April 1, 2025
Spring Has Sprung
by Farmer Derek

The first week of seeding is probably the greatest of the season with almost 100,000 seeds sown. With nearly 100% of our crops started in the greenhouse, seeding weekly will run through early September. Even though it was cold and frozen outside, we were able to begin preparing the soil in our four growing structures for early season crops of lettuce mix, greens, and herbs. We had about three weeks to prepare these spaces. Overwintered crops had to be manually hoed a couple of times. In three of the tunnels I'm able to use the tractor for final preparation, so in those spaces we just needed to make sure most of the plants wouldn't survive and reroot. In the fourth tunnel bed prep had to be done completely manually, so besides hoeing, we also had to fork to deeply loosen and rake to clean up and structure the beds.

Into these infinitely valuable spaces were planted cilantro, dill, parsley, kale, arugula, komatsuna, radishes, turnips, bok choy, and lettuce mix.

Growing in protected spaces basically removes the most challenging uncontrollable variable from farming, the weather. Growing outside in the springtime, however, can be particularly difficult. Soil typically warms up and dries out slowly, condensing/compressing time we have available to get planting spaces ready as well as actually transplanting crops. Any window of dry weather means racing around, doing as much tractor work as possible, preparing ground to accept crops. I normally begin prep about four weeks ahead of planting time. Ground needs to be opened up with the chisel plow which helps it warm up and dry out. Next up is a pass with our 'primary shaper', a disk bedder, that mounds the soil in rows, helping it warm up and dry out even more. A final pass or two is done with our 'final shaper' that levels the beds to a height of about eight inches. With each pass of shaping I deposit soil amendments in the form of organic minerals and fertilizers. Having a rain event between each pass is actually helpful. It stimulates weeds to germinate as well as invigorates soil bacteria which help break down/digest organic matter in the soil.

With outdoor space ready to go, and anticipating a wet start to April, we hustled last week and transplanted snow peas, head lettuce, romaine, radicchio, escarole, chard, beets, fennel, cilantro, dill, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips, arugula, bok choy, and komatsuna.

April 1, 2025
Harvests To Begin Week of May 5th or 12th (weather depending)
by Farmer Derek

We should be able to announce the start date by the end of April. Temperature and sunshine will influence how fast crops will grow. Utilizing four protective growing tunnels, approximately 2,000 feet of beds, about 10,000 row feet, almost guarantees an earlier harvest, but you never know.

The first couple of weeks of harvest typically include lettuce mix, green garlic, garlic chives, herbs, head lettuce, arugula, kale, bok choy, radishes, turnips, and storage roots (some items will be a choice).

Reminder: Pick up days include Tuesday 1-8pm, Thursday 1-8pm, and Saturday 9am-12pm. You're assigned a regular pick up day but can always temporarily switch (to do so, email us the weekend prior).

Half Share owners will be assigned Week A or Week B prior to the start of the season.

Information including your share size, pick day/week, balance, and start date will be emailed to you when we can confirm the start date. You may also view that information on your Member Page.

April 1, 2025
CSA 99% Full; Balance Due 5/1/25
by Farmer Derek

Some of you have applied for a share but haven't submitted any payment yet - please do so soon so we can confirm our harvest numbers. For those of you that submitted the deposit, a reminder that full payment is due by May 1st.

You can view your share selection, pick up day, balance, and workshift history on your Member Page.

April 1, 2025
Workshifts to Commence Soon...
by Farmer Derek

For new members, we typically post workshifts one week at a time, the weekend prior. We try to schedule 2-4 per week. We need the most help May-August so try to get some or all of your hours in during that time frame. If work hours are not completed by the end of the season please remit payment to cover the full cost of the share (working on the farm reduces your share cost).

An example post:

This week's workshift schedule:

Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you).

We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

Please be there by the scheduled start time.