Get ready to be jealous!

Don't worry. I haven't lost my fingers in a tragic farming accident and had to quit writing. The past week was very busy and included chicken "harvesting," which is always a tiresome and hard addition to the week. It's also been raining (what feels like) a lot. I don't want to be unappreciative of how good all the rain has been for us in the big picture, but I'm tired of it. I'm completely ready for drier and warmer weather. I want to really start planting so that we can be one step closer to all the delicious things of summer.

We'll deal with whatever weather we are offered, though, because we don't really have a choice! That's why farming is supposed to be adaptable - depending on the weather, we can choose to adjust our plans, crops, schedule, and everything else in order to try and make the best of the situation. I'm not saying that unfortunate weather doesn't matter to a good farmer - after all, bad weather can mean the difference between a great and profitable year and one where you barely get by. I'm simply saying that a good farmer who grows a well-rounded menu of fruits and vegetables has far more options than a conventional grower who grows one crop on an enormous scale. That guy has no options if he gets bad weather. Not only does that guy not get by when he gets bad weather, but that guy often loses everything.

On to lighter subjects! I have to brag about what I cooked tonight! I picked the first little baby squash and sauteed them with a spring red torpedo onion and a little rosemary and thyme. That's right! We ate the first squash of the year! We planted our first squash way back in February, which was not the typical time to be planting summer squash. Squash is remarkably resilient and, with protection, can actually grow in imperfect conditions. The weather since February, however, has been a little too wintry for the squash to really take off. Nonetheless, the weather hardy survivor squash have started gaining steam and are finally starting to push out some fruit. It'll probably be a couple of weeks until we have squash at the market, but it's not too far away!

See, I'm not lying. Squash!

Here's Jeff getting ready to do the chickens. He has on a fabulous, custom-made butcher's apron (care of my Mother) and a laid-back, slightly rumpled straw hat. Not only do these chickens taste delicious, but the butcher is cute too!