Happy spring! Or at least it
seemed like it for a few days. We
certainly missed the brunt of the recent storm, but it’s a little ugly out
there now. We spent part of the nice weather
trimming fruit trees, we are about ¾ of the way
finished with that chore. It’s amazing
how much time it requires with just our little orchards. We were pleased to have so much of it done
before the ice came. It sure helped
those trees to have less immature surface for the weight of the ice to damage.
The high tunnel
was finally put to bed this month. We
cleared all the beds, fed the leftovers to the chickens and opened the ends of
the tunnel up to freeze in some of that sub-zero weather. This should help to keep any disease or pest
from over wintering in there and causing us problems in the spring. We will start prepping the beds as soon as
the compost pile thaws out and will start sowing crops in there in a couple of
weeks.
The planting has begun
in earnest. The gallium (onion-family)
crops are all growing nicely, except the shallots which had to be re-sown. Last week the tomatoes were seeded and most
of them are already sprouted and growing.
We planted ten varieties again this year, with a few new ones thrown
into the mix. We also planted parsley
and took rosemary cuttings. This week
the eggplant and peppers get their chance with the soil and sun. It will soon start
looking a bit “jungle-like” in the sunroom.
The adventures of
Blue the farm dog continue on a daily basis.
She has mostly mastered Sit, Lie Down, Stay, Wait, Roll Over and
Kennel. Though
everything is based on the availability of treats. She is certainly all puppy
and always enthusiastic about whatever she does. Last week, dismayed that she had been left
alone for most of a day, she removed every bit of “sealed” insulation from her
doghouse. It looked like an explosion of
fluffy yellow frosting across the yard.
Things are never dull with her around.
A membership
update: The spots for the 2007 season are filling fast. Again, if you’ve been a member with us
before, don’t worry we won’t give your spot away before April 1, but if we haven’t heard from you by that time we will open
it up to our waiting list. You can send
your registration and deposit in at any time before April 1 to reserve your
place. The form is available on the CSA
page of the website www.bluegatefarmfresh.com. If your contact information has not changed
since the last time you filled out a form, you can leave that info blank, just
fill in your name and your season choices and we will do the rest. Since we are filling quickly, if you know
anyone that might be interested in joining us for 2007 please let them know
that they shouldn’t dally.
Those of you who
have been with us since last season are familiar with our farm helper,
Krisi. This teenage, weeding-wonder was
Jill’s “right hand” in keeping the gardens in good shape all last summer and we
were looking forward to another summer of her unstoppable work ethic and cheery
disposition. Well, last week Krisi had
an accident on her family’s farm and is now in the hospital in Iowa City,
fighting to keep her left arm. This
isn’t the kind of news that we had planned to include in our newsletters, but
Krisi was such a big part of our CSA last season that we felt it was important
to let you know. For those of you who
met Krisi, if you would like to send her a note or card, you can send it to our
address or email and we will make sure that she receives it.
One last thing: As
most of you know, we work with a neighboring farm (Reichert’s Dairy Aire) to
provide the Goat Cheese Option for the CSA.
Well they are working on some research to help them develop their line
of products. So anyone who subscribes to
the Goat Cheese option or is interested in it, please take a couple of minutes
(its quite short) and take their survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=990443366015
More next month…
Best from the
farm,
Jill & Sean