Hula Hoe

Lance hula hoeing the cucumbers

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

You know I'm a weed hater. I've complained often enough over the last couple of years. There are several that grow on our land which are actually pretty. If I encountered them walking through the woods or along the Verde River, I would admire them and find them lovely. But not on our farm. More than the weeds, I hate Bermuda grass. On the rows we used black plastic mulch, the weeds are squelched, but not the Bermuda. Nasty stuff pops right through. All we can do is pull it when we see it. Nothing harmless to our crops will kill it.

Lance got the cucumbers planted before the black mulch arrived so we'll use a different tactic. He's hula hoed the rows as close to the baby plants as possible. The we'll do a quick hand pull around the babies and follow with grass mulch.

Hard to see the plants from the weeds

I predict the garlic will harvest early this year. The normal time from planting to harvesting is nine months. We're at seven right now. I dug down and tested a couple and felt the bulbs forming. It's been hot early so they may be ready closer to eight months. It's a guess since I'm totally new at this.

The hot water heater failed for the sixth time in two years. They keep replacing a heating element and we keep paying the service call. We could've bought one by now. I finally put my foot down with the insurance company and we struck a deal. We're getting a new hot water heater. These kind of battles are energy draining.

I did save money at the grocery store on Wednesday. First Wednesday of the month is senior day. It's a crazy day to shop but the discount is worth it. Then I went to the opening day of Sprouts. If you've not heard of Sprouts, it's a grocery store and so much more - lots of natural and organic food. I nearly walked out when I saw the checkout lines but on a second look the first day deals were worth the hassle.

Grass mulch around other plants

My amazed thought for today: We're having cabbage and ribs for dinner tonight. This is cabbage from last year that's been in the freezer and I can look out my window and see this years cabbage plants growing. Pretty cool.