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News From the Farm
The farm is up and running again. The last three weeks have been very busy on the farm as we tried to make the most of the good weather by spreading compost, plowing up land, and disking our fields in preparation for planting. All of the machinery seems to be in good working order, knock on wood, and the greenhouse is filling up quickly with healthy looking starts. This year on the farm we have three new apprentices and all of them have adjusted well to learning new farm skills including driving tractors.
The warmer than usual temps we experienced in March gave us just enough of a window so that we could get a head start on field work. We were able to spread compost and plow many of our fields earlier than usual, and it gave us the perfect conditions to get ready to plant berries. Last week was chilly, but we managed- as farmers do- and pushed through the first planting of the season: day neutral type strawberries. Many of you will remember the heavy rains of 2010 and 2011 and how difficult it made it to manage weeds around the farm. Our perennial strawberry plantings were swallowed by those weeds and ultimatly succombed to disease. At the tail end of last season we plowed that crop under, said see ya later and prepared for a new fresh start with the day neutrals. The warm weather we experienced in March did help us get them in the ground a few weeks ahead of schedule and fruitings should be 60-70 days from now. We will keep you updated with developments from strawberry land.
This week and next we will be planting our early season sweet onions as well as our storage onions. The rain over the weekend has helped us by loosening up the soil and making it much easier on our hands. We plant all of our onions by hand. We will also be seeding our first crops this week and they include: snap peas, snow peas, shelling peas, carrots, beets and spinach. We are hoping for some warmer temps this week and the next to help those crops germinate and get off to a good start. Our first tranplanting of crops is a good two weeks off, as they are still sizing up in the greenhouse and those include: green and red summer cabbage, Napa cabbage, lacinato kale (also known as dino kale), red russian kale, collards, broccoli and Swiss chard.
Meet The Apprentices This year we have three new apprentices joining us on the unpredicatable journey known as farming. All three have some gardening or farming experience and are interested in learning how to farm. Jonah Epstein worked on a grass fed beef farm located in Kentucky last season and is eager to learn more about veggie production. Kat Horan got her first farming experience through WOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) and has recently traveled to Ireland where she worked on a sheep farm throughout most of last winter. Kat also does stand up comedy and keeps things loose around the farm which is always nice. It also takes pressure off of me to be funny- fewww. Johanna Bystrom has experience in gardening and has a strong interest in learning how to farm organically and experiencing a whole season on a farm. You'll hopefully have a chance to meet these new farmers at either our local pick up, delivered share sites or at the farmers' markets. By the time you have a chance to meet them they will be knowledgable about the farm so please feel free to pepper them with lots of questions and help keep them on their toes. CSA Shares Available Now There are still CSA shares available for this season. We will continue to accept returning and new members until we sell out or until the season begins, whichever comes first. Please spread the word to friends and family who may be interested in joining the farm for the season. Participating in CSA program is a great way to learn how your food is grown and also an opportunity to get to know your farmers. How Can I Help The Farm? I am so glad that you asked becuase I am ready with an answer. No, I promise it won't entail crawling on your hands and knees to weed 1000 feet of carrots. The best way to help the farm without a doubt is to tell a friend. Help us by telling a friend about the farm, the CSA and what you like about it. Telling a friend could also include posting something on facebook about the farm. We have a very limited marketing budget each year so this one simple act can make a big difference for a small farm. Thanks. | 
