It was another busy and beautiful weekend for the Step Back Farmers filled with gardening and historical re-enactments.
The weekend started on Friday evening with some time spent battling weeds in the potato patch. This week the rows of plants started popping out of the ground. I never get tired of looking at these beautiful purple potato plants.
On Saturday the family headed to Ligonier to the Five Medals at the Trace living history event. It was our first time attending this event and we loved it. It's a small event compared to many of the other better-known events in Indiana but the demonstrators were amazing and so eager to share their knowledge with our boys. Vincent made a point of spending time with all of the blacksmiths trading tips and tricks. Each of the blacksmiths had a completely different angle to their demonstrations and historical relevance.
Back at the farm at lot fun things have been going on. Our shitake logs are starting produce fungi! It's just a couple at a time currently but we expect to have a large flush eventually to be able to share with our CSA members.
Our strawberries are just starting to ripen and they are amazingly sweet! Strawberries from the garden are like the official start of the amazing local harvests to come. We should have plenty to share in another week or two.
On Sunday we set out on our quest to get our much overdue onions into the ground. Anita and I built five beds with white plastic mulch, drip irrigation, and landscape clothed walkways before lunch. Just in time for her seasonal allergies to flare up requiring her to sequester in the house for the rest of the day.
Here you can see me using another one of the new tools we added to the arsenal this year, the Duc Plow! It was one of those Facebook ads that kept showing up on my phone until I finally caved. So far it mostly gets used to quickly build raised garden beds by plowing the walkways. It takes a bit of practice to walk backwards in a straight line but it's much quicker and easier to use than the rotary plow we used previously.
Our dog Mabel worked very hard doing nothing particular and found the shade under a lawn chair to be the perfect spot for a nap while we planted.
In the end we planted thousands of onions and completed just before dark. Another fulfilling day in the gardens!