after rocking it out at the greenhouse and getting our seeds started in that lovely hippie grow cave, we’ve finally been moving some transplants out to the main fields.

it’s a little nerve wracking to make the transfer, we’ve found. we can deal with the re-introduction of muscles deep in the glutes that come from so much squatting (we’re calling it “bossy butt”), and it’s been hugely satisfying to plant a row of cabbage or lettuces and see that tidy little line just waiting for a chance to get bigger.

bossy k planting taters!

but the weather has proven to be a challenge with such a famine-to-feast spring. we started with drought conditions, so the soil was hard and crumbly, but then the rains came and turned the beds to mud. we managed to get the tiller into some of the beds in the time between crumble and muck, but it was still a little anxiety producing to see standing water on part of the field yesterday.

maybe our csa members would be okay with us turning our operation to grains and then we could turn the whole shebang into a rice paddy?

another challenging element is to put the starts into the field on their own—it’s like sending kids off to kindergarten. in the greenhouse, the plants are cozied up with each other and look so lush in the trays. in the field, they get separated and placed into their own spots and maybe it’s a bit of anthropomorphizing, but they seem smaller and more wistful that way. when it comes time for harvesting, we’re sure that they’ll be hearty and abundant, but for now, we just act like encouraging parents and hope for the best.

beyond the challenges, though, it feels amazing to finally be out in the field. digging in the soil, being on our knees, planning out the rows—all of it isn’t just the culmination of a winter spent dreaming, but of years spent wishing to get to this exact point.

in may, alone, we’ve already done seven farmers markets – ranging from fulton farmers’  market to mill city farmers’ market to kingfield farmers’ market.  plus, coming up this friday we’ll have our very first csa delivery and on sunday, we’ll be adding the new linden hills farmers market to the list!

bossy e at market

it seems like everything is going at double speed, so it’s delicious to sit back and look across the fields in the midst of planting.

this is where we want to be, and despite the bossy butt, it’s an awesome feeling.