My
name is Mindy. I spent several years (7+) working 40 hours a week in
various office settings. One day I was online looking to join a local
CSA and I came across the blog for a local farm, Buckhorn Gardens. There was a post stating they were looking for interns, I felt a light bulb go off and called immediately. Of
course it was spring and everyone was out working in the fields, but
they returned my call that evening and I visited the farm the following weekend. Shortly thereafter, I put in my resignation at work and three weeks
later I was officially jumping into the beautiful world of farming.
I
spent a couple years working with a lovely and inspirational group of
ladies, absorbing as much information about growing food as possible.
And, in 2012 I started Early Bird
Gardens, my own small, chemical free farm in Montrose, Colorado! I chose this name because I have always been an early riser. When I was
younger it was always my Dad and I up first at
our house, and he would remind me 'the early bird gets the worm'. Ha! Now I have somewhere to put all of my
early morning energy.
My
family lives nearby and helps me enormously, I could not have made it
through my first growing season without their tremendous help. The 2012
season was challenging early on for a couple reasons: (1) I had knee
surgery in March and (2) we did not see a drop, literally a drop, of
rain until July 4th! Reminder to self, do not take your knees or spring rain for granted. Oh but when the rain finally came, it was heavenly.
The
2012 season went better than I expected. Once a little rain
came, everything started to grow like wild. It was my first season
being in charge and planning for my own CSA. This was exciting, a
little nerve wracking but in the end, so very rewarding. I am so lucky
to have the opportunity to produce food for family, friends and the
local community.
And
here we are, it's Spring and my knee is pretty well healed. I am busy
prepping, planning, seeding and gearing up for the 2013 growing season!
Today, I spent the early morning hours sipping coffee while
transplanting peppers into larger pots so they can grow big and strong
(yes, this may be something I whisper to my vegetables when nobody is
looking) before they are transplanted into the greenhouse next month.
I
will
be posting updates with farm tidbits, photos and harvest info in the near
future. I hope you can get a sense of the joy farming brings me through
this blog.
And.... we're off!
We have had a couple setbacks this spring. Some creepy crawlers have been eating the roots of certain crops (spinach, peas, onions) causing the plants to wilt and die. I did a little investigating in the soil and determined they are some kind of root maggot. These little buggers are driving me bonkers but hopefully the beneficial insects I added recently will help keep them in check. Time will tell. Lucky for us the early bed of spinach is still looking great and ready to be harvested soon! 
We have spinach, salad greens, snow peas, snap peas and fava beans all planted and starting to germinate outside. With the cold temps coming I covered these beds with hoops and fabric to keep them a little bit warmer.
