First Planting

We planted the first seeds today!

We started out by moving 4 wheelbarrows worth of compost from one of the paddocks into the greenhouse and out the back for our garden. When the landlord came by later he was surprised that we hadn't waited for him to help us with his tractor...

Then we watered the beds. Today Abby and Ryan finally realized that they could relax outside while we worked in the greenhouse and they lay down in the grass...for a few minutes. They are so used to "outside of the yard" meaning "run like crazy" that the farm freedom is taking some getting used to. They both ignore the horses and cows which is good.

Nathan built a trellis for the peas in the outdoor garden and then we planted (Nathan and I have a slight issue where he thinks in metric and I think in imperial. My american roots are making it very difficult to picture centimeters and meters! We each have our own tape measure...)

Peas (1 x 8' row)
White onions (sets, 2 x 4' row)
Red onions (sets, 2 x 4' row)
Green onions (seedlings - 8)
Manoa lettuce (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Mizuna mustard greens (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Spinach (1 x 4' row)
Mesclun salad blend (half of one 4' row, will stagger planting)
Arugula (seedlings - 9)
Broccoli (seedlings - 3)
Kale (seedlings - 3)
Carrots (2 x 4' rows)







Transplanting some kale.

In the greenhouse we planted:

Herbs:

Basil (9 seedlings)
Cilantro (3 bunches of seedlings)
Parsley (6 ish seedlings)
Dill (1 x 4' row)
Oregano (3 bunches of seedlings)

Broccoli (seedlings - 6)
Kale (seedlings - 3)
Red onions (sets, 3 x 3' rows)
Bush beans (2 x 3' rows)
Eggplant (1 x 4' rows)
Carrots (2 x 4' rows)
Zucchini (1 x 4' row - 2 plants hopefully)

There is supposed to be one more frost so we might have to try and cover the stuff in the greenhouse to protect it. It's hard to know if we have to worry about it - the greenhouse is so hot during the day (10 degrees outside and 30 degrees in the greenhouse - and for some reason temperature is Celcius in my head) that it's hard to imagine it freezing in there at night.

Nathan levelling a path between the two beds.

He also levelled the section on the other side of the greenhouse where he'll set up aquaponics. 

Before:

 After:

This morning I turned Ryan's crate into a chick mega mansion. As far as I know none of them have gone up to the second level yet. 

You can see the two new little red chicks fitting right in.

The Chicks Are Coming!!!

I pick them up tomorrow. Eeeeeee! 

I have to stop at a feed store to get a red 250 watt heat lamp (buying the reflector for $12 off craigslist), some chick starter feed, pine shavings and food and water dispensers. 

The first few days they'll be on paper towels on top of newspaper (with just newspaper they can slip and get something called spraddle leg). For the first week the temperature should be 32 C (90 F), but apparently you can tell if the temperature is right pretty easily by how the chicks are behaving - huddled together under the lamp, they're too cold. Huddled as far away from the lamp as possible, they're too hot. 

I made a brooder out of the bottom half of a vari kennel. I zap strapped the door into place and then zap strapped cardboard on the inside of that to stop shavings from flying out. The top is a sheet of hardware cloth. I didn't want to cut it in case we use it for something else later so I just folded it over the edges of the kennel. I think the heat lamp will be fine sitting on top but if that's too warm I'll clamp it onto something else. 

On a less exciting note (still exciting for me - I sit and look at the seedlings alll the time), here are the replanted kale, broccoli and arugula seedlings! Ready to go straight into the greenhouse.