News from Turtle Rock Farm  Our fall garden is growing in the greenhouse. We have eaten snap peas, lettuce, turnips and kale so far out of the garden. We are hoping to continue to harvest some vegetables throughout the winter months. One apple tree produces an abundance of winesap apples. We froze apples pies, apple sauce, apple butter, apple slices and apple bread. We also gave away apples to neighbors, friends, school children and retreats. Anyone coming to visit will be served some type of apple treat for months to come. 
Wheat harvest has come to an end. We were late getting started because of 9 inches of rain in one week, the first part of June. But the weather eventually stayed dry for several days. We were able to get into the fields. The 1981 combine broke down a few times, adding to the tension. But Sid (the farm manager) was able to fix it every time. Pat drove the wheat trucks and enjoyed the experience. 
High winds blew off part of the greenhouse roof. This gave us the opportunity to put on new guttering and install a 65-gallon rain barrel, which is actually, conveniently, in the greenhouse. We also added vents to the roof to extend the time we can use the greenhouse. 
We have built turnable compost bins for both houses. They only took a couple of hours to build and were a lot cheaper than buying ready-made turnable composters. We had been using a square plastic composter, but there was no way to turn what was in it. It is important to turn it to speed up the process. We enjoyed visiting with many folks as we participated with an exhibit at the Environmental Expo at Southern Hills Christian Church in Edmond on 27 April. It was their first expo, sponsored by their environmental stewardship committee. After two church members learned how to make the four-by-four raised beds at our Growing Your Own Food in Small Spaces workshop, the church installed their first-of-several raised beds for a community garden. We are happy to support their good effort. To celebrate Earth Day we planted a Redbud tree along the driveway. We will be adding several more in the coming days. Mary and Pat spoke at the Oklahoma Sustainability Network Conference in Norman on Earth Literacy and Ecospirituality on March 29th. It was a great conference and a way to connect with people who are interested in making a difference in the way we treat Earth. 
On March 11 Pat Hoerth (pictured on the right) was ordained as a United Methodist Deaconess, which is a lay person commissioned to a lifetime of ministry in the areas of love, justice and service in the world. Her Deaconess appointment is doing ministries of ecospirituality and environmental justice at Turtle Rock Farm. (That was also her birthday, but we won't say which one.) We are very proud of her! To see Pat's presentation about Turtle Rock Farm go to Musings from Turtle Rock. 
The Billings Elementary Students completed the gardens at the school on Friday, March 14th. They have done a fabulous job and we are all anxiously awaiting the time they can eat the vegetables they are growing.
Spring is arriving at the farm. We have several baby calves scampering around. The bulbs are popping up and we are eager to dig in the soil.
We have planted 50 cypress trees, 50 Redbud trees, 50 sand plum bushes, 3 persimmon trees, 3 kiwi trees and 8 raspberry bushes on the farm this spring.
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