Saturday morning started out with a big rain storm and wind moving through. We got loaded up before it hit, but drove through it to Columbia. By the time we got there it had pretty much passed. But the morning was still chilly and drizzly for a while. We didn't do too good at market, but then it looked like a lot of people took home produce. Just wasn't a buying day. Seems like every other week is a buying week and last week we sold out mostly, so this was the off week?! The strawberries are on the down hill slide, getting fewer and smaller, but still good! Was too wet to plant yesterday after the morning rain storm, so we are working on it today. We've got most of it done, just have to get my stevia, oregano and rosemary plants that we dug up last fall and over wintered in the greenhouse out and planted. Oregano is a perennial and will over winter outside, but I like to have it in the greenhouse to take cuttings off of and start more to sell and set out in the Spring. The stevia and rosemary will not over winter here, and again I like to take cuttings in January & February to start new plants to sell. Years ago when I first started growing stevia it was very hard to get the seed, and then it cost about 50 cents a seed, and germination was about 40%! So I started taking cuttings and rooting them. Stevia works very well with this method. For those of you who don't know what stevia is it is a natural sweetener. It is good for diabetics, and it can be bought in powdered form in health food stores. It's about 5 times sweeter than sugar! You can google it and read all about it!

Thursday Joe & I baked for the Columbia Farmers' Market. We did banana, applesauce, sweet potato, persimmon and strawberry breads, chocolate chip cookies, and rosemary flat bread. Sure was nice to have help in the kitchen! While we did that Lucas cleaned house! Then when we finished all that we went out and finished stringing up the tomatoes in the hoop house. When Greg came home we finished planting the tomatoes and most of the okra out in the back field where we've been working. We have 1/2 flat of okra to finish planting and 3 flats of basil, and some other herbs to get in the ground yet.

Today the boys picked strawberries while Greg and I did the greens and radishes. We noticed the potatoes were infested with bugs as we walked past them to the strawberry field, so Greg got the back pack sprayer out and sprayed on them! Greg picked onions and the boys cleaned and bunched them. With the extra help we got done pretty early, so took the afternoon off. When it cools off a little later I think the plan is to finish planting the okra and basil!

I keep asking Joe if he's having fun yet, and he keeps telling me he is. I'd better quit asking him while I'm ahead, he may decide differently one of these days! I asked him what his favorite thing was so far and he said baking; I asked what his least favorite part was and he said the ants! He had picked up a tray of okra plants to carry out of the greenhouse that had an ant colony under it and they got all over him! He said it felt like he had ants crawling all over him for the next 2 hours!!

This morning was spent running errands; post office, bank, drug store, library, eye glass place (to get my glasses adjusted because the cat knocked them off the night stand Friday night and I stepped on them getting out of bed!), feed store, grocery store and good old Walmart! Sure was nice to have two guys at home to help unload everything and put it away! That is my least favorite part! I had the guys busy tearing off the Virgina Creeper off the back side of the house while I was in town. It has taken over the North end of the house completely covering everything, including windows! Then I worked for awhile in the hoop house with tomatoes, getting them strung up, still have three rows to go. Then Greg came home from work and we all planted tomatoes out in the newly made beds. Have two more trays to go, and then get to start on the okra! I had hung laundry up outside and it was still damp when I took it down at 8:00 p.m. tonight! But this cool moist weather is good for the transplants we are getting set out! Usually when we set them out it's hot and sunny and they wilt and get sun burned

We started planting our beds Monday. Greg and Lucas got the sweet potatoes planted, while I baked for CSA today. Then in the afternoon we worked on getting the peppers and eggplant planted, and started on the tomatoes. The rain ended it early for us.

Today is CSA box day! The full shares got 2 qt. strawberries, eggs, applesauce bread, radishes, turnips, peas, onions, swiss chard and mixed lettuce. The half shares got 1 qt. strawberries, eggs, bread, radishes, 1 turnip, onions & mixed lettuce. It rained most of the morning off and on, so picking was fun! Luckily the greens was in the hoop house and that's where we were when most of the rain occurred, but it showered on us a little while picking the strawberries!

Well we finally did it! We got all the beds made, drip tape and plastic mulch laid down! We worked on it Wednesday afternoon and today. Now it can rain tonight and it won't hurt things too much. We now just have to get it all planted!

Friday Lucas & Joe picked about 120 quarts of strawberries, while Greg & I picked the lettuce and other greens for our lettuce mixes that we sell. We also had onions and some radishes. Lucas & Joe went to the Fulton Farmers' Market and Greg & I to Columbia Farmers' Market on Saturday.

When I went out to the barn this morning to turn on the hydrant to water in the hoop house I was met by this site. I don't know if you can tell but it is a snake skin that was shed. The snake wrapped itself around the electrical wire a couple of times to help pull it off. There are also two barn swallow nests right above one on both sides of the beam. The barn swallows were not too happy either. I don't know if the snake was helping himself to some eggs, also?! But if you double click on the picture it will pop up bigger and you can see better. I was impressed, my son wasn't. I sent him out later to turn off the water, but didn't tell him about the snake. I expected him to come back and say something, but he didn't, so I asked him if he saw anything interesting in the barn. He didn't think so, what was I talking about. I told him to go back out and look, he couldn't miss it! When he came back in he said you mean the snake skin? And I said yes. He said oh yeah I saw that. So much for my entertainment!!!!

This is a busy, busy, busy week! We had one graduation in the family on Sunday, and another one on Friday. My Grandpa came down from Iowa to go to both (they are his great granddaughters!), so that means he's here for a week! I don't know if Grandpa's ever been gone from home that long in his life! My folks brought him down to our house yesterday, so he got to watch us make beds and lay plastic mulch and drip tape with our "new fangled" machine! I drove him around our place and showed him our hoop houses and strawberry patch, orchard, etc. I think he was impressed, as he's never seen it all, just heard us talk about it. On top of all the graduation celebrations today is his 97th birthday!! So we have to have another get together at my brothers tonight for that! I told Grandpa he had to dance a jig because turning 97 was a once in a life time thing!!! He didn't go for that! Also today our sons friend Joe that came for Spring break is to arrive for the summer, and today is baking day for the market! So I'd better get busy!