After a few months of (relative) rest, most of the crew has returned to work days on the farm. We are now better kraut makers, electricians, Lord of the Rings conversationalists, cooperative management scholars, and archers, but we remain as eager as ever to grow a lot of good food. The cows have joined us again from their winter stay in the barn down the road, and started grazing the fields of cover crops here on the farm. We’ve got a heron and a Cooper’s hawk making themselves at home in the orchard and the compost area, and the great spring return of stinging nettle and daffodils. All of a sudden, things are bustling and busy here once again.
Early April morning looking at some freshly snow-sprinkled Olympics.
One of the priorities of the Winter down-time is crop planning for the upcoming season. It’s map making and numbers crunching, but also a fun puzzle that involves reflecting upon certain plants, varieties, our ability to support their growth. Beyond that, we get to envision the next season and beyond - what we want the landscape to look like, the soil to hold, and our markets and farmshare membership to be.
While Sallie and Hannah began their greenhouse magic in February, March really seemed to mark those plans rolling into motion with greenhouse plant starts being moved into the ground. These will be our early farmshare crops, and it’s pretty fun to see their leaves stretching out and up every day as we approach the start of this season’s farmshare. We are gradually bidding adieu to the hearty winter crops that carried us through to April farmers markets. Their beds are being turned over for new vegetable transplants or cover crops. Spring greens are in our future! And until then, we plant, transplant, weed, repeat.
Yours amidst the raab,
Elena