The pictures above are just a few of the sure signs of spring we are enjoying on the farm. The cover crop is growing fast and soon we won’t be able to to see Charlie as he runs through it. The anemones, always the first flowers to bloom in our high tunnels, have started (they do get taller!) and we have completed (for now) the weeding of our over wintering crops, the strawberries, flowers and onions. And we have hired our first intern, Dan, who comes to us from New Jersey. (In the red hat in the photo above. Sam is in the orange beanie.)
We have sown our first tomatoes, lettuces, spinach, flowers, and even a tray of summer squash in our heated greenhouse and one of our caterpillar tunnels is full of early lettuce mix, lettuce, spinach and kale. We have another big round of vegetables to plant out next week. We are doing our best to come up with contingency plans in case it doesn’t stop raining and we can’t get in to work up any ground. I think if we had a week or even 5 solid, sunny windy days we could get in to the fields but so far no such luck. It doesn’t look like that’s forecast for the next week either. We always figure it out though and I’m sure this year will be no exception
Another exciting sign of spring is the blooming of the maples trees. This is the first real nectar flow for the honey bees and we have one maple that blooms particularly early in our back yard. It was covered with bees on Sunday. The bees have also been out collecting pollen from one of our main winter weeds, purple dead nettle. The pollen from the dead nettle is bright orange and the bees collect in little sacks that they have in/on their back legs. So cool.
Thank you to those of you have sent checks, chased me down and given me checks or otherwise let us know you want to join our CSA again. We still have a few spots left, so let us know if you want to sign up again. This year in particular it seems like an even better idea to turn to local sources of fruits and vegetables that you can pick up at your convenience!
Thanks always for your support of local agriculture and of our farm in particular. We couldn’t to it with you!
Vanessa and Alex
