We interrupt this Long Winter...
...for a weekend of Spring!
What a treat! Sunshine, temps that went beyond the 50's...Ahhhh, blissful! The county was noisy with tractors and buzzing lawn mowers, and the ka-ching of cash registers at nurseries everywhere!
And lots of people were smiling -- did you notice that?
We smiled too, but not easily until the end of Saturday. Our favorite forecaster had predicted a week of drier weather, and a sunny weekend. "Drier" had turned out to be a relative term, and meant that we got only 3/4" of rain over the first 3 days of the week, instead of the 1 1/2" of the week before. This was making it very difficult to get the field ready for planting...it was still pretty wet...
We knew that even if most of Thursday and Friday were dry, the soil would not be in optimum condition. The forecast trend indicated that our next opportunity to plant would be mid-May -- and no matter the soil conditions, planting that late is not optimum. It became a matter of choosing which was less bad...So -- we decided to try to catch this window.
The trick would be to delay planting as long as possible into Saturday, allowing the field time to dry -- while also getting enough workers to plant the field in a short amount of time. We weren't going to work on Easter Sunday, and besides, the rain was supposed to return by then.
Randy did a great job getting the dirt ready, and our friend, Gregorio, really came through for us, getting a crew of 20 (count 'em!) workers!!
We started planting at 2pm on Saturday, and finished by 7pm. Of course, Randy's day had started much earlier as he had to go over the field with the cultivator one more time before we started. Then he had to mark the rows. Planting day is always a lot of hard work, but I was blessed to have my load lightened as Jess and Caitlin joined the crew to help! Cait filled buckets with roots; Jess ran the buckets to the workers as they needed refills, and I got the cushy job of driving the truck along as we went.
I did take turns with their more difficult jobs...so I did suffer a little, but not nearly as much as last year. It was a treat to have them work with us, and to know that they were enjoying their day in the sunshine.
We all smiled big, and sighed with relief at the end of the day when every row was planted. It was a great weather day, and we had a crew of hard workers who did a quality job. So satisfying to get the job done...This is the latest we have ever planted.
Now we can sit back and wait for them to grow...
What a treat! Sunshine, temps that went beyond the 50's...Ahhhh, blissful! The county was noisy with tractors and buzzing lawn mowers, and the ka-ching of cash registers at nurseries everywhere!
And lots of people were smiling -- did you notice that?
We smiled too, but not easily until the end of Saturday. Our favorite forecaster had predicted a week of drier weather, and a sunny weekend. "Drier" had turned out to be a relative term, and meant that we got only 3/4" of rain over the first 3 days of the week, instead of the 1 1/2" of the week before. This was making it very difficult to get the field ready for planting...it was still pretty wet...
We knew that even if most of Thursday and Friday were dry, the soil would not be in optimum condition. The forecast trend indicated that our next opportunity to plant would be mid-May -- and no matter the soil conditions, planting that late is not optimum. It became a matter of choosing which was less bad...So -- we decided to try to catch this window.
The trick would be to delay planting as long as possible into Saturday, allowing the field time to dry -- while also getting enough workers to plant the field in a short amount of time. We weren't going to work on Easter Sunday, and besides, the rain was supposed to return by then.
Randy did a great job getting the dirt ready, and our friend, Gregorio, really came through for us, getting a crew of 20 (count 'em!) workers!!
We started planting at 2pm on Saturday, and finished by 7pm. Of course, Randy's day had started much earlier as he had to go over the field with the cultivator one more time before we started. Then he had to mark the rows. Planting day is always a lot of hard work, but I was blessed to have my load lightened as Jess and Caitlin joined the crew to help! Cait filled buckets with roots; Jess ran the buckets to the workers as they needed refills, and I got the cushy job of driving the truck along as we went.
I did take turns with their more difficult jobs...so I did suffer a little, but not nearly as much as last year. It was a treat to have them work with us, and to know that they were enjoying their day in the sunshine.
Now we can sit back and wait for them to grow...
Doesn't look like much, but under that flat spot is a future raspberry plant...Grow, baby, grow!
To cap the day, Dillon and Tiffany showed up with a delicious berry crisp for our dessert that night...a perfect tribute to the work of the day.
So much to be thankful for...
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