Hurry up and wait!

Hurry up and wait.  That seems to be the way it's been the past several weeks.  Planting in the high tunnel didn't happen when I hoped it would.  The crops that are planted are not growing as fast as I would like them too (due to too many cloudy days and temperatures being too cold.)  I have an irrigation project to complete, but need a few days with temperatures above 50 degrees to be able to glue the pipes together.   


But today, things seemed to happen.  We've decided to construct one of our old high tunnels.  (This was a homemade tunnel.  We would put it up every spring and take it down every fall.  That way we could plant tomatoes in it every year, but by moving it to a different location we didn't have to worry about disease build up in the soil.)  Our 30' x 96' pemanant high tunnel isn't big enough to plant everything I'd like to plant in it, kindof like the machinery shed is never big enough to house all of the equipment!  The homemade tunnel is 12.5' x 80'.  I will be able to plant two rows lengthwise in the tunnel.  My plan is for one of the rows to be zucchini and the other peppers.  About two weeks ago I was able to drive the ground stakes in that support the PVC pipes.  Today we were able to get the PVC pipes on as well as connect the tracking that holds the plastic in place.  It became too windy to get the plastic on today, so we are hoping to get that done in the coming days. 


Also today, we planted our newly ordered red raspberry plants.  We have never grown red raspberries before, but thought it was something we wanted to expand to. 

I was able to get the pepper and cucumber seeds started this week, however, due to a miscommunication, the grape tomatoes I had started were left in the wrong place overnight and froze.  Back to the starting point for those. 


I received a phone call this week from an organization that hosts a Thursday Farmers' Market.  I am still checking into the details for that, but am hoping it will work out.  This will make a fifth market we will attend this summer.  We are preparing for our third year at the Gettysburg Farmers' Market on the square on Saturdays, and our second year at Cross Keys Village/The Brethren Home on Tuesdays.  New this year, we are attending two markets associated with the Adams County Farmers' Markets.  One is on Wednesdays at the Rec Park in Gettysburg, and the other on Saturdays at The Outlets of Gettysburg.  (See sidebar for more information!) 

The forecast for the coming week has temperatures in the upper 60's!  We will continue to plant onions, will pick up tomato plants for planting in the tunnel, need to plant the asparagus plants that just arrived and prepare for hosting a belated family Easter Dinner celebration.