Hi everybody. Work on the farm is moving along at a feverish pace. Plants are going in the ground, the animals are settling into a nice routine, and, knock on wood, the weather has actually been behaving itself. Yeah, yeah. I know I’ve doomed myself by saying so, but whatever.
AROUND THE FARM
Most of the preliminary work is now fully complete. I was finally able to track down and fix the shorted wire in the electric fence around the field that was giving me problems since last year. There is also anti-deer netting that will be added to the fence this year, but that won’t be put up for another couple of weeks yet.
The cold frames/mini-greenhouses I built this spring are doing very well. They are both pretty much packed with plants at this point. These are plants in addition to the ones I get from Kerns Nursery. I’ve started plants on the farm since I began growing things here, but given the volume of plant starts I had to build the cold frames just to have a place to put everything, as there was simply too much to keep the old way. For those curious about them, they are each 10′ x 20′ and hold about 100 trays of plants each.
IN THE FIELD
Another pick up of plant starts from Kerns Nursery is scheduled for today, and many will be going directly into the ground over the next couple of days. First planting Potatoes are already in the ground, as are Onions. Next to go in will be Broccoli, Lettuce, Kale, and Cabbage. Either later in the week, or early next week will be Tomatoes and Zucchini, along with Sunflowers and Gladiolus (for those looking forward to the flowers, I ordered more and additional varieties of Glads this year).
I know people are already looking for veggies, but here on the mountaintop it will still be a while before many of them are ready. That said though, I should have some crops ready earlier than usual, and will be putting out what I can along with the eggs, preserves, and other items when I get the stand set up in the very near future. Please keep an eye out for the announcement of the stand opening.
NEWS FROM THE COOP
The chickens have been laying. They started about two weeks ago, with a single egg the first day, growing to the current amount of about 5 dozen per day. They are still smaller-sized eggs, though getting bigger, and in a few more days I will start selling them. Please keep a lookout for the announcement.
Regarding the eggs, at this time I will not be taking advance orders. They will be a strictly first-come, first-served item. Please check the hours listing to see what days and times the eggs will be put out. If you are unable to make it to the farm during the soon to be posted hours, you can text me to arrange a time to come by, but be aware that this time of year I am extremely busy and will be limiting the number of off-hours appointments, so I ask that you try your best to come by during regular hours.
For those of you looking, I will also be putting out preserves along with the eggs.
That’s about it for this update. Keep checking back for updates on hours and availability.