May is here!!!

May is here and everything is in full swing. All the drips in the greenhouse are in and functioning on a timer. This makes watering much easier and much more effective. Most of the drips are done outside and I only have 2 more areas to finish. That's two more weeks of planting early crops like beets, carrots, and onions and such.

Paul and I prepped a new deep dug raised bed yesterday and I think I am going to try trellis cucumbers in it. It's up by the greenhouse. I have several more raised beds going up there they are a lot of work being I use a deep dig method but I hope they pay off. I really amend the soil using compost and spent deep bed hay the goats and chickens have been on. It's all about sustainability everything gets used.

It's raining today and I have been working in between rain storms outside. My rain collection barrel from the house is working great. I have one barrel full and another almost full and I am going to see how many I can get today. I will use them to water the upper flower and herb beds next to the house. I am also going to set the herb beds up on a drip system so when I am out of rain water I can use the water system more effectively. This is my first rain water collection system so I am not sure how much I can collect or maintain.

Our season is so short here in Colorado it seems sometimes you can't wait to get started. We have to be careful though not to plant out too early. Especially the hot crops like tomatoes and eggplant which are doing great right now in the greenhouse. We installed a swamp cooler in the greenhouse which I got from my friend Linda free. It's doing great at cutting down that mid afternoon heat which is extremely hot. It reached 130 in there last summer so I am hoping to reduce that down this year with the swamp cooler. Paul says's I take better care of the vegetables and animals then him. He said we don't have a swamp cooler in the house but the plants have a swamp cooler.

My first market is next week and I should have Pak choy, gourmet lettuce mix, radish, mustard, chard, tarragon, sage, chives and oregano. Early season here is lots of greens and herbs. I have not planted a mesclan mix yet I need to get that in because I have a cusabi dressing that is great on them.

Time to get back to work,

Blessings Teresa