Monday, April 30, 2012

Tomorrow is May!!

So, today is the last day of April. How did that happen??? Seems I was just working at the ski park and now tomorrow is May!!! Puts a bit of panic in my system but I'm trying to remain calm.
May = crazyness!!! Now, I like a bit of crazy, keeps me on my toes but I hate waiting for it to happen. I like to work, work, work. Ask Derek, its all I do, and I'm a cranky bear when the weather is poor and I'm stuck in side. Well when May hits I turn into a working crazy person driving everyone around me crazy along with me. I worry about getting my seeds in the ground early enough but not too early, about too much/too little moisture, night-time cold temperatures which could zap my tender seedlings in the greenhouse and just overall worry!! Derek always hates this time of year I think!! But this year I'm trying really hard to not go to that crazy place. Trust me, its hard. I get this super anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach and usually I do not handle it very well but this year will be different. I can just see Derek rolling his eyes if he ever reads this, which I'm sure he won't as he's too busy getting things done on the to do list to keep me from going to my "crazy" place.

So, what's different about this year. Firstly I've been taking the boys to a sitter every week 1 or 2 days which has been a LIFE SAVER to me. They are gone all day and I can focus on getting stuff done and prepared so as to not let those anxious feelings take over. Secondly the big move put us just minutes away from my parents and my Mom has been super woman taking the boys every now and then for a few hours so I can get last minute projects such as paper work or seeding finished up which did not get done on the sitter day. Thirdly Derek has been a super star this spring helping to get projects finished up, I think the move has been really good for him and he's really taken on alot of projects which I've really appreciated. Lastly, I decided that this year WILL be different in terms of my addiction to work and obsession over the farm. I kinda want to have a life away from the farm and I'm looking forward to that this year. Time will tell!!!

I'm really excited about this coming season, I've got some super workers lined up which is taking away a lot of the stress that I usually feel this time of year. Kim will be helping again this year which is great, not only do we get work done its like a therapy session for the both of us, needless to say we talk a lot during the work day!! And my friend Sally will be working 2 mornings/week which I'm super excited about. Sally is this hard core say it how it is super star and I'm excited to have her around this summer. Check out her blog if you get a chance, always puts a smile on my face!!


Swiss chard all ready to be transplanted
The greenhouse is coming along really well. Derek spent a lot of time in there this past weekend getting it all cleaned up and organised. All of the tables have been built and are set-up and he also built me a potting bench which I'm pretty excited about. I've got about half of the tables filled with seedlings including leeks, onions, shallots, swiss chard, green onions, lettuce, peppers, eggplants, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, bok choy, chinese cabbage, basil, leaf celery, celery, celeriac and I'm sure others I'm forgetting. Every two weeks I start about 15-20 new trays and I'll be potting my tomatoes on to their 4" pots in the next week or so. I also finally got the greenhouse planted last week to a variety of farm fresh veggies including beets, spinach, red mustard, mizuna, arugula, swiss chard, dill, cilantro, lettuce mix, bok choy and others I'm forgetting!! Many have germinated and little green babies can now be seen in the rows.

Planting in the greenhouse, finally!!!

Beautiful red lettuce

I ran in my first 5k of the season about a month ago but I had to put my running on the back burner for a few weeks due to my sore knee. I'm hoping to get back at it soon as I've got a few races I'd like to complete before the summer heat hits. I never thought I'd enjoy running but its a bit addictive and I can't wait to get back at it again.  I'm also getting a pair of roller blades and I can't wait to hit the pavement!!  It's something I used to really enjoy in college so I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

Playing with my boys
The boys checking out the tiny seedlings

Derek built me a small potting bench, its awesome!!

Tiny seedlings just popped up

Well, the boys have been quiet for a bit now, nap time has taken on a life of its own in the last few weeks.  I used to be able to put them in their cribs and walk away for at least 2 hours with baby monitor in hand.  Now, its party time and it takes a good 30-50 minutes before they decide they are done rocking and rolling and getting to sleep, forces me to sit down and get caught up on e-mails and in this case, blogging!!!  Time to get outside and make the most of these precious nap moments!!
Snack time
Cookie monster