My dream job.

Anyone who knows me can imagine my excitement when I heard that our local Community Supported Agriculture was hiring for a Lead Farmer Click here to read about the CSA  Yes, I totally freaked!!!....I had to get this job. After all this job description was written for me. Of course, there was that little voice in my head saying "You're crazy....you haven't worked on a CSA before... you'll never get the job."  Regardless, I submitted my resume and I interviewed for the position. Then, after waiting for what seemed like forever I finally received the phone call. I almost laughed when I was told that the job was mine if I still wanted it...This is my dream job...Of course I want it!!!  : )

I've always said if I could garden for a living I'd do it in a heartbeat. (Or part of a living anyway). Most  people think I'm strange but I love digging in the dirt. I love planting seeds, nurturing plants and watching them grow. I especially like sharing the garden bounty with friends, family and the local food bank. And I don't even mind weeding. Need I say more? This job seems like a natural fit for me. And, the fact that the community garden is located in the neighborhood where I grew up makes it even more exciting.

So, you might be wondering what exactly a CSA farmer does. Here are just a few things I will be responsible for at the CSA: crop selection/seed selection, planting, helping with the weekly harvesting, managing the irrigation, equipment and tool maintenance, chicken tending, arranging volunteer labor, and community education. I'm sure there are many more duties that will arise but you get the idea.

I must add that I am both very honored but very nervous to take over where former lead farmer, Caleb Goss left off. Let's just say I have a lot to live up to. There are approximately 30 shareholders that depend on receiving a box of 7-9 different vegetables each week for about 16 weeks. This means timing and succession planting are essential to making sure everyone gets a nice variety of vegetables and herbs....no pressure...lol!

I feel extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to do what I love and I look forward to working with some pretty awesome people.

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler





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Spring Fever!!!

I have a bad case of Spring Fever. I know, it's only January, but I'm not the type of gardener that lets the weather keep me from growing. I simply can't sit around and wait for Spring to get here. (62 days, 5 hours, and 48 minutes...not that I'm counting) Besides, I have a new grow room. Yep, I  upgraded my growing space from the closet to a spare bedroom. My son, Dustin, recently moved out on his own so I decided to turn his bedroom into my plant starting room. It's working great but I will need to add a couple more grow lights soon.

In December I started "a few" herbs and a couple cucumber plants to see how well they would grow indoors and so far, so good. I started Cucino cukes, sweet basil, red basil, cilantro, marjoram, thyme, oregano, lavender, and sage. I usually grow basil and parsley in my windowsill all year round but I wanted to see how much I could actually harvest for drying. I harvested the basil, cilantro, and marjoram several times now but the oregano and thyme are slower growing. That's probably a good thing....sometimes I go overboard when it comes to seeding and then I have a zillion plants to harvest all at once.  : ) 

I hope to gain a couple weeks of grow time with the new set up. The plan is to successively start my herbs, flowers and fussy vegetable plants in the grow room. Some plants are started in February and some in March. Then, near the end of  March, I will fire up the greenhouse and have the cold frames ready. By this time, many of the cole crops will be ready for the cold frames or the garden. The peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and herbs most likely will stay in the greenhouse until the end of May. We will see if the weather cooperates though : )

Happy Growing!!!