Has the Summer heat drained you? If so you are not alone! We are feeling a bit drained here at Bain Home Gardens too. Let the tardy nature of this months newsletter also be an indication of how crazy things have been! What can we say though; the work must go on! Just what work have we been doing?
Out with the bug infested near dead crops and in with the new!
August is ALWAYS the worse month of the year for us with December being a close 2nd. The extremes in temperatures and rainfall during these months aggravates already stressed out plants making it a challenge to keep things alive and productive. This year has proven to be no exception to the rule!
The good thing about August happens to be the same thing that makes it super hectic – the starting of Fall and Winter crops. This month we have started varieties of broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collards and much more! Timing the planting of these so that they mature in the cool months is crucial to getting a tasty and timely harvest.
These plants will help support our Fall 2020 CSA. However some crops take two full seasons to grow thus they will not make their debut until mid to late Spring, still others not until early Summer! Wild right?!
In addition to starting plants for BHG & Kith & Kin, we are also planting extra to assist those who would like to have their very own Fall garden. Each month we will be offering our Clean Starts plants. This month’s selection for Summer gardens has been already been exhausted! However, since we are constantly planting, stock will be renewed soon.
Amending raised beds!
We have many raised beds of various sizes surrounding our field areas. This time of the year we amend these with compost to ensure the soil is able to support the demands that long season crops insist upon. Our desire isn’t to just grow produce but we want to grow produce with a superb flavor. To do this proper nutrition must be available to the plants early on and throughout the plants life cycle. Compost does a great job in providing that!
Celebrating good times!
We have managed to fit a little fun in too! Our eldest child graduated college last week with an Associates in Applied Science degree. You don’t need us to tell you how proud we are. Completing this last semester under COVID-19 restrictions was a tad bit intimidating but the school was very patient and he was very determined. Finding a job, like so many these days, is a whole other story!
As one graduates college the other is starting the last year of junior high school! We are looking down the barrel of eighth grade this year. I’m actually looking quite forward to it. Since we switched from home schooling 3 years ago to virtual schooling, I’ve been very proud of how Thai has kept up with the workload, even making time to assist with farm chores. 
I would like to take this moment to shout out to all the parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and friends that will be stepping up to the role of teacher/learning coach this school year. COVID-19 has surely thrown a curve ball our way this year. We have seen horrendous stories in the news about how our communities are dealing with it and we have also seen some amazingly good stories. Now however, you have to TUNE OUT THAT NOISE! Put on your noise cancelling headphones so to speak so you can focus on those important to you – your children, your now students. Try not to become overwhelmed. You will make mistakes & so will your children after all this a new to many of you. The key is to maintain a positive attitude and to keep moving forward. Having successfully home schooled one child through high school & assisting with college studies, I promise you IT IS POSSIBLE – no superhuman powers required! Whether this is a temporary thing for you or it will be permanent, we would like to help. Therefore we, our entire family, will be preparing a blog with our top tips for home teaching. We hope to get this done before the month is out as we know many of you have already started your home and virtual school programs.
Time is fleeting. As we look at how quickly our children have grown, we are faced with that realization. Now more than ever we find ourselves embracing every crazy, lovable, outlandish moment we have with them. Meanwhile, our other child, Bain Home Gardens, has also grown much in the last year alone. As we have nurtured it over the last few years we are so thankful for the support of our community, especially during this pandemic.
This Week’s Listings
As mentioned above things are really ramping up in our neck of the woods. Since we have pulled many of the Spring plants our listing page maybe limited over the next month or so. Therefore we ask for your patience as we prepare more home grown goodness – from our family to yours!
September is a special month for Bain Home Gardens. Do you know why? Check back to find out in our September “Goings-on” segment.
