As 2018 rolled in, we were able to pause from all of our other projects and really consider how to go about creating a true farm. Year two called for some bigger plans.
In 2017, we planted our first lavender plants (check out our post on the 2017 planting season). This year we had pre-ordered some young plants for the spring planting season. Eventually, we hope to take cuttings from these plants as they mature, but for now we are buying yearlings that have been raised in greenhouses. With over 120 holes to dig, we had our work cut out for us.
Thankfully, our farm is a family operation and we had plenty of help! My Pomeranian, Rico, scouted out the rows and made sure everything was lined up straight before we got started. His baby brother, a seven months old rescue puppy named Taser, was worn out after only a few rows.
Luckily, we managed to get all of our plants in the ground in one weekend. No one escaped the hard work, but we all walked away with our heads held high. We might be new at farming, but a little hard work wasn't going to get in our way. We even drafted a few of our friends and they had a blast (dirt covered and sweaty, we decided to spare the public any photos of our planting group).
Once they were all in the ground we added topsoil to build them up and keep the roots dry. We also mix in lime throughout the planting process to help with the soil's acidity. We never would've known to do this if Doreen hadn't gone to learn from community farming co-op sessions run by Cornell University. The program at Cornell even tested our soil for us so that we knew exactly what was needed for optimal growing.
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