6-21-10

STRAWBERRY RUNNER

WALDO, MATT, & JEN WEED RUNNERS

TALIA, TARA, & OCEAN RACE TO THE POND

STRIKE A POSE

LOW RIDER

COCK-A-DOODLE-DO

It was a pleasant surprise this morning when we spoke to Matt and he told us he didn't really need us to help until the afternoon. We didn't get back to the farm until nearly 1am last night, so the extra sleep this morning was much needed.

After lunch we all weeded the runners off the strawberries. The runners are the strawberry bushes natural way of spreading. From the strawberries' standpoint, the bush wants to grow as big as possible and slowly spread and take over. From a farmer's standpoint, these runners are hinderances because the plant puts more energy into producing these runners and new leaves and less energy into producing fruit. In order to maximize fruit yield the runners got the axe. The only time you'd want to keep the runners is if you are trying to grow more strawberry plants; if this is the case, you allow the runners to grow, then remove and replant them elsewhere as new, independent plants. Raspberries were next on the weeding list, followed by blueberries and grapes. The fruit was getting the royal treatment today, and all we can do is hope and pray that one day really soon we will be harvesting and savoring strawberries, followed by raspberries, blueberries, and grapes. There is a whole lot more to farming than just harvesting. But boy, we cannot WAIT for fruit to be ripe!

With three kids under the age of six running around all the time, we are not only learning farming skills here, but we're also honing our parenting skills, which we'll need in the future. It's fun to have kids around and trying to explain things in a manner they can understand can often be a challenge. Today, Joe and Rosie were trying to get Ocean to drink green juice for breakfast but she didn't want it; instead she wanted to eat simply bread and cheese. Joe tried explaining that she needed fiber in her diet in order to remain healthy, but fiber is a foreign concept to her. We're pretty sure we know why fiber is important for our health, but thinking of ways to explain these benefits to a five year old is really tough. It's really great to be around kids and their parents and see how they interact and learn for ourselves what works and what doesn't. Hopefully one day we'll be able to teach and explain lessons to our kids effectively. Just saying, "Because I said so" is not a good enough answer. Ever.