The First Full Week of the 2008 Season

After another long Minnesota winter, we were all excited to start farming. While the majority of the past week was overcast or rainy with threats of hail and tornadoes, we managed to get everything in the ground. Kristin and I were fortunate enough to be able to get most of the preparatory work done during celebration week (before the new interns returned to campus). This allowed us to break ground right from the start.

We also bought six chickens from the local Latino Chicken Farm. They run an excellent operation and I encourage everyone in the Northfield area to look them up for their next chicken dinner. This year's chickens are all Cornish Crosses, and while they aren't as colorful as last year's, they've really grown on me. They're all very friendly, and happily follow behind us when we're weeding--in hopes of snagging a worm.

The farm also survived the first crisis of the year this past week. A herd of cows got loose and trampled much of the garden. No serious harm was done. The cows were nice enough to leave quality fertilizer behind as an apology for any squashed plants.

Finally, I would like to thank the Northfield Co-op for donating beautiful flowers for our bees and a variety of vegetable plants (which are all doing very well).

I also attached a few pictures from the one nice day had. They're mostly of chickens--but that's only because they're so photogenic.