Firefly Hill Farm

Oh yeah, we got some new chickens to pass the torch from our older ones who aren’t laying much anymore. They’re not quite ready to lay but they’re settling in well. Hopefully then we’ll have extra eggs again.

Napa cabbage babies a week in the ground

Cabbages settling in nicely All of them looking good - no empty spots 😀 This means I have a few extras if any of you are ready to plant your gardens. LMK if you want any.

Mother’s Day weekend is my favorite! Because it’s Tomato Planting weekend! (& everything else!) My idea of Mothers Day fun is non-stop planting because frost risk is “gone” in southwest Ohio. BTW: we had great germination and survival of the tomatoes so I’ll have plenty of extra starts soon. Stay tuned for tomato starts for your garden. After I get ours planted I’ll post availability and varieties (Subscribers get their 1st 4 starts free, then $2 each. Non-subscribers $5 each)

Tomatoes as of yesterday evening. They graduated to the greenhouse this week (inside at night when it goes below 40) And they’re coming along nicely. 🍅🍅🍅 🍅 🎉😁🍅🍅🍅🍅 BTW. I had great germination rates and early survival so that’s why I know I’ll have plenty of extra tomato starts

Owl windsock

Our latest hawk scaring attempt. The owl wings flutter with the wind and are supposed to work better than the stationary fake owl. A fellow farmer up in Marysville had luck with this to keep the hawks away from their chickens. Here’s hoping! The hawks have been very active this winter. Plus it’s kind of cool looking 🙂

Goaties love to eat Christmas trees! (Thanks neighbors 😃)

Chicken house Christmas

We did our silly chicken house Christmas lights thing again this year 😀 The chickens don’t go for subtle!

Somebody’s eating the corn!

OK all. For those of you keeping track you’re thinking: didn’t we get corn by this time in years past? Yes. It’s a thing this year - some unprecedented corn challenges. But we’ll have some (but maybe not the banner year we were hoping) First: never had this happen before but 1st two plantings (especially first) didn’t form ears after tasseling! It seems to be a response to drought. We had actually been irrigating much more than usual but it wasn’t enough. As you have noticed, normally there’s enough rain with pop-ups in June / July for farmers to not water their corn after it’s established but this year with those heat waves in June seemed to push our corn right into survival mode. So … we irrigated a lot more (& it rained a little more) and we started forming ears. Next unprecedented challenge. We have learned after the 1st year here we need to put electric netting fencing around the corn to keep the raccoons out. They pull the ears right off the stalk, husk them and eat the corn right off the cob. this year it looks like something is getting in the fence and eating the corn in a slightly different way. We think it’s squirrels - they can get through an electric fence and apparently if they get a taste for corn they can decimate it. They pretty much got all the 2nd planting that came in and 1/2 the 3rd until I found the only way to counter it is to get in there and harvest it before they get it. It’s crazy! I posted a video below so you can see - they scratch off the husk and eat what they can on the plant. Anyway … I’m going to try and beat them to it and still get some but it’s not what we hoped for sure. I think I’ll have 4 ears or so this week and I think I can trick them and pick before they get it the following weeks. I think next year we’ll plant somewhere different to try and not let them get a taste. Anyway … there’s plenty going awesomely so in the comments I put some pictures of the tomatillos doing great

Yes those are snowflakes

Chicken coop decorations!

Even the chickens are getting into the holiday spirit 😁

Get a taste of summer with Firefly Hill Farm Bag o Veggies! Extra bag alert 🚨 Limited number of extra bag o veggies available Includes corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, beets, cucumbers, zucchini and whatever else we can harvest today! $25 for a bag or $15 for half Pickup is Sunday at the farm from 1-5. LMK - they often go fast!

Buckwheat cover in the new beds

Our experiment with growing above the house even with the shade is going great! The buckwheat sure did grow - and now is flowering. So if there’s enough sun for buckwheat I have to imagine it would be enough for greens! Weirdly the deer don’t seek to be eating it. But we for sure will build a deer fence if we plant veggies here!

Tomatoes are coming along well. 2 weeks more until we feel safe putting them in the field. (Mother’s Day is the tradition here in southwest Ohio) they are really loving the start greenhouse- and I am loving that I don’t have to worry they’ll get too tall for the grow lights. #tomatostarts #organictomatoes #tomatoplant #freshtomatoes #organicgardening #urbanfarming #csa

How to get water for your new plantings before it’s warm enough to hook up the hoses! #creek #creeklife #ilovecreeks

Got the new chicken coop all closed in before the rains tomorrow. I’m loving it! Now just roof shingles and paint. Probably after the rain. Then chickens!

Lots of baby tomatoes starting to come into their own ...