Winter Blues

Did I ever say that weeding was fun? If I did or ever do, shoot me. I have still been working on weeding and bedding down my three field crops. Let's start with a blueberry update.

The good news is that I only have 6 more blueberry bushes to weed. Well, that's good news to just one farmer in the world anyway. My only problem now is finding enough free suitable mulch for them. I am looking hard to find old pine sawdust or fine chips to finish three 250 foot rows of blueberries. That's about 9 pickup loads. Anybody got a source?

I have recently finished mowing out my hop vines and I am looking forward, like a condemned man looks forward to the firing squad, to start weeding them and laying down the mulch for them. I have some composted cow manure that I am going to put down on the plants before I mulch them. I have to get on the stick, the really cold weather is yet to come.

I started tackling the insurmountable task of cleaning up my 1/8 acre of weeds that contain one weed that I want to keep, the milkweed. Man, that has been a real challenge. The use of chemicals might just be an alternative to this mangle of tangled vines, stickers, and stringy contagious assorted other rhizomes. I must say, the other day it was weeds 1, Van 0.

Next year, I will have an opportunity to get my milkweed in the production stage and try to keep up with keeping them a bit more organized in defense for the aggressive weed attacks.

I got my last installment on my AgOptions Grant last month and I am now working on another grant to help finance my last phase of the expansion here on the farm. It will be for the picnic shelter and bathroom facility. I am a firm believer that this is going to be the most critical part for the survival of my small family farm here. It will be the make or break it part of the puzzle. Ah, if it weren't for stress in my life where would I be. ( Without shingles for one thing!)