INTRODUCTION
Barlow Roots Newsletter - 4/17/2025

The rollercoaster of spring conditions continues! We’ve had some really beautiful days, some downright awful days and a lot in between. Spring crops in the garden are definitely behind. I surmise it is our cool nights. We need temps to warm just a little to let our soil warm to really get the plants moving. Most of our time recently has been consumed with garden work, shuttling kids around and getting outdoors when we can.

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Enjoy this weeks newsletter!

HOMESTEAD UPDATE
Waiting for Pigs, Fun with Friends, Turkey Hunt

Spring does feel like a time of rebirth and fresh energy. We’ve been a busy hive of activity at the Barlow house. It has been fun stopping in at some local baseball games on nice days and attending the kids track meets and lacrosse practices. While our homestead is a busy place with lots of projects we certainly also want to make sure we leave time for the kids to enjoy their childhood experiences as well.

We are waiting on pigs. They were set to come a couple of weeks ago but with the temperature swings the farmer opted to keep them awhile longer. Any day now we are expecting to get the call to go pick them up and bring them home. We will have 5 pigs again this year. We will share more when they make the trip to our farm for the summer.

One of the things we love about our property is getting to share it with others who don’t have access to land or the outdoors. Espen had some of his friends over a couple of weeks ago for a Saturday full of adventures. They cut trees, built a fire, worked on shelters, shot bb guns and sling shots and just did all the fun stuff middle school boys love. All the boys went home a little dirtier with some good fresh air in their lungs.

This last weekend we were invited to participate in the Youth Mentored Turkey Hunt in Wisconsin by a friend from church. It is a weekend set aside before the season starts to take kids out hunting. I love hunting but have never really turkey hunted so it was a fun experience for me as well! Elias and Espen were both able to hunt and after a 3:30 am wake up call we were in the woods surrounded by gobbles! It was pretty fun. Espen and I had a quiet morning with our turkey hunting friend. We had a hen join us for a while but no toms. As we were heading in for lunch we got news that Elias had shot one! He and his guide had quite the story to share about the mornings hunt and their success. After a little lunch and a break our group spent the rest of the afternoon walking and looking for birds before setting up for a final sit near the roost at sunset. Espen and the other boy hunting with us weren’t able to connect with a turkey but what a fun day outdoors trying to make it happen. The turkey breasts are huge and delicious. We’ve already had a couple of meals with them.

As for other homestead projects we’ve been picking away at things like pruning the raspberries, blackberries and grapes. And making plans for the busy summer season. The biggest project as of now will be working on our new high tunnel but I am sure we will make time for some other good projects as well.

MARKET GARDENING
Things are GROWING!

While the temperatures have stayed a little cooler than we would like we are still seeing some good growth in the garden. We probably have 12-15 beds planted at this point with all our staple spring crops. Things like turnips, radishes, mesclun mix, salad mix, head lettuce and bok choy. The first outdoor beds are starting to come up while our high tunnel beds are all sprouted and looking good. With having to move the tunnels this year we are a little strapped on space so we had to leave room for the tomatoes in our spring crops.

Speaking of tomatoes, we need to get them in the ground this week. They are growing like wild and flopping all over the place. This is about the same time we planted them last year. There is definitely some risk with planting this early. We have row cover for everything and will employee some other tactics if necessary to keep them happy over these next few weeks. We will plant the tomatoes nice and deep leaving just the tops exposed. This gives them a really nice start. We will also keep them mostly covered with either shade cloth or fleece row cover as the harden off and get used to the natural sunlight. We’ve had them outside getting a little taste of sun today as well.

We’ve made a few purchases for the farm recently. We ordered a new tool called a Quick Cut Greens Harvester. Feel free to google it if you want. Once it is here we will post some videos of it in action. It is something we’ve considered for a long time. It will make harvesting greens much quicker. Previously we’ve always just used a knife and harvested everything by hand. We also have some new tools for irrigation on the way. One of the challenges in mid summer is keeping our soil and plants cool for optimal growth when it is hot. Hopefully, these investments will make a difference for us this year!

The big high tunnel move is underway. I have started disassembling the current high tunnel, the plastic is off and we are ready to disassemble it. Next step is to lift the hoops off the ground posts and get the ground posts pulled up so that we can get them reinstalled in the new location. No news yet on when our new high tunnel will make it to the farm. We built this years garden plan, with no intention of using the new tunnel this season. But we do need to get the old tunnel set up as plants will need it in just a couple of weeks.

It is a busy time of year but it feels like we are doing OK. Weather is a big factor of course!

CLOSING
Juggling.

Lately we’ve felt like those people in the circus with the spinning plates. Just trying to keep all the plates spinning has been a challenge. Things like homeschooling, raising a toddler, running a farm, managing our garden business, youth sports, church activities, etc. It is busy but oddly everything feels right. We look at all those items and work to figure out priorities and then make it work from there. Our homeschooling recently required a new look at accountability. With Ingrid needing to be gone sometimes in the morning for the garden the kids needed a little more structure to stay on track. So we built a new system, that gives them a tight timeline for each of their tasks and a schedule for the day. A couple of weeks into the process and things seem to be going really well. It is a reminder that sometimes things just need a re-look. Sometimes we get stuck in our own momentum, we feel like we can’t stop and reassess, even if we are going in the wrong direction. Even if you lose a little momentum, often times a fresh look at something will give you a clearer and more successful path for the future.