Rustic Road Farm, by the numbers

Imagine a painter with a blank canvas, a teacher with a classroom of new students or a builder with a blueprint. Think of the potential or even the possible pitfalls. It can be overwhelming at first, but once you start, there's a momentum.

I'm the first-time farmer with five virgin, unlplowed acres and an empty barn. But a month later with momentum in place, it's looking like this:

100 pounds of seed potato, planted

1,600 onions, planted

1 new tractor, purchased, delivered, working

3 goats, delivered

35 yards of compost, spreaded

4H neighbor, hired, to build 1 pen for hogs by the 1 willow tree

65 chicks, assorted varieties arrived at post office after a pleasant flight - by plane

Soil tests, completed (great results)

24 apple trees, assorted varieties, planted

30 rasberry bushes, planted

15 blackberry bushes, planted

4 cherry trees, 2 sour, 2 sweet, planted

1 very tired but excited farmer (that's me).