There's no turning back now...

Last week was BUSY! We worked hard on both farms and really accomplished a lot. Daddy and I met with a guy from UGA in Griffin and discussed some of the questions we had about naturally-grown products as well as organic products. We even drove out to Cummings and picked up a load of 30+ year old chicken manure to spread on one of the fields. (Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Walls!)

I even received a great phone call from a long-time family friend on Tuesday about possibly using some additional land for organic farming. He and his mother were both excited to hear what I was trying to get started and are interested in doing a CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture), and I really love the idea. [A CSA program allows families to receive a variety of vegetables, fruit, eggs and even meat weekly over a given period of time. Each family pays the farmer ahead of time so that he or she can purchase seed and cover the expenses of growing the crops. HG's CSA program will consist of produce and eggs.] It's old land that hasn't been farmed since his father (Mr. Frank) passed away over 10 years ago. Mr. Frank always used chicken manure from his own chicken houses and that is a great foundation to start on. The location offers great road-frontage for HG and I am really looking forward to meeting with the family to discuss more details on the adventure that awaits us all!

Friday was my point-of-no-return... After planting close to 1500 onions and 300 blackberries for Minter's Farm, Mama, Daddy and Duck helped me to spread 270 pounds of bone meal. Then, Mama jumped on the tractor (something she doesn't get to do too often, but loves) and plowed in the bone meal. Next we laid out rows of plastic with drip-tape, and Mama, Daddy and I planted about 600 onions (white bunching and red). Onions are pretty and fairly easy to plant if the ground is properly plowed and not wet. Unfortunately, the ground was still a little wet and it made the plastic laying and planting slightly difficult.

After the onions were in the ground, Daddy and I spread the truckload of chicken manure by hand. This is not the most fun project since the manure is mostly dust after 3 decades. Spreading manure by hand is difficult work and I can see how well the manure spreader from Uncle Bill will come in handy.
*Note to future naturally-grown and/or organic farmers: NEVER put on lip balm or chap stick before tackling this project.

Even on Saturday morning, Mama and Daddy planted two more bundles of onions (Vidalia-type) for me that Mr. Lester Bray had extra.

Several hours after starting the project, I have my first crop in the ground and Homegrown Girls has officially started! I am very excited and want to thank my parents, Ducky and all those who have helped and answered my crazy questions. And there's also a special thank you to my husband for supporting my effort to start something on my own.

On a side note... Valentine's Day produced a wonderful new addition to the Minter family. A calf was born (thanks to the efforts by Mama, Daddy and Ducky) and he's cute as a button. Kinda a big fella, but he loves the attention he's been receiving from us all. I've named him Valentine, but who knows if that will stick!

Sunday, I attended a baby shower for my cousin's new wife. I made her and Baby Cooper a few items I saw on Pinterest this past week. I made a fleece blanket with his name embroidered on the corner, two burpcloths made with flannel and cloth diapers, two bibs and a special set of linen bags that held all sorts of goodies for them to use in place of a big bulky diaper bag. One held items for changing diapers and the other held snacks and a bib for feeding time. I really enjoyed making these things and hope they enjoy them too!

Check back Friday to see what else I have posted. I'm attending the Georgia Organic's Convention in Columbus Friday and Saturday and know I'll have plenty of valuable information to share.

- Steph