When we first moved on our land there were several juniper trees a few cactus and not much else. Over the years weeds have become our friends. The only weeds we pull are the ones that grow around our house and on the driveway otherwise we let them grow. We have wildflowers and grasses growing that we haven’t seen before. The extra moisture we have received this year hopefully will help things stay green longer than normal. Soon everything will be brown and dead once the temps rise. You can see the difference in the pictures below.

​Blessings!

Wow it’s really hard to tell if it’s still winter or spring. The weather has been really crazy here. Yesterday it snowed and today by 9 am it’s in the 50’s. It sure makes it hard to grow anything in weather like this. A few of our plants have frost damage from a couple days ago but hopefully they’ll recover. It’s a guessing game at this point as to when the last frost day will be until then we are happy to have a greenhouse to protect the plants we have in there.

​Blessings!

We had the farmers market in Seligman, AZ today so we didn’t have to opportunity to check on all the plants. Unfortunately the freezing temperatures damaged a few plants but hopefully they’ll recover. It’s been rough trying to keep everything alive since we first started seeds in February. This time of the year the weather is unpredictable so until the last frost is over most plants will stay in the greenhouse.

​Blessing!

Yesterday was the first farmers market of the year in Ash Fork, Arizona. We sold plants, homemade seed starting kits, nest run eggs and homemade baked goods. Sourdough bread, Banana bread, Double chocolate bread and Butterscotch brownies. We met some great people and having our kids doing markets with me this year is awesome!

Truly Blessed!

Wow! You never know what your going to see in the garden. I was out watering this morning and saw something strange in one of our raised beds. I used a stick to uncover what was the biggest mushroom I’ve ever seen in my life. Our chickens had been eating some of it or at least what they could reach. I had to take a picture and share. Mushrooms are not something we normally see growing here in Northern Arizona.

We love this time of year when there is a lot of green in the yard. Sadly it won’t last very long with the temperature heats up but for now we are enjoying it. The wild flowers are so pretty both yellow and purple have popped up. Each year they are different depending on how much moisture we get. Happy Spring Everyone!

Part of our transition from the online thrift store to our micro farm is adding to our name-it’s now Truly Thrifty/ Leverone Family Farm. We have been raising chickens and ducks for 6 years and recently added more growing area for produce. Eventually we would like to open a farm stand but for now we will be selling at AZ RT 66 Farmers Market in Ash Fork and Seligman AZ this summer. This is a family effort and I’m so blessed to have my families support.

Have a great day everyone!

Yesterday was a productive and fun family day out in the garden we were able to get quite a bit done. The extra hands to get the plastic up for a green house was great.
The area has definitely improved from what it was and our goals are to regenerate not only that area but eventually to whole yard. The ground is clay with lots of volcanic rocks but with the rain/snow we had over the winter has help to bring up some green already (evern if they are weeds). Weeds are beneficial because they help with erosion, some are edible and the flowers help feed the bees/insects.
We have a way to go regenerating our property so setting small goals has helped along the way. Don’t worry about doing everything at once that is so overwhelming. One plant in a pot is a start anyone can do that. Thankfully I have my family to help.

​Blessings

In previous posts we shared our challenges growing produce here in Northern Arizona but we love fresh vegetables, herbs & flowers so we keep trying and at this point it’s more like a science experiment. We compost everything we can to use in our gardens, the chickens & ducks provide manure (composted or aged first) and any natural materials we can use from our yard. Keeping the input costs down is important so we try not to purchase amendments unless needed. We hope you enjoy the slideshow pictures of the past year.

Yay! It’s finally Spring! We are so ready for nice weather and Spring is such a beautiful time of year. All the new growth and green in our yard that we don’t see the rest of the year.