Springtime

Lately everyone keeps asking about the warm weather we have had on the farm. How is it going to effect the upcoming season? What might we do differently? It is hard to say at this point what kind of effect an extra warm spring might have on the farm. We have been able to work up our soil a little early, plant a couple of things in the ground before we usually do. However, over the last couple days, the cold has returned to remind us that, though it may have felt like it a week ago, it is not yet summer. Inside the greenhouse lettuce continues to grow, tomatoes have germinated and we continue to seed many more plants. Thousands of little seedlings are getting their start. With the ground thawed we have had a chance to begin to prepare the fields for this year’s crops. Late season crops like kale and Brussels sprouts came out of the ground as well as the plastic mulch they were planted into. Our temporary hoop structures, which helped protect our kale and enabled us to have it all winter long came down and were brought out of the field. We welcomed 20 more piglets to the farm and next week 400 baby chicks will arrive. We have pulled the remaining winter spinach out of the new unheated greenhouse and are preparing the soil for an extra early tomato planting. The garlic is several inches high already. In many places around the farm, especially pasture where chickens were rotated last year, the grass is already dark green. Spring is here. We are pumped for another great season.