Friday Dec 30 ----  What a gorgeous day!  We planted 6000 onion sets today.  The farm is looking good, getting ready for 2012. 

Thursday Dec 15 ---  The recent rains have taken off the burn ban in our area and we are taking advantage of the moment. We are burning three year old piles and subsequently finding whole new areas of ground to plant something on.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Friday Dec 2 --- Well, what do you know?  It is a rainy day today so we are taking this oppurtunity to do ...... nothing.  Yep, other than feeding and checking on goats (and updating this page) I have pretty much done nothing.  Not to say there isn't plenty I could be doing but nope I aint going to do them.  121 goat kids now, this rainy weather is supposed to be here for a few days and the goat area is a sloppy mess.  Some kids will probably get sick through this wet spell, we'll have to keep an eye out.  
   Earlier in the week we cut the old kid Mazes down, yesterday we round baled them.  There was more hay there than I thought.  Unfortunately it had been killed by a freeze several weeks back so the nutrition value is not going to be real high, but the feed value is going to be high because there is not a lot to eat right now.  As soon as I could we put those round bales under the barn.  I plowed up the fields last night and thought, "I better go ahead and plant these before the rain comes"  but then I persuaded myself not to plant because "It is going to be hard to see where I have planted and that sure will be embarrasing to see a big blank spot out there" (yes, I did say that to myself) so then I said "I'll just get up early tomorrow and plant them" ........ yeah, it rained last night = too wet to plant this morning = oh well, I'll just plant next week after it dries out.  Which is really not a big deal but it will be just one week less growing time.
  The Strawberry plants are doing well and NO DEER DAMAGE at the moment!  So far so good for next Springs crop.

Sunday Nov 20 --- Kids galore - that is, Goat Kids galore.  86 goat kids born last week with more to go this coming week.  We like to ear tag the kids as soon as we can after birth so we can keep them straight.  Unfortunately, some mothers will not take care of one kid or a kid gets lost etc... and if we know who their mother is we can try to get them straightened out.  Right now we spend all day messing with the goats.  It is fun for awhile but the rest of the farm gets neglected.  I let some Strawberry plants get too dry last week and had to scramble to get some water on them.  Most of the plants are looking pretty good, some need a little more TLC - which I am hoping to give them next week.  We certainly have LOTS to be Thankful for and one of them is our loyal customers.  Thank You if you have come out and harvested some fruit or some fun with us.  

Wednesday Nov 9 ---- This coming Saturday will be the last 'open' day of 2011.  All of our events except the Horse Rides and Flower Picking will be up and running.  The flowers were wiped out by a freeze last week.  I have cut them down now and started removing the plastic they were planted on.  Even though the grass that makes up the Mazes was killed it will remain standing up long enough to get through this Saturday.  I was desperately hoping to get the mazes cut and baled before it was killed by a freeze.  Three hours of cold wiped out what could have been 500 bales of very valuable and much needed Hay.  Oh well, such is life dealing with the weather.
  All the Strawberry plants are now in the ground (grow baby grow).  Hopefully, next March we will start picking ripe berries. 

Wednesday Nov 2 ---- It has been a great Fall season and it is not over yet!  Even though we have sold lots of pumpkins we still have some for photo ops.  All the events are still up and running and the Horse Rides will be here this weekend as well.  I am baffled that the Maze is still pretty hard,  what I thought was one of our worst mazes has turned out to be a pretty good one.  A cold front is moving in at the moment which is going to make the afternoon temps very nice.  The forecast calls for nighttime temps in the 30's.  A freeze would not bode well for the Zinnas, hopefully the freeze will stay away just a little longer.  
  Well, I found out after the fact, a friend I grew up with was married at the farm two weeks ago Saturday.  It was our first marriage at the farm.  I saw Pat yesterday and he was telling me all about it.  My dad performed the ceremony (he is a retired preacher) and Pat said he pronounced them married in front of  "God, me and several hundred people". 
  Our other female donkey had a baby today and we had a goat give birth too.  Things are just starting to multiply around here, I wonder how that nickle I buried is doing?

Wednesday Oct. 26 ---  Still going strong!  We still have pumpkins and are gaining momentum as we look forward to another cool front!  Summer did return for the first three days of this week and I doubt there is anyone that is more ready for the front than I.  Sounds like we might have some moisture tomorrow followed be cooler weather all the way through the weekend ---- hallelujah!  This should be an excellent weekend coming up.  The farm still looks amazingly good considering the dry weather and the crowds we have been having.  We are going to let employees dress up this weekend, hope it doesn't scare any kiddos - keep that in mind.  Don't forget we will stay open the first two weeks of November. 
   About 25000 Strawberry plants left to put into the ground.  If we don't get rained out tomorrow, we should be able to finish on Friday.  Boy that will feel good when that job is done. 

Tuesday Oct. 18 --- Wow! we just had a big weekend and by the looks of it, lots of fun was harvested.  Good thing about fun - we still have plenty left for everyone.  The cold front is now here and boy do I feel better.  We want to plant Strawberries but I think we will hold out till the wind lays some.  We truck in the pumpkins we sell here at the farm and last weekend cleaned out our supply of Jacks, we have another load coming in so this weekend should be good pumpkin pickin.  Those Jack o'lantern pumpkins are getting hard to find, especially those with any size to them.

Thursday Oct. 13 ---- I forgot to mention that we have a new baby donkey.  It was born last Sunday afternoon and it sure is a big hit with the kids.  The Strawberry plants came in yesterday, I think we might try to plant some in the morning.  It will take two or three weeks to get them all planted because we will work around the Pumpkin season.  Speaking of Harvesting the Fall Fun, we feel like we are now getting in stride and things are starting to flow.  I think this weekend will be a great time to come out and enjoy.

I almost forgot something else ..... the volunteer Fire Department will be here this weekend showing off some of their trucks, the kids can get up and personal with them.  They are not asking for anything but it sure would be nice if you could contribute a little something.  They fill a really big need around here.

Monday Oct. 10 9:28am ---- All looks good.  Little damp and foggy this morning, your shoes might get a little wet from the dew on the grass.  Other than that, everything looks good to go today. 

Sunday afternoon 3:10 -----  It seems to be drying up nicely.  We have not had any rain today, if we don't get any tonight then tomorrow will be a good day to come out.  Everything should be running full steam tomorrow. 

Sunday morning 10:08 ----  Too much rain and not enough time to dry out.  I would not recommend coming out to the farm today.  The gates will be open for those that don't get the message but the Horse Rides, Hayride, Flower Picking and Barrel train will not be running.  With the good chance of getting more rain today, I just would not chance driving out.  If we do not get much more rain today, tomorrow should be a good day to come out.  We will keep you posted here.

Sunday morning 9:09 ---- Yesterday turned out to be a great day.  That was a pretty good shower last night.  We do have some water standing, I am heading to the Hayride route now and will update here in just a bit.

Saturday 1:52 ---  Still good here and no rain on the radar headed this way.  The shower this morning was perfect to settle the dust.  It is windy so strap down your hat.  I think the more comfortable weather has made everyone feel better - we have a good size crowd and it seems everyone is wearing a smile. 

Saturday  11:10am ---- All is good at the moment.  Currently there is no rain on the radar heading our way.  The shower we had this morning only made things much nicer around here.

Saturday 10:05am ---- We just had a little shower move through.  It just settled the dust, no mud yet.  The skies are still overcast but thinning a little.  The radar does not show any immediate rain coming our way.  All events are still going as planned.  If it does not rain any more or just small showers like the one we just had, it is going to be pleasant today.

Saturday Oct 8 7:12 am ----   Good Morning!  We do have a chance of rain today but so far the farm hasn't gotten a drop.  We will be open a,l day and will work around any showers that pop up.  We will update the Fresh News often as to the weather conditions.  Today is sure to be a good day on the farm.

Monday Oct 3 ---- It was a great weekend, so glad the temperatures moderated a bit.  I am suprised at how hard the 'Texas' Maze is.  There were a quite a few folks that quit before finding all the cities last weekend.  The flowers were a big hit, they are still blooming profusely and well worth the trip just to 'get in among'st em'.  The weather this week looks like it will be closer to normal - halelujah!  Over the summer we built (grew) a school group area so now customers coming during the week will not have to worry about the school groups getting in their way which should make for a more pleasant trip.  Come on out, we'll be waiting for you!

Monday Sept 26 ----- Now Harvesting the Fall Fun!  I have to be honest, it was hard for me to harvest the fun in yesterdays 105 temps.  It was hot again today, a front of spotty storms came through this evening - they just missed us by that much.  Oh well, we'll get the rain next time.  We are excited about the forecast for the upcoming weekend - highs in the 80's will be wonderful. 
   The flower patch is absolutely beautiful!  It is worth the trip out just to take a picture of your kids in a waist high field of multicolored flowers.  I do not know anywhere where you will have a chance to have this kind of backdrop or opportunity.  While you are at it, get a cup for $3 and fill it as full as you can.
   The population on Scarecrow Island is growing.  I guess we should have seen it coming, as soon as the moonshine still showed up - a jail followed close behind. 
   We hope to have the Texas maze going this weekend  - stay tuned. 
   All the Strawberry beds are now built, we should get plants in two weeks and start planting soon after.

Monday Sept 19 ---- Tick Toc ---- the farm is opening up this weekend and the weather seems to be cooperating.  The Maze will not be ready to go but everything else will be.  Come on out and have some fun with us.

Monday Sept 12 ----  It is time to burn the candle at both ends.  Gretchen is busy doing a hundred things, Mom is busy working on Scarecrow Island ("Thanks" go out to my sister, bro n law and kids for helping her last weekend) and I am busy trying to get the Strawberry Beds made and keep the animals fed.  Opening day is coming very fast (Sept. 24th), are you ready?  I do not think the Texas maze is going to be ready for the first weekend ..... we will have to see.  Guess what????? cooler weather is right around the corner (gotta be) and I am sure enough ready for it.

Thursday Sept. 8 ----  Pumpkins are coming!!!!! We are putting in a little overtime getting ready.  The flowers are all in and looking good.  The Texas maze is not doing too good --- the panhandle down and west Texas looks good but all the points to the East and deep South Texas are lacking.  Hope to see you in a couple of weeks.

Wednesday August 10 ---- Still hard at it here. 8,000 flowers planted - only 10,000 to go.  The farm looks pretty good considering the weather.  We are tying to hang in there, hope you are too. 

Monday August 1 ----  We have been hard at it for the last couple of weeks and things are slowly coming around.  All the flower beds are now built and we have even planted the first couple of hundred plants.  The Strawberry plastic is all gone, just waiting on a little rain to cultivate the fields.  We reseeded the Texas Maze because I was not happy with the way it was coming back after cutting and baling it.  It should be ok, we will just have to wait and see.  The Kiowa Blackberry field has been removed, cultivated and planted to make a school group maze in its place.  I smoothed out a portion of the field today in preparation for sprinkler and grass installation.  The potato and onion field has been repurposed to a grassy field for school groups.  Two new cedar frame arbors have been built for the barrel train entrance, gourds were planted around them and have now covered the structures.  Mix into that all the minor jobs of fixing the daily breakdowns and daily chores and you get a pretty busy summer.

Saturday July 23 ----- It was a busy week here on the farm.  We had a half inch of rain on Tuesday and we didn't know what to do with ourselves!  We have some guys and girls helping us get things done around here.  Earlier in the week we started the dreaded task of pulling up Strawberry plastic.  Well the guys were really struggling through the heat getting the job done.  Reluctantly, they finished block C, 52 rows of pretty nasty plastic infused with weeds.  They all seemed to dissapear when it came to block A, 21 rows of not quite as bad plastic to pull.  So,,,,, the girls heard about this and decided they wanted to give it a try.  
--This is a nasty job and there is no way to do it without getting dirt, dust and grime in your eyes, ears, nose and every other part of your body.  The plastic is covered by dirt on the sides and even though I run the chisels through to lift the sides there is still plenty of clumps of grass and dirt that does not come up. It is one of those jobs that you just have to get in there and work at it.
Welllllllll, the girls came out two evenings in a row and knocked block A OUT!  They got in the middle of that job and dominated!  They did so well that I am thinking about firing all the men and only hiring women in the future.  I am a little concerned that they were so happy to get so dirty - could they be trying to find my 'essence of tierra' formula?  Only block B to go, another 52 rows of fun.

Friday July 15 ---- I am abit embarrassed to admit it, but laughing at myself is the only thing I can do in this heat.  I have twice caught myself, when trying to figure out how to do something, with one hand on my hip and the other scratching the top of my head.  So, when passing by just look for the confused fella standing out in the field scratching his head and that will be me.
   The Mazes have been cut and baled, the hay hauled off to a secret location behind lock and key, and the irrigation sprinklers put back into the fields.  Now to water them good, put a little fertilizer on them and hope they grow back.  I was out in the field earlier this evening and saw an ambulance turn around in the farm entrance where I was standing close to, go up the road and turn around in the entrance to my house and then drive back past me,  Maybe its just me but it seems like I could hear him say "I have come to resuscitate for your wallet" as he neared - I just waved him on down the road while saying 'it is too late".  Nothing like a good drought to make sure you don't get bigger than your britches.
  We have put it off as long as possible.  Starting Monday we are going to begin pulling Strawberry plastic.....maybe.

Thursday July 7 ---  We cut the maze down today.  Now the cut grass needs to dry out so we can bale it.  It has not rained here in a long time, if it rains this weekend - we should get the credit because this is the only time we need it to be dry.   We are the first ones to cut any hay that I know of in this area.  Since noone has much grass for livestock, hay is in a big demand.  Within 30 minutes of putting the tractor in the field I had received two phone calls asking if we were going to sell any......... after a lackluster Spring it is very tempting but I think we will try to hold onto as much as we can.  We use this hay for decoration and the Hayride trailers this Fall.  Whatever is left over goes to our goats this winter.  We might help out our neighbors a little but we wont have enough to do them a lot of good.  After it is baled we will pick it up and get it out of the field as soon as possible so we can spread some fertilizer and get the water back on it.  We normally don't cultivate the maze after it is cut but I am considering reworking some of the panhandle in an attempt to get it to grow better.

Sunday July 3rd -----  Well, the farm is now closed until the Fall Fun begins in Late September.  Next week the Maze will be cut and baled.  The Blackberries have all been pruned and a lot of them removed altogether.  Next big project for us will be to remove the Strawberry plastic.  That is the worst job ever and I am not looking forward to it.  We are glad to get this Spring behind us,  I suppose it could have been worse but it sure could have been better too.  Oh well, 'maybe next year'.

Thursday evening June 30 --- After mowing the final bit of a almost mile worth of Blackberry row I looked back and said "Yikes, what have I done?" but then I remembered the frustration of lost crops and dealing with the weeds in the rows and said "good riddance!".  
  This will be our last open weekend of the Spring Season.  The Texas Maze will be on the menu.  I am a bit suprised at how hard it has been even though it is not over a 6 foot head in many places.  It has been fun so come on out for the last weekend.

Friday evening June 24 -----  I sound like a broken record, "boy is it hot".  I have said it enough that I am even getting annoyed at myself.  We have been working away through it all with the help of lots of water.  Since the Blackberries have not been performing the past few years, we have decided to pull most of them up.  We are going to leave the Brazos variety as it has been pulling its' weight so we wanted to get them pruned and cleaned up as fast as possible in order to promote as much growth as possible.  We have now finished 'cleaning up' the Brazos and are working on pulling all the trellis' down on the Kiowa.  As soon as we get the trellis' out we will cultivate that area thoroughly in preparation for a Fall Group Maze.  We are going to turn the Potatoe and Onion area into a grass covered area also for school groups.  The goal is to separate the school groups from the general public areas.  This should make the farm a little more pleasant for families coming to the farm on heavy school group days.  If the Brazos Blackberries do not get frozen we will still have a good deal of berries to pick next year.   We are considering planting more Blackberries over by the Peach Orchard, since the Peaches and Blackberries will have a similar harvest season.  The Peach trees are coming along.  They are not growing quite as vigorously as we would like but growing none the less.  We might have a few peaches on them next year but I would rather not fruit them and wait until 2013.   
  

Thursday night June 23 ----  Yesterdays rain sure was nice.  The Blackberries have just about played out.  There will be very few to pick tomorrow evening, but the Maze will be going strong.

Saturday morn June 18 ----  The first 'evening' pick and maze went pretty well.  It is still hot at 5pm,  7pm and later is waaaay better.  The blackberries did not hold up very long, tonights picking will be pretty scattered.  Even though the Maze is not over my head it must be pretty hard.  Some folks went in at 9 last night and a little after 11 I decided to help them find Knox City.  It would have been difficult for me too if I didn't already know where it was as someone had covered most of the sign up with grass (thats a dirty trick).  Marble Falls is having a Soap Box derby down on Main Street today, You might want to check that out as well www.adultsoapboxderby.com  

Thursday night June 16 ---- Did you see the 'new' open hours on the front page?  Evenings will definitely be better than earlier in the day but I am questioning my starting time.  The temperatures and 'atmosphere' don't get 'right' until about 7pm.  Oh well.  I was hoping there would be more Blackberries to pick than will be available.  I imagine 60 pounds or so of ripe berries will be ready to pick tomorrow.  The berries will be scattered about so it will still take a while to pick them.
    Are you ready for 'Texas'?  Tomorrow will be the first time to open the Maze this year.  At the moment it ranges between 3 and 6.5 feet tall, just short enough to get a little breeze but tall enough to make it difficult.  Remember, the last person goes into the maze at 9pm.  The grass is not tall enough to make it scary yet, that should happen in about two weeks.  The theme this year is 'cities', see the maze link for a list.  If coming late - bring a flashlight.  Closed toe shoes are best, shorts are ok but if the grass rubs on your legs they might get itchy.

Friday evening June 10 ---  There are some Blackberries to pick for tomorrow.  They will go fast in the morning.  We had some kids out today that got overheated. It is too Hot to come out in the afternoon.  I would like to close the gate at noon but feel too bad for those that drove all the way out.  Please don't come in the afternoons, this heat can be underestimated very easily.  Remember, we are closed on Sundays now.

Wednesday evening June 8 ---  If we can keep people off them, we might have some ripe Blackberries this weekend.  The Strawberries are all but finished, we have quit taking care of them so the weeds are getting pretty thick in the patch.  We are watering them just enough to keep them alive until we can turn the goats in to give them a little greenery for a change.  There will be very little fruit to pick tomorrow, the only way I would suggest coming out is if you just wanted to have a pleasant outing NOT to load up on Blackberries.
  Please remember, we are going to close on Sundays for the remainder of the season.

Monday evening June 6 ----  Please don't come out in the afternoon, it is way too hot.  The Strawberry season is practically finished and Blackberry picking is pretty slim.  We do have some green Blackberries that hopefully will be ripe soon.  I think we might have some berries this weekend, stay tuned here and we'll let you know.  The 'Texas' maze is growing well but unless it cools off some I don't think I will be comfortable letting anyone go in.
    As you probably noticed, this has been a tough Spring for the farm.  We are trying to keep our spirits up and the understanding of loyal customers is helping.  'Thanks' for hanging in their with us.   

Because of the lack of berries and the afternoon heat: We are going to close on Sundays for the remainder of the Spring.

Friday evening June 3 -----  Sorry to sound so negative, you have to remember I have seen the crops at their peak and the farm in all its glory.  Right now when I am outside I see HOT, WINDY and DRY and just then a customer might say "I really enjoy coming out here and its ok, I understand farming is 'Hit' and 'Miss'".  To me, there is not much to pick this weekend.  I would not recommend coming out for fruit, a pleasant outing yes but fruit no.  We have dug all the Potatoes and Onions, the Tomatoes did not set and the early Blackberry blooms were killed in a April freeze.  We do have some green Blackberries that look like they will be ripening toward next Thursday.  
  This weekend = very few Strawberries and Blackberries will be available, plenty of Ice cream and animal affection.  The afternoons are getting pretty toasty, if coming I would suggest coming in the morning.
  Today: put in posts for an electric fence to open up an area for the goats to eat, fertilized and changed water in the maze, fed the bottle baby, worked some goats we just weaned and moved them across the road to join the other potential replacement does, bought some fence panels and started rebuilding the broken down fence by the house, fed and put up the rest of the goats, moved some Hay bales that the goats were playing on and decided to jump from them over the fence into the ditch beside the road, changed more water.

Monday evening May 30 ----- Gotta go play cards with the kids, so I'll be brief :  We won't have much to pick until Thursday.  I think we have some Blackberries coming and we still have a few Strawberries.  The Ice Cream is plentiful and we have some taters and onions harvested and for sale in the store.

Friday evening May 27 -----  We have some Strawberries to pick!  Some nice boxes of Strawberries were picked today and tomorrows picking should be about the same.  The Blackberries are few and far between, it looks like we have some coming but they are at least a week away.  This weekend will be the last for potato digging, Monday or Tuesday we are going to dig whats left in the ground so we can cultivate the area and get it ready for the next thing.  The 'Texas' maze is growing strong, maybe in two weeks it will be ready for pedestrians.

Wednesday afternoon May 25 ----  The Strawberries are hanging on, the berries are still on the small side but we do have a decent amount to pick.  It is taking about an hour to pick a six pound box.  
    It is like a treasure hunt to find ripe Blackberries.  After thinking all of the crop had been lost to a late freeze, I am happy to see some green Kiowa berries that are yet to ripen.  We might even have some good picking here in about a week or two. 
    We did go ahead and pull the remainder of the Onions.  I under estimated the amount that was left, so after pulling a full wheelbarrow full of Onions, I decided not to dig the rest of the Potatoes.  We will continue to let folks dig Potatoes through this weekend.  Next Monday we will dig the remainder because I am itching to cultivate that area.

Saturday morning May 21 ---- The GOOD: no rain here last night.  The Onion, Tater and Strawberry pickin will be good - Blackberry picking will be slim.  The Barrel Train will be running, the goats and horses are still looking for attention, it looks like it will be a good day to come out.  The BAD: no rain here last night, it would be nice to have a shower on the Maze and the pastures.  Oh well, we'll get by till the next time around.

Thursday night May 19 -----  We had a light turnout today, not all the ripe berries were picked so there should be good pickins tomorrow.  Sounds like rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon which is sure to reduce the number of harvesters making Saturday good picking as well.  
  'Texas' is growing nicely.  I am cutting the pathways now, just East Texas to go.  We are hoping to open 'Texas' for pedestrians around June 10th.

Wednesday May 18 ---- There will be Blackberries and Strawberries to pick tomorrow morning.  Onions and Potatoes will last through the weekend but come Monday, we are going to harvest the remainder and have them for sale in the store.  I continue to be suprised by the quantity of green Blackberries that appear to be coming.  

Saturday night May 14 ---- The weather was fantastic today,  if only we had more fruit to pick the day would have been perfect.  Todays' pickers were pesistant and many folks got as much as they wanted.  Tomorrows weather will be equally as nice and the potatoes and onions will be in ample supply.  Strawberries are out there but require some hunting.  We picked a fair amount of Blackberries today,  I must say I think we are going to have a few more Blackberries than I previously thought.  The key to finding them is to look very low. 

Thursday afternoon May 12 ------ Well, what do you know ..... first time this year it is too wet to get into the fields.  Little over two inches I think, it sure was welcome.  According to the weatherman we are in for a couple of days with lows in the fifties and highs in the eighties - finally a little springtime weather!  The Strawberry plants are for sure going to like the cooler weather, we'll have to wait to see how they respond in regards to fruit production.  I do know the berry picking will be much better tomorrow and saturday morning than it has been in the last week or two.  I believe we will even have some Blackberries to pick.

5pm - I just went into the driest of the three Strawberry fields and while it will be squishy and perhaps muddy in spots it should be ok for pickers tomorrow.  There has not been an opportunity this year to get some mud between your toes ...... until now, so someone should take advantage of the situation.  I would expect Friday to be somewhat of a slow day making Saturday a good day to come and pick. 

Monday evening May 9 ---- Not much change here, we still have plenty of Ice Cream, Potatoes and Onions but not many Strawberries and Blackberries.  
    'Texas' is growing pretty well, 'Oklahoma' has been planted and we are happy with the way the Peach trees are coming along and whats this????? a chance of rain on Wednesday ..... wahoo!

Saturday morning May 7 ---- we have lots of fresh Homemade Ice Cream, Potatos to dig, Onions to pull, animals needing attention, but not many Strawberries to pick.   The Barrel train will be running Saturday but not Sunday.  Some folks ventured over amongst the Blackberry plants yesterday and came back with a whole 4 pounds out of an acre of plants, they were pretty - too bad we don't have a bunch more. 

Thursday evening May 5 --- The Potato digging is great.  Boy those red new potatos are good to eat! and fun to harvest.  Got Onions?  I think we have enough Onions left to last another week or two.  Last weekend two kids decided it was alot of fun to pull Onions - they harvested 65 Onions.  The parents just laughed and said they really didn't like Onions that much.  At first I thought that must have cost them a fortune, and then I realized they only spent 16.25 for all those Onions.  Yep, the ripe Strawberry pickin is pretty slim.  The Strawberry plants are just not giving up many berries.  If you are after no more than a pound or two, you'll be ok, but don't expect to load up on berries.  The Blackberry crop was lost to a freeze in early April, I'm sorry but I dont think we are going to be able to offer Blackberries this year.

  This weekend - we will have lots of fresh Homemade Ice Cream, Potatos to dig, Onions to pull, animals needing attention, but not very many Strawberries to pick.   The Barrel train will be running Saturday but not Sunday.

Wednesday night May 4 ----  I would not recommend coming after Strawberries tomorrow unless you are just after a pound or two.  Potatoes and onions will be in ample supply as lots of wonderful homemade ice cream. 

Monday night May 2 ---- Geesh! it was cold and somewhat wet today.  Only two tenths of an inch but we will take it.  This evening the sun came out and the farm could not have been any prettier.  I was feeding the goats and just couldn't help but stop and marvel at the beauty.  We will have some strawberries to pick tomorrow as only a few souls braved the weather today.
   Plenty of Onions and Potatoes will be available to harvest.
   Blackberries ----- I have been holding out to see just what the crop was going to be like and the jury is still out.  I do know that most of the crop was lost to a freeze back on April 5th.  We might have some Blackberries a little later in the season - we just have to wait and see how they mature.   

Sunday evening May 1 ---- I guess by now everyone has realized a cold front came through today.  I think most of todays customers left home today in warm temps only to arrive at the farm to cool windy conditions.  It is hard to say if this front will positively affect the Strawberries, it certainly won't hurt.  It stayed in the 60's all day and upper 50's for tomorrow.  Be sure to bring a jacket if coming tomorrow, the Strawberry picking will be scattered and we have plenty of Onions and Potatoes for harvest.

Friday afternoon April 29 ---- We haven't been too busy yesterday and today so I'm thinking the picking tomorrow will be pretty good.  Since our crowds have dwindled a bit, it is not quite as important to get here early in the morning (unless you are after a lot and want t make sure you have plenty to choose from).  We will also be pullin Onions and diggin taters.  The Barrel Train will be running this weekend as well - should be a good weekend to come out.

Thursday night April 28 ----  Picking looks good for tomorrow,  the berries seem to be getting a little larger.  We will have Onions as well.  
    We have one goat that has waddles (wattles), she had twins and through a mixup in the night, she did not accept one of them.  We are now bottle feeding this kid who also has waddles, so consequently his name is 'wattles'.  After mixing up a bottle and heading out to find him it occurs to me, it is really hard to say 'waddles' without smiling.  Did you smile when you read the word 'waddles'?  I challange you to name something around your house Wattles, maybe the house plant by the front door or the cat or dog or something.  Now, when you come home tomorrow call "Wattles, where are you?  Hey, Wattles how you doing today"  and see if you don't crack a smile.

 Wednesday morning April 27 -----  Yesterday everything was leaning to the North, today everything in leaning to the South.  'Windy and Hot' seems to summarize the weather this Spring.  It is hard to say about tomorrows picking, we do have berries to pick just not an overabundance.  I would guess we have about 400 - 500 pounds of ripe berries to pick.
   We do have lots of Onions to pull, remember the Onions are a little bigger on the far end of the row.  
   Potatoes - I think we will start digging taters this weekend.  It might be a little early but it is 'time'.  The only reason it might be 'early' is because the taters might get a little bigger if left a little longer.  But, if you are like the cooks in my family, those small ones are the best.  Small ones = better to put in a pot of green beans and such, Large ones = weigh more so I get a better return on investment.  Right now there is a good mixture of both on the plants so I guess it is a win-win situation.   

Monday evening April 25 -----  I am a bit surprised at how good the Strawberries looked today.  After a busy weekend I did not expect to have much today to offer but pickers found plenty of ripe berries to pick.  Now dont think this means we have berries Everywhere, the berries are out there but it is still taking due diligence to find them.  I think Thursday morning will be the next 'good' day for picking.  It looks to me like Strawberry production will continue for at least three more weeks, perhaps a little longer.  
     Onions are still being pulled.  I think these are the largest onions we have had in a long time.  Not all the onions are created equal, the larger ones are found on the far end of the row and you can pretty much tell how large they are when looking down on them.  The white Contessa's seem to be the largest.

Saturday evening April 23 ----  Today was not quite as busy as yesterday, good thing too as we did not have as many berries.  We will be open tomorrow afternoon and there should be some Strawberries to pick.  The Barrel Train will NOT be running as only my wife and kids will be attending the farm. Soooo, be patient with us if you have to wait a little longer to get your ice cream.  The farm is looking pretty good considering the drought.  The wind blew and blew today.  I saw several kites flying and folks seemed to be enjoying a pleasant outing.  Our Spring season is much more laid back than the Fall, I really encourage you to bring the family out and just enjoy the day together.  You don't have to pick a bunch of Strawberries, really 3 or 4 pounds is all you need to let the kids have the experience and have a pleasant snack to enjoy.
    I apologize for not getting the horses over to the farm for petting earlier than this.  I built a old rickety fence out of a bunch of pallets we had stacked up.  To test it out we put the Donkeys in the pen first and just have not been in too much of a hurry to get the Horses added.  Since the Donkeys did not tear the fence down we decided to add the Horses today.  As soon as those spoiled ole Horses got in the pen customers started petting them and giving them lots of attention.  I felt bad for not having the Horses available sooner and the lack of attention the Donkeys were getting.  Poor Donkeys are getting no respect.
   ----- whoa, I just caught a fly in mid air ........  I guess you could read that in two ways: either I need to take a shower cause I am attracting flies or I am a super ninja farmer ......... I'll like the latter but after a long day of feeding goats, moving horses, restacking pallets, rolling up and moving irrigation pipe, putting out sprinklers and pruning Peach trees I suspect the prior is more accurate.
Happy Easter! 

Friday evening April 22 ----  Whew, it was a pretty big day!  Late last night we had a little rain, wa hoo!  I think the first pickers out were a little surprised to deal with slippery middles.  It stayed  wet just long enough for a few kids to find a little mud.  We did have berries at the beginning of the day...... by early afternoon ripe berries were getting hard to find.  I expect to have berries in the morning tomorrow.  Arrive by 10am and your picking will be much easier.   
   ONIONS - are ready to be pulled.  We are selling onions for 25 cents each, 4 varieties to choose from Contessa (white), 1015y (sweet yellow), Red Burgandy (red), and Yellow Granex (yellow).  Please do us a favor, don't let the kiddos run out and pull a bunch - decide they don't like them and try to put them back.
   The Barrel Train will be running tomorrow, kids are loving it. 
   We will be open Easter Sunday afternoon but at this pace I would not expect to have very many ripe berries to pick.  I will update this page again tomorrow night. 

Thursday evening April 21 -----  Picking will be OK Good Friday morning but I doubt we have enough ripe berries to make it much past noon.  It will be a good day to get out and enjoy an excursion.  We will have the Barrel Train running and the animals are waiting for some attention.  We have plenty of ice cream, popsicles and lemonade ready. 
    'Texas' is now planted and being watered.  We had it surveyed again because we were afraid we were losing its shape.  Sure enough, I had cut the west side of South Texas off a little as well as some of the south side of west Texas.  Hopefully it will be ready for pedestrians in the first part of June.

Wednesday evening April 20 --- Tomorrows picking is going to be good, berry size has improved and they should be abundant for awhile anyway.  Block A, the field to your left as you drive into the farm, is our smallest with about 17000 plants.  We have been sprinkling block A in the afternoons and have not picked there for three days, this means there will be a good amount of berries to pick.  Hopefully supply will last through the day in block A and we will be able to save the other two fields for Friday.
    Speaking of Good Friday, it has been a very big day for us in the past.  We will have berries in the morning, just depends on how many people show up as to how long supply will last.  Let me clarify, if you are just after a couple of pounds - you should not have too much of a problem.  In the mornings you will be able to pick them in nothing flat - afternoons on a busy day will be much harder but still doable. 

Monday morning April 19 ----  It looks like we have a better supply of berries coming but todays picking will be difficult.  The ripe berries are far between.  Today is a day to enjoy the outdoors first, pick some berries second.

Sunday evening April 17 ----- Picking tomorrow will not be very good, I would not recommend coming after berries tomorrow.  I think Thursday morning will be the next best chance at ripe berries.  Honestly, we will not have enough berries for Good Friday and Easter weekend.  If you do want to come out Easter weekend - come early!  before 9am, to make sure you get berries.

Saturday evening April 16 ---- The boxes of berries started out full and red this morning, by early afternoon they were not as full and not as red  and then .........a lady brings in a big, full box of very ripe berries right before closing time.  Picking tomorrow is going to be time consuming because there will not be very many ripe berries available and they will be scattered about --- bring help.  More berries are coming, they just need a little time to ripen.  It will be a good day to enjoy the outdoors and get a few berries.  The Barrel train and facepainting will be going as well as a bunch of hungry attention wanting goats and donkeys.

Friday afternoon April 15 ----  Mind if I step in the office here to get out of the wind?  It IS windy today and boy does it take the sap out of me.  I just checked the weather and see 38 is forecast for tonight -- are you kidding me!!  Our attention is sparked anytime we see a 30 something degree forecast.  Welp, we will just have to take our chances that we don't get a frost. 
   The picking today was pretty good this morning, this afternoon has been a bit harder.  I am happy with the amount of almost ripe berries there are, tomorrow morning will be decent picking.  I suspect the picking will be pretty hard in the afternoon.  Just bring the kids with you and tell them to 'run on down the row and see if there are any berries down there', that should save you some steps.
   The Barrel Train will be running tomorrow as well as a Facepainter.  We had a church picnic last Sunday evening and I could'nt get the little kids off the train.  "Just one more 'round" I must have heard a hundred times.  I happened to be walking by the counter today when a lady said "oh my gosh, this Lemonade is amazing.  How do you make it?",  "with lots of love" our attendant replied.   I immediately chimed in and took all the credit for it, but I don't think anybody believed me. 

April 14 -----  A long time good customer came out today, she went out into the field with seven boxes ........ and came back with everyone of them full of beautiful red berries, she really knows how to find and pick them.  Seemed like I scared off enough people with 'the picking will be light' that those that did come out had plenty of berries to pick from.
   Tomorrow - dad (the wise old fellow in the welcome area) will direct pickers into a field that hasn't been picked in a few days so the picking will be decent in the morning.   This means, pickers should be able to fill a six pound box with relative ease in thirty minutes or so.  By the afternoon it might take close to forty five minutes. 
    Saturday will be somewhat the same - before 10 am, 30 minutes or so --- by 11am, 45 minutes ---- by noon, 1 hour ---- by 3pm, you'll be looking.  It is just like dad says "picking Strawberries in the afternoon is a lot like fishing -  they're out there, you just have to find the hot spots".  We have 80,000 Strawberry plants in the ground on over 7 miles of beds - berries are out there waiting to be picked.  Best thing to do is to ask a person walking up to the counter with a full box where they found them, just make sure they aren't going back for more lest they send you to the far side of the patch. 

Wednesday evening April 13 ----  The Strawberry plants are taking a little break.  The picking over the next few days is going to be light, good for leisurely picking only.  Normally Thursday's are the day to load up -- not tomorrow.  This weekend? - just depends on tomorrow and Fridays crowd.  If you are making weekend plans -- the earlier you can come the more likely you will be to get as many berries as you desire.    
   I was out in the patch today and pulled a big bunch of clover that had grown into a Strawberry plant and lo and behold, a BIG ole ripe Strawberry was hiding underneath.  The moral - pull a few weeds and you might be rewarded with some very nice berries (not to mention I will be much abliged).  We don't have many weeds out there in the beds so you better hurry in and get them before they all get pulled and those big berries are found. 
    What a difference a year makes - I just looked at 'Fresh News 2010' and boy were we dealing with a lot of rain then.  The first rain we have had in two months came last Monday morning with half of a inch.  Boy was it welcome!!!  Rained just enough for us to get the 'Texas' maze plowed up.  Hopefully we will get it planted tomorrow.

Sunday evening April 10 --- Tomorrows picking will be very light.  If you want to load up on berries - Thursday morning would be your day.  Tomorrow and Tuesday will be good for leisurely picking only.   This is what I wrote last Sunday and it applies even more so today.  I am not real sure about Thursday being 'the day' to come this week,  I would be sure to check back here before coming any day this week just to make sure there are berries to pick. let

Saturday evening April 9 ----  Another good day today, they just keep on coming.  I just went out and checked out the fields --------- we will have Strawberries to pick for tomorrow!  The picking at first will be pretty good for a Sunday afternoon.  Today was awful windy and kinda hot in the afternoon.  While the wind is still supposed to blow tomorrow, clouds are forecast to move in so it should be an enjoyable afternoon.  The barrel train and facepainters will be running tomorrow as well as the frozen products (they just gave me a chocolate shake that was left ---- hmmm it is good).

Friday evening, April 8 ---- The berries might be small now but they are big in taste.  We will have a lot of berries to pick tomorrow, especially in the morning.  The barrel train will be running for the kiddos and don't forget to say hello to the goats and donkeys.   The Smoothies are wonderful as well as the homemade strawberry lemonade and of course, the ice cream. 

Thursday April 7 ---- Friday will be good picking, best spots to pick will be far corner of block a (field to the left when driving in) and the middle of the back field.  The Donkeys have moved into their 'new' pen.  I think that maybe the extreme equine pen makeover might have taken backfired.  We did not want to spend any money on panels (we had taken down the old pen last year and used the panels elsewhere) and we have a slew of pallets gathered over the years soooo .... being the true redneck backwoods farmers we are ....... we made the 'new' fence out of old pallets.  How did it turn out ? ..... looks like an old pallet fence.  Gretchen says "maybe we can paint it",  I say "thats like putting lipstick on a pig - it's still a pig",  to which she replies "you calling me a pig?" --- arrggghhhhhh! 

Wednesday April 6 ----  The Strawberries have made a very nice recovery and it looks like tomorrow and Friday will be good picking.  Saturday morning will be good picking as well, we will just have to see how the next two days go before we know about Saturday afternoon.  We almost always have berries to pick, it is more of a factor of how long it takes to find them.  Dad's new slogan on Saturday afternoon is "Go Slow and Go Low", meaning don't just walk along upright looking for berries - get down amongst those plants and find those berries hiding down under the leaves.
   Whew!  we had a little freeze Tuesday morning.  Not much damage but if it would have dropped another degree or two it could have been serious.  The potatoes were nipped a little in the low spots.  I have not seen any blooms with damage yet (thank you Lord!).  That was cloooossse. 
    The Blackberries are beginning to bloom - May 11 we will pick a few, May 16 before they get rolling good.  I think we will start digging Potatoes at the end of this month and maybe even pull some Onions then as well.  The Peach trees are coming out nicely, probably 2013 before we have many to pick.  We had a goat give birth to 4 babies yesterday, unfortunately I did not get to her soon enough and one baby had suffocated in the placenta.  We have only had one quad mom before this one and it is hard for them to nurse 4.  

Sunday night, April 3 --- Tomorrows picking will be light.  If you want to load up on berries - Thursday morning would be your day.  Tomorrow and Tuesday will be good for leisurely picking. 

Saturday night, April 2 ----  Whew!  We had a big crowd out today.  LOTS of berries picked, lots of train rides, few splatterers, LOTS of homemade strawberry lemonade, popsicles, ice cream, smoothies and best of all - LOTS of FUN to be had.
  The pickins are going to be slim tomorrow.  Oh sure, 2 or 300 pounds will ripen overnight but that won't last too long.  Don't come expecting to load up on berries, DO come to enjoy the afternoon, let the kids ride the barrel train, feed the goats, make a splatberry banner, enjoy some of the frozen delights and have an enjoyable afternoon spent together.

Friday nite, April 1 --- No foolin, tomorrow morning will be good picking.  Probably good in the afternoon - just depends on the crowd.  I think we will have berries to pick all day.  The later in the day the more scattered they become and it takes a little longer to fill up a box.

For the kiddos --- we are going to run the barrel train tomorrow from 10am to 5pm (with a little skip at 2pm for a birthday party).  $3.75 per rider.

And, for the first time ever ........ we are going to let the general public play the Splatberry!  Pick 10 overripe sunscorched berries, bring them over to the Splatberry where one by one you put them in a tube, pump up the splatterer, release the air pressure propeling the berry onto a custom hand made banner creating a big SPLAT.  After propeling all 10 berries you will get to go home with your 'sweet memory' creation (cost is $10).  Normally this game is reserved for school groups but we thought it might be fun to try it out on a weekend. 

Thursday nite, March 31 --- Lots of pickers and 200 school kids today but don't worry, they didn't put much more than a dent in the ripe berries.  Even though berry size has decreased, production hasn't.  Tomorrow and Saturday will be good picking.  Sunday probably will be but we have to wait and see how many pickers come out.  I believe we are going to pull the 'Sweet Berry Express' barrel train out for riders this weekend.  The train should give kiddos something else to do during your visit.

Wednesday evening, March 30 ---  Even though the temperatures cooled off a bit, the ripening of the berries didn't.  Tomorrow will be a very good day to pick as there will be an ample supply of berries to pick.  I think you can go ahead and plan that weekend trip as well.  Unless we have a record crowd tomorrow and Friday, we will should have plenty of berries to pick Saturday. 

Monday evening, March 28 --- I was surprised at how nice the berries looked today.  It took a little hunting but everyone seemed to find as many as they were looking for.  It looks like we might even have a few more available tomorrow.  I would not hesitate to come tomorrow (better look at the weather before you come, seems like there is a chance of rain tomorrow afternoon).  The Blackberries are beginning to bloom, they look good so far.

Sunday evening, March 27 ---  Another good day.  The weather, customers and berries were just wonderful.  By the end of the afternoon, the majority of the real ripe berries had been picked but we have a fair amount of berries that will ripen over night.  The berries will be scattered tomorrow but out there.  It will be a good day for leisurely picking not for loading up on berries. 

Saturday evening, March 26 ----  Wow, it was a big day.  One of those days where we had lots of folks and lots of berries for everyone to pick.  I think tomorrow (Sunday) will be good picking at first and then it will quickly become harder to find nice big red berries.  The berries picked this morning were very big and by the end of the day the size had diminished somewhat.  As you drive into the farm, the 9 rows to your right still have alot of berries down on the end.  The block of plants to your left have a good supply of berries on the far corner.  The welcomer person will be sure to direct you to the best areas.
     So,,,, we open at 1pm - I estimate we have about 400 pounds of ripe berries to pick, the later in the afternoon - the more scattered the berries will become. 

Friday night, March 25 ----  Tomorrow will be very good picking. Late in the day might be a little dicey, just depends on customer flow.  I think we'll have berries all day just how long it takes to fill up a box might lengthen as the day goes by.
  The goats are in their new, almost finished extreme pen makeover place.  Gotta plant Tomatoes, and do some Honey do's then we'll start working on the Horse pen.

Friday morn, March 25 --- Today will be another good picking day.  This past Wednesday the wind stopped blowing and the sun was intense, as a result we have some sunscalded berries.  Many of the berries that were directly exposed to the sun will be watery looking and already in rapid decay.  Those will be easy to identify.  Just look around and on the same plant you will find unaffected berries (those under the leaf canopy).
The goat bridge is mostly complete so we went ahead and moved some goats into their new pen, the kids and goats can now enjoy each other. 

Thursday morn,  March 24 ----  Todays picking will be very good.  Gretchen has a fresh batch of Ice Cream made up and I ......... might have some goats for the kids to see in Late afternoon (sorry, darn bridge is taking longer than expected).

Monday Evening March 21 ----- Man o' Man, Boy o' Boy, them Strawberries have gone nutso.  I wonder if it was the brightest full moon in 20 years or the warm weather of late or the warm nights of late or a warm spell 30 days ago or a warm spell and covers on 30 days ago or just the Man upstairs having pity on us but all of the sudden there are a BUNCH of ripe berries.  We picked, cleaned and put in the freezer a little over 400 pounds today for jelly, ice cream and popscicle making and customers took care of almost that much as well and ...... we didn't even get out of the back field.  Tomorrow will be a very good day to pick, as well as Thursday and Friday.  The berries are big, red and juicy. 
I do want to exercise a little caution here though, while we have tons to pick right now I don't see a huge amount of green berries to back them up.  It will be important to check here before heading out to pick berries. 

Sunday Evening March 20 ---- We have lots of berries to pick and I am a bit surprised.  I knew there where some berries coming but did not expect them to ripen so quickly.  We will have plenty of berries for everyone to pick over the next few days.

Saturday Evening March 19 ---- It was a good day.  I heard on the radio that tonights full moon will be the biggest and brightest in 20 years - guess I will take a little nap and get ready to go back to work then.  We are rebuilding the goat pen and making a goat bridge - it is going to be neat.
   Hey now, those Strawberries are sneaking up on us!  This warm weather (especially warm nights) have them ripening a little faster than normal.  That means we will have plenty of berries tomorrow (Sunday) and I think we will go ahead and officially open up for the 2011 season ------ having said that,  berry availabilty will be up and down here at first --- we will keep posting updates here as often as we can.

Saturday Morning March 19 -----  We are going to be open today as well.  There will be some nice berries early in the day but I don't think they will last much past noon.  Or to put it this way, the earlier you get to the farm today - the easier it is going to be for you to find ripe berries.  There will still be ripe berries to pick this afternoon but they will be fewer and farther between.  The weather is supposed to be nice so I would come with the attitude of "lets enjoy a beautiful day and pick some Strawberries to put on top"  INSTEAD of "we are going to load up on berries today and get those freezers full".  

Thursday March 17  ----  It is UNofficial.  We have some very nice berries ripening up so we opened the gates today to see what would happen.  We were not sure just how many folks would come out so we did not, and still do not, want to officially open for the season.  Customers picked roughly 300 pounds today.  I think we still have a few more than that ready to be picked so we are going to go ahead and open tomorrow (Friday) as well.  Since we are not officially open,  if we 'pick out' tomorrow there is a good chance we will not open Saturday.  Once again, tomorrow (Friday) we will have some very nice berries to pick.  Saturday is up in the air, it will be paramount to give us a call (830-798-1462) before coming out Saturday for picking.

Monday March 14, 2011 --- Getting close!  There are a decent amount of berries on the plants that will be ripening soon.  We will announce our opening right here on the Fresh News first (even before we put it on the front page)  so stay tuned, maybe even check back here in a couple of days........

Wednesday March 9, 2011 ----- I can't get any work done because we are spending all our time covering and uncovering the Strawberries.  We spent all last Saturday covering the plants, uncovered Monday and Tuesday because it was getting too hot to leave the covers on and today covered everything back up again.  These little freezes are annoying.  The berries are coming - it won't be long .... stay tuned.

Wednesday March 2, 2011 ----  I have been singing all day long and I don't think it has helped the Strawberries one bit.  The plants are growing and berries are coming but I don't think there will be enough ripe berries to open until late March.  NOONE is more ready than I for harvest to begin (perhaps our banker?), and as soon as we can we will be opening up.  Gretchen and my mom have used all the frozen berries up making jam so they too are ready for fresh berries. 

Friday February 11, 2011 ---- WAHOOO! the sun is out and it feels great - now just wait another hour or two for it to warm up and we will be out in it!  Seems like we had a one two cold punch didn't we?  After the first spell we were able to spread out all the covers that had blown off,  It was tough because the were still frozen together in a twisted up tube.  Luckily we got them all back on before this last blast of cold air.  Once again, one cover blew off but the remainder stayed in place.  Monday we are hoping to remove all the covers and see how the plants look underneath.  We have cold damage no doubt, but I am sure we can grow out of it. 
   All of the sudden I am feeling like we need to do a million things at once.  I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and just do one thing at a time.  The animals made it through the cold weather as well.  We have 86 kid goats right now with 17 more Does to go.  One of the projects to do will be to spruce up the goat petting pen.  Today we are replanting some Peach Trees and trying to avoid all the seed and tree catalogs we can ---- we are probably more guilty than anyone pertaining to "wow, that picture looks great - lets order waaayyy too many of those trees/seeds".  

Thursday, February 3, 2011 ---  In case you are wondering, YES IT IS COLD here too.  Jiminy Crickets it is cold!  Did I mention it is cold here? it sure is!  So far the coldest temp we have recorded has been 11 which is waay colder than we want.  The Blackberries and Peaches will be OK but we are worried about the Strawberries.  We had all 6 acres covered with Frost Cover blankets but the wind(must've been howling at least 80 mph) Monday night blew several covers off.  When we tried to put them back Tuesday morning the covers had already frozen together in clumps.  We had two covers still in the barn and after putting them out felt like we had a little over half of the plants covered.  With the sustained winds continuing throughout the second night I think their benefit was minimalized.  We did have a good many blooms leading up to this spell and we were hoping to open early March.  Those blooms are sure enough dead now so I think mid to late March is now more realistic.  I know at least two of the 50 by 300 covers have been ripped to shreads by the wind.  I suppose we will order in some new covers and get ready for the next cold spell.

We just finished planting 5000 Onions,  I can't help but think many of them got wiped out.  We also planted 500# of potatoes -- they should be just fine.  I guess we cut the potatoes in smaller pieces this year because we ended up planting a couple more rows than last year. 

All in all, the cold spell stinks but the farm should be OK --- we expect some damage and will learn to work our way around it.