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“A seed is small but rich with possibility, like love, which is as humble as it is powerful.” —Pir Zia Inayat-Khan
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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
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The first few weeks of February have flown by! Last week it also brought heaps and heaps of rain (over 5” in just a few days) which means our pastures are covered once again in the flood (Lake WHF is back!). Over the weekend we recharged our solar powered farmer batteries with all the sunshine. It brought a much needed respite from the rains and moss growing behind our ears 😉 The warmth of the sun and the promise of Spring has a way of invigorating the spirit!
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February really is an exciting month on the farm as it’s a time for pushing many things forward on the farm. After a few months of downtime and shorter days February always marks the beginning of a shift. Where there is less time spent planning and analyzing and more time chipping away at projects and getting the ball rolling! It’s building momentum.. when your heart and mind just want to dive in and the wet winter weather says otherwise. Winter farming can be a difficult shift for farmers… during the busy season we’re working from sun up to sun down and as we near Thanksgiving our work days are cut in half… and by December we’ve reached the winter solstice (the least amount of daylight of the year). Less time is spent outside and just the slowing down of the physical activity can throw you for quite a loop (both mentally and physically). That paired with the weather and lack of sunshine can make for a feeling that can be challenging at times. But, boy, there is a direct correlation with the sunshine.. that gentle reminder that a new season is not that far away! February is the transition in the farming world where you are buttoning up the planning and feeling extra inspired by the momentum of CSA sign ups, seed orders, projects, to-dos… When February rolls around it means it’s time to implement the seeding plan, push projects through, tune up the ol’ equipment and really begin the new season!
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The last of the celery for a little white, the garlic taking in the sunshine and some sweet winter lettuce mix!
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Soil tests, crop planning, seed starting, tractors, building projects and more, oh my! One of the first things we like to do in February is get our custom made fertilizer for the garden all set to go. The first step to soil success is submitting our yearly soil test to A&L Labs. Next to seed orders this is seriously up there with some of the most fun things we do as farmers. How did we do? What can we do better? The challenges and possibilities that farming brings starts right here in the planning stages. Our custom made organic fertilizer mix paired with the omri certified garden compost we use every season has really improved the soil over the past 4 years and it’s fun to see those previous seasons soil test results change in a positive way!
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“If I grow good soil, I can forget about the vegetables.” – Nigel Walker
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It brings a big smile to these farmers faces to see the land become more productive over time and to see things truly thrive (it’s members and farmers included) from season to season. We look forward to feeding the soil and all of our wonderful members through our 8th growing season! Whoop whoop!
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radicchio rosso di Verona”the rose of chiogga”, castelfranco & radicchio di lusia & di chiogga, rosa verona tardiva!
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Feeding and building the nutrition in the soil and rotating all the 70+ different kinds of veggies we grow around the farm is so important (in order to combat disease and pests etc and make sure there is the right amount of nutrition to meet the needs of the many different crops that we grow). We also need to plan out our successional crop plantings in order to have food for our members each and every week! It seems like a crazy amount of information to grow so many different crops for over 150 households for 7 months (+ 5 months of winter CSA) of the year, which is why the systems we’ve created are so important for the two of us to run this ship smoothly.
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We’re buttoning up the crop plans for the season and are really excited about the crops and varieties of veggies that we’re growing this year. We’ll be rotating our garden plots this year which means we can cover crop some of the garden blocks at the front of the property and let them lay fallow for at time (fallow: adj.(of farmland) plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production). We’re really excited about the forward progress and the season ahead! With all the hot weather 2015 brought and the wild 2016/17 winter we’ve had this year we feel better prepared (mentally and physically) for whatever 2017 will throw at us. Nature waits for no one and the more experience we take on (high fives!) the better prepared we will be.
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spinach and beets have sprung, the build out begins and the new replacement tractor has finally arrived!
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Tractor update! As you may recall last year we had a bit of a to-do with the new tractor from John Deere (Re: https://workinghandsfarm.com/2016/09/07/labor-days-csa-week-16-17/ ) We had bought our 5075e tractor in the spring of 2016 with the creeper gear being a part of it (it enables us to plant vegetables at a slow enough speed where it won’t burn up the tractor) and unfortunately they sold us something that hadn’t yet been manufactured. So, last fall we were told they would not be manufacturing it so it was back to the drawing board. We ordered the replacement tractor at the end of last Fall with a creeper gear and it has arrived this week! We are so excited to have the equipment that we need to grow better and improve the systems on the farm! Strawberry plants will be here before you know it and it’s nice feeling to know the tractors are rearing to go!
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Red Barn Build-Out. We’re pretty excited about this.. over the last two weeks we made progress on the red barn build out and built a 18×24’ coolbot cooler and a new CSA pick up area that will keep the produce even fresher in our insulated building! It will also streamline our packing system to make everything more efficient and organized. The concrete floors will make it easy to wash/pack, use the pallet jack to move produce around and chill in the cooler and then when pick up time comes around we’ll be able to roll all the produce into the next room for CSA pick up. This means picking up 50lb crates of produce less and moving towards a much more efficient setup and system for the two of us. Washing, packing, storage and pick up will all happen in one location which will also save us from running produce around all about the farm on a daily basis. Pretty exciting stuff! #workingsmarternotharder
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The first signs of purple sprouting broccoli, the finished coolbot – we just need to purchase the AC units!, gloucester soaking in the sun…
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And in the midst of the season that lies ahead, we are over the halfway point of the WHF Winter CSA! We are seriously loving the winter CSA (no matter what ol’ mother nature brings) and already talking about growing and making plans for next winter. We really do feel that it’s an amazing addition to the farm to provide produce through the shorter days of the year all while providing income to the farm that will help us achieve some balance in the crazy months of summer. We are big fans all around – the best perk of all is eating delicious farm fresh veg in the winter! As winter members, you know that the weather is more variable than other times of the year. Crop losses can happen from a hard freeze, disease pressure, bugs, etc… and many of these things are out of your farmers control. As winter members, you’ve also come to appreciate and recognize just how resilient vegetables (and your farmers, toot toot!) are. We always strive to do our best and are more motivated than ever to grow better even in an anomaly winter like the one we’ve had this year.
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The Hungry Gap. It’ll be fun to see what the rest of the Spring will bring! It is February which is also the beginning of the “hungry gap” in the farming world. The hungry gap is the name for the period in spring when there is little or no fresh produce available. When overwintered brassica vegetables such as kale and collards and January King cabbages “bolt” (i.e. run up to flower.. we also call this rapini!) as the days get warmer and longer and the first crops of the year are just being sown. On the farm we utilize the high tunnels and propagation house to get a head start on seeding our first crops of Spring (that’ll be ready to eat starting in mid-March through May depending on the crop). It’s essential that we have these covered spaces to grow as it’s usually too wet to prepare soil for planting until mid-March. Most people are blissfully unaware of the hungry gap as the grocery store is always overflowing with produce from southern states and imported from southern countries from Feb-April. You can imagine what it must have been like before we imported produce in the winter… cabbage and potatoes, canned fruits and veggies, foraged greens… it seems like such a luxury now that we can grow and eat from the farm (or visit the grocery store) year round!–
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From the farmer’s perspective it really is such a wonderful experience growing food for our community through the winter. There were many farmers that came before us, who figured out the same things we’re figuring out now minus all of the equipment and efficiencies that technology has given us over the past 100 years…
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We have some amazing “over-wintering” crops (like purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, cauliflowers etc) that are slowy beginning to show signs of productivity after 200+ days of growing (so cool) among other fun things like rapini from the kale, collards, cabbages and other root brassicas! We also have some amazing sweet meat squash from Adaptive Seeds and other fun winter squash varietals from Johnny’s Seeds and High Mowing Seeds to enjoy too!
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Here come the first crops of the season, the sun after a rainstorm, there may be a flood outside but inside we’re irrigating!
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Sign up for the 2017 Spring, Summer & Fall Season! We are 3/4 of the way there to being full for the 2017 season. A big thank you to all of our amazing CSA members both new and old! Keep spreading the good word because it makes all the difference. As a farm-ily member once said, “keep your friends close and you farmers closer.”
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Small farms are making a big impact! Keep up the great work everyone – let’s do it even better in 2017! #workinghandsfarmcsa #dirtyhandscleanhearts
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3 Steps to Signing Up:
- Read all about the 2017 CSA season (the Who, What, Where, Why, When & How Much)
- Fill out the CSA Sign Up Form & Member Agreement
- Mail or drop off a Check or Make Payment Online to reserve your share
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Winter CSA Shares 8, 9, 10.. the bounty continues!
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If you have any further questions about the 2017 CSA be sure to check out our FAQs section or send us an email. We look forward to seeing you all at the start of the season! Here’s to good food and the amazing community it brings together!
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Stay dry out there and cross your fingers for some sunshine in the 10 day! We could all use some sunshine!
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With kind regards,
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Your Farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
working hands farm 
