Our beautiful spring lettuces were a big hit at the Smithville Farmers' Market. We've also gotten people into kale chips and Rainbow Swiss Chard! Everyone loved the garlic scapes. People seemed interested these purple tomatoes we keep talking about.
Spring was magnificent! The trees turned from naked and drab in their mottled tones of brown and gray to sprayed with magenta, orange, eletric yellow and green, ember red. The dogwoods held their white blooms against the crystal clear blue sky like little clouds captured and arrange for the observer's pleasure. There's a van Gogh painting, Almond Blossoms, that strikingly captures the contrast. How lucky I am to live in a place where I go horseback riding through pieces of art people pay to see in museums.
We are eating beautiful foods from the garden now. The colors blow my mind.
By not weeding and not thinning our Touchstone Gold and Early Top beets, we learned that in order to get good beets, you have to thin and weed your beet patch. I was so happy to harvest these Chioggias! This day, we had harvesting help from my long time best friend, Kate.
We had a family reunion. We partied, and we relaxed.
We went caving in a nearby cave with a big reservior in front of it. They used to raise trout here. Now crazy people jump off the baracades into the 56 degree water.
As the members of Purple Maize Farm are also members of the Dry Creek Water Quality Conservation group, we took a few helping helds along for a water testing outing. We found beautiful geodes and creek glass. The water was beautiful and clear with no nitrates or phosphates to speak of. We are so lucky to live along such an outstanding water body!
We also did Indian Grave Point, where the climb down isn't nearly as crazy as it looks, but it is a good thing we have friends to hold up the ceiling. If you trek through the Sea of Mud, you can get to the art room. And the world never looks as beautiful and green as it does during the first moments after you emerge from a cave.
I got to cook my favorite breakfast (biscuits and gravy) for my favorite people. We had local pork, eggs from next door, and biscuits from scratch were a group effort.
We all met Amanda for the first time. She told us this is what it feels like to be dating Hector. Just kidding. She was a champ, and it was lovely to finally meet her!
The house was plenty big for 14 people. Really.
Now it's June, and we have cucumbers tumbling out of the garden. The scallop squashes are promising an imminent explosion of activity. We are loaded with green tomatoes, and the first ripe ones are trickling in. We need to get around to digging potatoes, which we won't be planting in hay next time. Peppers are setting, and the eggplants are finally in the garden and bursting with buds.
I have no idea when I'll get around to updating again, but for right now, I'll say that I couldn't ask for better customers, a more beautiful garden, or a more wonderful life.
