The Urban Farmers Strike Again

The Heirloom Gardens team tackled our second yard on Sunday, March 15th. This is a larger space - almost 1300 square feet! Those that worked both Big Digs (Saturday and Sunday) agreed that this one went even smoother. We're getting better at this!



This is a "before" picture that was taken a few months ago. The yard didn't actually look quite this good when we started. The resident was having lots of problems with weeds coming up through the rock mulch, and the grass was thinner.


Everyone digging in!



Making progress - about halfway through the yard! We've already had people remove all of the gravel in wheelbarrows and wagons and pull up the weedblocking fabric.

We got another delivery of manure, which (along with compost) was rototilled into the soil.

Long shot of the prepared garden with 36 beds....

...and the crew that made it happen!

Awesome!

On Saturday thirteen Heirloom Gardens members came together to transform a front yard (and part of the back yard) into a tilled, fertilized garden! It was an incredible amount of work accomplished in an afternoon by a great team.




The front yard "before."



The back yard "before," with the newspaper and cardboard mulching.



Our compost and one of the oh-so-handy rototillers.




Shovel lineup.

The manure delivery!

Nathaneal and Kirk unloading.

A big 'ole pile!

Breaking ground on the front yard.

Kelly digging while Lucy observes.

Melanie and Kirk handling the rototiller.

Found treasure! A very old soda bottle...

And a butter knife! We used this knife during our seed transplanting on Sunday.

Loading the wheelbarrow.

Starting up the old rototiller. It gave us some trouble, but ended up working well (with lots of TLC from a couple of our members).

Tilling it up!

Planning with Everett.

Another day on the urban farm...

Hammering in the stakes.





Raking the beds.

Maia is making a discovery....

She found 4 worms!

Cleaning up after the Big Dig.

Loading up extra manure for our members to take home.

Finishing it up.

Spring onions that sprouted from last year's seeds.

Our staked beds - each is 4' x 6', with 2' paths.

At the end of a good day's work!

Meet the Baby!

Today Brian and I went to Crowley Manor to meet the newest member of our farm family -- our baby Nigerian Dwarf goat. She was born at 2:00am on Saturday morning, so she was about 32 hours old when we saw her.

She is strawberry-blonde with blue eyes, just like the papa goat. We're going to name her Peaberry.











She already knows how to pose for the camera. She's a natural!

I wonder if we'll have any trouble bonding?

She's still got a little amniotic fluid on her forehead. Her momma has cleaned her, but whenever she nurses she gets a little more on her head. It's no problem - just a little post-birth stuff!

Lilly Blue (who's due to have babies in April) and Coco check us out.

She likes to cuddle close, and cuddling inside a shirt is even better!

Look at those blue eyes!

She has something to say!!

On your mark, get set...

And she's off!

Right now she's just a tad bigger than Lucy, but she's got looong legs!

Some gorgeous goat milk soaps made by the goat owner/breeder, Patricia from Crowley Manor. Patricia treated us to a couple of bars - Monaco Lavendar & Peaches and Pink Grapefruit Lemon Balm. These are just wonderful soaps, made by hand. You can contact Patricia at (303) 668-3892 or www.crowleymanor.com if you'd like more information.