Blue Gate Farm News – Volume VI,  Number 3  –  April 17, 2008

 

What’s up on the farm?

Everybody sing…”This is the dawning of the age of asparagus, age of asparagus, asparagus, asparagus.”

Yes it’s true, just yesterday we saw the first asparagus breaking through the warming soil.  No sign of morels yet, but the season is sure to start in the next week or so.  Other spring returns this month include green grass, blooming violas and dandelions plus the swallows, much to Blue’s dismay as the swallows tend to dive-bomb her when she gets too close to their nesting areas.  Many of the perennial herbs have started coming up this month including; lemon balm, oregano, anise hyssop, thyme, sage, mint, lavender, tarragon and chives.  Our resident Canada goose pair has returned to the pond and the female is faithfully sitting on her eggs, so we ought to be seeing the whole flotilla of goslings paddling around before long.

 

I’m always amazed that spring seems to come on so slowly, we’re getting ready, getting prepared and then all the sudden BAM!  We’re behind already!  The extra rainy weather is making it hard to get into the gardens.  So far we’ve only planted about one third of the potatoes and the first radishes.  These challenges make the high tunnel even more valuable.  There we have swiss chard, choi, spinach, peas, sorrel and salad growing.  All of the transplant onion crops plus, cabbage, broccoli and edible flowers moved out to the high tunnel to harden off this week.  Now we have space in the sunroom to start the cucumbers, okra and squashes.

 

Other recent spring activities have included planting new fruit trees and berry bushes and the big annual Beebout family prairie burn.  This is part of the regular maintenance required for native prairie plantings and it is always a bit of an adventure.  Somehow no matter what time we start, we never finish until well after dark and everyone is rather red-eyed the next day.  It was a successful series of burns though and everyone walked away smoky, but otherwise unharmed.  This past week also brought the arrival of ten new packages of bees for our hives – replacements for some of our winter losses. The severe winter was especially hard on our honey bees as we lost several hives, not to Colony Collapse Disorder, but to extended cold and starvation (if it is too cold for extended periods the bees can’t shift inside the hive to fresh honey supplies and starve).  The warm weather and windless Monday was just perfect for moving the bees into their new homes.

 

Looking forward to the 2008 CSA season, we are still planning on a first delivery date either the last week of May or the first week of June.  You should have received a statement from us this week with your account information.  Any remaining balances are due by May 1st.  For our DM area members we will have a member orientation meeting in mid-May at Ritual Café (our regular pick-up location for DM).  For our members to the south (Chariton, Russell and Centerville) we will have a mid-May orientation meeting on the farm.  We’ll send details for these meetings once the dates are confirmed.  We recommend that all new members attend these meetings as it will include lots of helpful information.  Of course, all “veteran” members are also welcome at these meetings and, as in the past, we will bring along samples of cheese and honey for everyone to enjoy.

 

Finally, the Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market opens Saturday, May 10th so come on out and celebrate the start of another great food year.

 

More next month…

 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean