So It Begins.....

Warm and dry enough weather has allowed us to start working on our little homestead's most valuable resource, DIRT.  The first warm work day is always exciting-

We bought a plow off Craigslist recently that has helped us with turning spring soil.  This has been on our wish list since we got our small tractor.

The plow flips over a strip of ground instead of churning it like a tiller.  Once the soil is 'flipped' all plant growth (weeds and our Winter Rye here) that was on the top is now underneath a clump of soil, which will cause it to die and rot due to the lack of sunshine.  I hear it helps warm the soil quicker as well.  Almanzo said so in Farmer Boy anyway.

Little man whacking away at the ground-

We will let this sit for multiple weeks then break it up more with out rototiller while we add compost.  We also turned over another plot in the back of our property; it was pure sod and our rototiller would not have been as effective.  It would've just churned the grass around and likely left plenty in tact to survive.  We added a tarp for extra killing.  BE GONE GRASS!

We are planning to make this our sweet corn and gourd patch (gourds for making bird houses; this variety here).  If all goes well I hope to possibly paint and sell these.

Food is already making its way out of the ground.  We should have enough asparagus to make a dish THIS WEEKEND!

Seedlings continue to sprout!

Lots to do, lots to do.

Needless to say I am glad for the return of the warm spring sunshine.... and also because of these thingies just installed on our roof.

We recently had solar panels installed on the back of our house.  Our property apparently was a prime candidate for benefitting from solar panels due to the way the backside of our roof faces (towards the south).  We had multiple solar companies stop and try to get us to sign up with them.  We choose a local company and went with the buying option instead of renting them; that way we received the SRECS (Solar Renewable Energy Credits).  The loan for purchasing and installing will be paid off in 5 years from the energy savings and then we will make money from the SRECs.  If you have other questions about these let me know or better yet just talk to my husband. :)

Off to gather some eggs and check for the second time today if my carrots have come up.... because I have a patience problem.