Sow it Begins (week 5)

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 The freedom rangers have been such a joy to have on the farm.  They are happy, active, healthy and a really cool looking fryer bird.  We move them around the farm 2-3 times a day!

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Hello Friends & Farm-ily,

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We can’t believe how quickly the time passes between one harvest week and to another.  We’ve been extra bee-zy this weekend as we’ve ceremoniously begun sowing seeds  for our Fall succession of crops.  Does anyone else think June is just flying by… ?  

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Our very good friend and fellow farmer – Beth – made an appearance on Saturday and helped us weed, transplant, wash eggs & move our little turkeys out to pasture – we even got to socialize a little bit!  It paved the way for some very productive farm-time but there is still much more to do.  It’s looking like we may be seeding in the greenhouse this week during pick-ups in order to keep up with it all so if we don’t see ya this week that’s where we’ll be!

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Sowing in the greenhouse begins, the turkeys are out on pasture and the potato flowers are poppin’.  

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Thankful for the clouds.  Thank goodness for all the beautiful farming weather we’ve had this past week on our off-harvest days (cloudy & 60’s… just perfect for being out in the garden).  Flowers are blooming everywhere  making it incredibly easy to anticipate the summer goodies that are just around the corner..  Although we didn’t get  as much rain as we had hoped last week we are thankful for the little rain we did receive.  Our second successions of cucumbers, squash, beans and melons all rising up in the garden and are thankful too!

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The summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is just a few days away (on Saturday).  We certainly feel all the energy as we’ve been up with the sun at 20 past 5 and heading in at sunset around 9.  We’ve been getting better at taking breaks during the hottest times of the late afternoon/early evening to make dinner and get back out in the fields at 7 for a few hours.  We call 7-9pm the “magic hours” here on the farm… from the low, glimmering sunlight to the cooler breeze – it’s just such a joy to be out in the garden.  The animals love it too – they’re all out there filling their bellies – in the settling of the day – before perching or laying down for the night.  On the farm, we’re all ready to hit the hay hard by the end of the evening.

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Lots of new veggies are ready for your boxes.. get ready!  

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Thankful for our members.  Have we mentioned how much we love our CSA members?   Well, we really do! One of our fantastic members bought a share and is successfully eating it all on her own (you go girl!)   She writes thoughtfully on her blog HELLOKIRST on how to.. Eat Yo Vegetables: A Guide to Your CSA Share.  Get inspired and check it out.  Tell us how it’s going in your own kitchen as we love hearing about your favorite recipes, ways to preserve the fresh bounty, etc each week. That’s what we’re here for!

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Missing Crates.   At the end of last week we were short a dozen crates for this week’s harvest.  Please remember to bring your crates!   It’s always a good idea to keep a few bags in your car to transfer produce into in case your crate is forgotten (that way a crate is always being returned to the farm).  A big thank you to those folks who were able to bring by your crates over the weekend.  We really appreciate it!

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Tomatoes are coming and we can’t wait to have a radicchio salad in the next few weeks!  

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Keep up the great work and stay inspired in the kitchen…. time to get back to some cow fencing before the sun goes down…. we’ll see you all soon!

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Our kindest regards,

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your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts

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p.s. In honor of the Solstice we wanted to share one of our favorite “summer poems”….

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Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

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