Early in the calendar year we discuss and decide what we are going to grow. Finalize the business plan. Get seeds ordered. Do some off farm work, negotiate for livestock, order turkeys on January 1 because those heritage breeds sell out quick. Get some house projects done. Then it is time to start digging, moving compost, install and repair fencing, start seedlings under grow lights and plant, plant, plant.
Now the beds are full of seeds. Some of the beds have been pulled up and replanted. Some will go into the CSA boxes this week, next week, and on until November. It is now time to weed, mow between rows, pick those bugs off and harvest. To eat interesting, not seen in the grocery store things. Last night we had our steak, our lettuce salad, our roasted potatoes. Claire baked blondies topped with Keswick Creamery chocolate pudding..off the hook! A couple pots of chicken stock cooked up, strained and now in containers in the freezer. Strawberries will become jam. Blueberries will get frozen (still have to pick and buy those, as we do not have enough here to last all winter!). Peaches after that..
And so with the first day of summer comes a shift on the farm. We start fighting bugs, trying to prevent them from eating what we are growing. We know that everything has a short season..4-8 weeks, and we work to get it local, preserve it and have enough until next year when we can get it fresh again. Peas are done for the spring, we will try them again in the fall, but that might be it for them, as we have not had much luck with fall planted peas.
and so here is what we have at the farm now: abundance..
first bit of milk from Sybil!
black swallowtail caterpillar on the carrot tops
volunteer squash and tomato plants where the pigs were last fall..we fed the pulled up plants to them, and might have something to harvest in that area!
or just might use the flowers to stuff and fry and eat!
dragonfly (I think)
milkweed and honey bees
Thanksgiving turkeys, getting large
grapes, in the making
and when I was a kid, my father said he was going to have us celebrate the vernal equinox rather than Christmas. I was horrified, as I was certain everyone thought we were weird..and not having Christmas was not going to work! So this is Homer's shout out to my dad..a Summer Solstice mustard, decorated with onion, carrots and radishes..Ryan shows it off..
Now the beds are full of seeds. Some of the beds have been pulled up and replanted. Some will go into the CSA boxes this week, next week, and on until November. It is now time to weed, mow between rows, pick those bugs off and harvest. To eat interesting, not seen in the grocery store things. Last night we had our steak, our lettuce salad, our roasted potatoes. Claire baked blondies topped with Keswick Creamery chocolate pudding..off the hook! A couple pots of chicken stock cooked up, strained and now in containers in the freezer. Strawberries will become jam. Blueberries will get frozen (still have to pick and buy those, as we do not have enough here to last all winter!). Peaches after that..
And so with the first day of summer comes a shift on the farm. We start fighting bugs, trying to prevent them from eating what we are growing. We know that everything has a short season..4-8 weeks, and we work to get it local, preserve it and have enough until next year when we can get it fresh again. Peas are done for the spring, we will try them again in the fall, but that might be it for them, as we have not had much luck with fall planted peas.
and so here is what we have at the farm now: abundance..
grapes, in the making
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