Blue Gate Farm News – Volume XXXII, Number 2 – February 2017
Weather notes:
Precipitation to date in the
past month: Rain/Ice: 0.45"
Snow:
2.75"
What’s up on the farm?
Happy February from the farm.
It feels a bit like we have taken a southern vacation with all of this recent
warmer weather. In a normal winter we would still be frozen up tight, but the
frost is already out of the ground this month, and I don't anticipate that we
will regain that this season. While it is absolutely delightful conditions to
get some early spring chores done, it also contributes to a weekly "mud
season" rather than getting the normal month-long version in March. Crazy
stuff! Will just have to be patient and see what the spring brings us.
The dogs love this weather as
we are outside more so they are not feeling so "neglected." The
alpacas pretty much take it all in stride, though they would like the grass to
start growing again for better grazing. Percy is disgruntled as he has been
placed in 'paca jail (the old, permanently fenced chicken yard) because he was
making free-use of the chicken feeders when he visited (multiple times a day).
This isn't good for him, the chickens or the feed bill. As soon as we relocate
the alpaca pasture, he should be able to move back in with Boris.
The chickens have taken their
cue from the increasing daylight and really ramped up the egg-laying. We are
currently getting 11-12 doz eggs a day, which makes for a lot of egg washing
during mud season. The ladies aren't particularly fond of mud, but they do seem
to prefer it to snow. They too are ready for more green things to graze. They
seem to have taken on Percy as a role model, as a number of them have located
holes in their pasture fence and enjoy taking a walk-about around the farm.
Their favorite destination seems to be the upper garden where they have
repeatedly scratched the straw mulch off of the garlic plantings. Sigh. I keep
telling myself as I fork the mulch back in place that they are eating weed/oat
seed that had fallen off the mulch, but it doesn't make me any happier to have
to keep replacing it. Every time I think I have all the fence holes patched,
they discover a new one. It's a good thing I like chickens!
This past weekend we hosted
one of our favorite events of the year, our annual retreat of the Gang of 4
Farms (now 5 farms). We spent a lively weekend of eating, chatting about
farming & politics, eating, taking a tour of the local, Amish-owned,
organic potting soil company and eating some more. One of the farms even took
the time to do our annual Certified Naturally Grown certification inspection
before they headed back to their own farm (thanks Rob!). We really appreciate
this dedicated time to share ideas, questions, challenges and resources with
other like-minded farmers.
The marathon of last month's
seed ordering has morphed into boxes and boxes of seeds being delivered. They
have all been sorted and stored and are now ready for the next stage…sowing!
That begins this coming week, starting with onions, leeks, shallots and edible
flowers, followed by long season herbs. So our winter's rest time is done and
now its time to get farming again!
Just to allay your fears that
your farmers are just lolling about eating bonbons all winter, we are pleased
to report that our bi-weekly VegEmail sales have been booming since starting up
just after the first of the year. Big high fives to our fabulous customers, who
have been placing record-breaking orders for eggs, veg, stewing hens and
popcorn. These sales are so critical for helping to pay the feed and seed bills
that are coming in this time of year. And even though we have gone through most
of our storage crops, the crops in the new high tunnel are coming along to
provide fresh greens to get us all through the rest of winter. We plan to
continue these sales until the start of the farmers market season at the
beginning of May. If you aren't receiving emails about these sales, and would
like to, please let us know.
We're hiring!
We are starting to advertising for farm crew members for the upcoming season.
If you know of anyone in the area who might enjoy a summer-worth of suntans,
whole body workout and bonus vegetables, send them our way! These are paid
positions that start as early as mid-April and possibly go through late
December.
2017 CSA Season
The sign up period for the
2017 CSA season is now open to all. If you are a veteran CSA member and
didn't receive a subscription email, please let us know ASAP. The 2017 Base CSA Membership is $500 for the 20 week season. Deposits ($50) are due at
the end of February with balance payments will be due on May 1st. We
will send out invoices for those amounts mid-April. We
anticipate the first delivery of the 2017 season to be the first week of June,
weather-depending.
Is a monthly
newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily
adventures or see pictures of the farm? You
can follow us on Facebook at Blue
Gate Farm.
That’s about it
this month, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and Blue, Luci and Indigo)
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