Week 13

Howdy Everyone!

So, I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance since this post is going to be short on descriptions and advice this week. Nate and I have both been fighting a  nasty cold this week on top of the bizarre training schedule we've been on for work. Thankfully though, things are back to normal with our work shifts now that training is done and so far, being Tech Support is pretty awesome. We've got a lot of plants coming up to first harvest as well as some wonderful things getting ready for harvest in the garden.

Grow-Along Week 12

Hello my Loves!

Wow! We made it to week 12!! What an amazing accomplishment for us all! So many plants have grown and flowered and are moving into a state of fruitful abundance. We are so proud of you for your choice to work towards a better, more sustainable lifestyle along with us. Whether you grow your own food on the scale we do, or you just dabble in flower gardens and houseplants, we want you to know that what you are doing is important and wonderful. Give yourself a pat on the back... for real... go ahead... do it! We'll wait... (no really, do it!). There! :) Doesn't that feel good? It is so easy to be so overwhelmed by the beauty and wonder of new life in the spring and early summer that we overlook the critical role we play in the magic of nurturing new life of all kinds. Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, watch the butterflies, and consider how important you actually are to the great web of life that we are all a part of.

Grow Along Week 11

Howdy everyone!

Things just keep on growing here! We hope the weather where you are has turned favorable and that your gardens are plumping up as nicely as ours are! Our weather has been so nice that we've been able to start on a few other homestead projects in addition to the ever important planting and nurturing of crops. With no further ado, check out what we've got going on this week!

Grow-Along Week 10

Howdy folks!

So, it has been a rainy week here which means lots of things are sprouting up and putting all kinds of energy into plumping up and producing. I've been enjoying a little guilty pleasure in the rain since not much can be done outdoors and I've been spending a good bit of time with some good books (seriously good books... hit me up if you want the titles). I did manage to snap some good pics yesterday between rainstorms, so this post might be a little light on pics compared to the last few since rain and cameras don't mix well. ;)

Grow-Along Week 9

Howdy friends!

My goodness! We're at week 9 already!! Can you believe it? We sure can't. So much has been going on that we got a day behind schedule this week and completely forgot to update you all yesterday! We are so sorry about that, but we are delighted to have ongoing great news to share with you all about the growth and progress of our little slice of life on the Micro-Farm. This week brings a lot of new growth on plants as well as some new faces and new projects on the farm.

Grow-Along Week 7

Howdy friends!

The grow-splosion is still going on strong at the Micro-Farm! Green things are popping up everywhere! It is tough to keep up with it all in pictures, but we are trying our best to keep you updated on all the excitement. Spring brings such amazing and busy energy and we just love it!

We have had some friends who are new to gardening ask us for help identifying the seedlings that are popping up in their gardens as weeds or plants that they intentionally planted. So, the biggest focus of today's Grow-Along update will be helping you all to identify your little plantlets by showing you pictures of ours. We hope that our pictures will give you a good representation of what seedlings for common garden varieties look like so that you don't accidentally weed out the good plants.

Grow-Along Week 6

Howdy everyone!

So sorry we are a day late on our update this week! We have had so much going on here at the Micro-Farm that we completely missed our normal Thursday deadline. Plants are sprouting, budding, and flowering everywhere here, our Mason Bees have hatched and emerged, and our Chicken-Brigade is at full egg-laying power. This post is going to be super picture heavy so sit back and enjoy the updates!

Grow-Along Week 3

Hiya folks!

We've got a lot growing on this week that we are excited to show you! First off, we'll be potting up the little tomatoes and peppers from the grow room soon as they are fast outgrowing their seed-starter flat. Many growers agree that tomatoes and peppers should be potted up as soon as they have their second set of true-leaves. However, we are operating on a slightly different method that many growers also swear by. We pot up based on root development. When our little seedlings are showing signs of their roots outgrowing their starter tray, we pot them up to 3" peat pots. Peat pots are, perhaps, not the most sustainable of options as peat is a limited natural resource, but we find them to be perfect for indoor seed starting as they are very forgiving when it comes to watering. Plastic pots tend to take a long time to dry out of if you get heavy handed with the watering can and peat pots are breathable and will dry out much more quickly if you happen to over-water. Peat pots are also compostable, and relatively inexpensive to purchase. Operating on the root-development theory, we expect to pot up our little plants one more time before they go in the ground in May.

Let's Get Growing!

Can you guess what time it is?

We are excited to announce a new feature on the blog today! But first, just a quick reminder to our friends and followers in Zone 6 - you need to start your seeds for peppers, tomatoes, onions, and other heat-loving plants this week if you haven't done so already! (Find your growing zone here!) This week puts those of us in Zone 6 at the critical seed-starting time for plants that need a long warm season in order to fruit. You'll want to get seeds started for those types of plants now to ensure that they have approximately 8 weeks of grow-up time to be ready to plant as soon as the first frost date has passed. If you start the seeds too late, your plants won't have enough time to set fruit and produce before the cool season starts again in the fall. Also, pea planting will be just around the corner! My Pap-Pap Jack always planted his peas on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) to ensure the best harvest as peas should be planted outdoors a few weeks before the last frost. 

Moving along, we'd like to give a warm shout-out to our good friend, Mary Jane Bigley who recently commented on our interest poll to let us know that she is very excited to have some land to garden but is looking for some beginner tips and hints. (Hi Mary Jane!!) Her comment gave us the idea to host a grow-along. So, here we go! We now declare an opening to the first annual Dusty Rose Micro-Farm Grow-Along! So, here's how it works. We'll be posting weekly updates on what plants we have started, what varieties we are growing, and share progress pictures of our plants as they grow and fruit. You share your planting/growing progress with us in the comments on our blog, via our Facebook page, or by email and we will feature your pictures and stories once a week in our weekly Grow-Along post! :) The Grow-Along post will be featured on our blog every Thursday. The exciting thing about this kind of community project is that even though some of us live in very different areas, we can all learn from each other and support one another along the way! So... Let's Get Growing!! :)

Ladies, meet your new best friend...

Ok, so this post is for the ladies. Seriously... guys, this is your fair warning. This post contains frank discussion about women's monthly cycle and an awesome product that I want to share with all my sustainability loving ladies. If you don't want to read about this kind of thing, I encourage you to stop reading now and perhaps check out one of our other blog posts... perhaps one of our Everyday Herbal posts. :)

You still reading?

Ok... last chance... the real post starts after the break...