BGF NEWS - February, 2025 - VOL. 54, NO. 5

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past month: Rain: 1.10"
                                                   Snow: 12.00"

Happy frigid afternoon from the farm! It is a balmy 9° as I write this, although the blue sky and bright sunshine are certainly welcome and better yet, warmer weather is on the horizon!

Although this is generally the slow time of the year on the farm, it feels like it's been a fairly active month, both with planned and some unexpected activities.

Early last month we sent out a short survey to our email list to learn more about our customers' experiences. We were delighted with the number of people who took the time to respond and are so very grateful for the thoughtful feedback that folks provided. Know that every word was noted and recorded and will be used for decision-making going forward. If anyone would like to share additional feedback, we are always happy to hear from you.

We are well into seed starting season at this point with new crops being sown weekly. It's rather a guilty pleasure to work in our cozy, grow-room on these cold, snowy days. In addition to our spring crops we've been starting quite a few microgreens for our VegEmail sales. We love having the opportunity to have them added to our meals as much we love growing them. Sadly, because we have very limited nursery space, this is probably the last week that we'll have the shelf space to do micros.  

In addition to seed starting we've mostly finalized our crop maps for the year. The photo on the right is just one of nine plots that are part of our farm's crop rotation. We use spreadsheets to help us manage that rotation throughout the season and year to year. Thank goodness for cut and paste! During the growing season we use both paper and virtual copies of these maps and at the conclusion of the season they are archived so that we have accurate records of our field history. Even though I like to think I'll remember the location of a specific crop year to year, reality has proven that not to be the case.

Another recent activity has been updating our website. I have next to zero web design skills, nor do I have the organizational talent or foresight to do it all at one time. It seems like as soon as I get one update completed, I realize something new needs to be added or changed. Our biggest upgrade last week was getting our BLOOMS subscription page added. If you'd like to know more about our BLOOMS bouquet subscriptions or sign up for the 2025 season, you can now do it from the website at www.bluegatefarmfresh.com

A number of you who follow us on social media saw that we had a significant failure of one of our water lines last month. The short term solution was simply to shut off water to that part of the farm, including the high tunnels. We were lucky to have the nice warm up in late Jan./early Feb. that enabled us to dig up the offending hydrant and identify the issue. It took a few days, but along with my dad and one of our farm crew we were able to dig, bale out the water and repair the connection. 

By that time our warm temperatures had started to drop and our excavated dirt was starting to freeze. We "sort of" got the hole refilled and then covered the area with straw mulch to protect the water line until the weather and ground warm up again and we can tamp everything down appropriately. It's going to be one heck of a muddy mess when things thaw out!

Despite some crop losses due to the extreme cold, VegEmail forges on ahead. The next delivery is Tuesday, February 25. Here's the current order form in case you missed it: Order Here! (Orders close Sunday at 10pm)

VegEmail deliveries continue every two weeks until May. Here's the schedule for the next 3 months (the order forms will go out 6 days before each delivery):

On May 3, we will return to our summer schedule of weekly Saturday deliveries. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

CSA 2025: BGF Bounty Boxes!

This week is National CSA Week!  Our Bounty Box memberships are filling up fast so now's the perfect time to consider if a CSA/Farm membership is right for you. You can get the details on our website here: www.bluegatefarmfresh.com

 If you have already decided and are ready to sign up, click here: 2025 Bounty Box Sign Up .

Finally, we had another sad parting on the farm this month. After losing our Xander cat at the end of December, in January we said farewell to Abi our alpaca mama. She was 21-1/2 years old, which is elderly by alpaca standards, so not unexpected, but very sad nonetheless. We already miss her sweet personality and her love of all snacks.

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.
That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - January, 2025 - VOL. 54, NO. 4

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past month: Rain: 0.80"
                                                                  Snow: 1.50"

Happy New Year from all of us at Blue Gate Farm! We hope the year has started off on its best foot for you! 

We are super excited because 2025 is the 20th Anniversary year for the farm. It's hard to believe all that has passed since we arrived from Texas as idealistic theatre professionals and clueless, wannabe farmers on my family's land in southern Iowa. Oh, the lessons we've learned, the crops that we've raised, the people we've met and fed! It's a bit mind-boggling, really. Much of this year will be a study in looking back over what has passed and planning what is to come (and maybe a bit of celebrating!) 

So how are we kicking off our 20th year? We want to hear from our most important resource, YOU! We want to know what you think, so locals, keep an eye on your email in the next week, we're sending you a SHORT (4 minute) survey to learn how we can best serve you going forward.

OK, enough celebrating and looking ahead, what have we been up to in the past month?We spent Christmas on the farm celebrating with family here, then headed west to Colorado to spend 12th Night/Epiphany (epifanny) with Sean's family. It was a lovely trip with good weather (including one beautiful snowfall), fun visits and an amazing amount of good food. Huge thanks to our crew for taking care of the farm while we were gone, what a luxury!

As soon as we returned from Colorado, it was time for Jill to head to the Practical Farmer's of Iowa conference. This is an annual highlight where we learn about new crops and techniques, consider new opportunities, visit with friends, old and new and just generally get ourselves ramped up for the coming season. This year we were most interested to learn about Lean organizations and how we might use those systems on our farm.

Since returning from the conference, the big push has been getting the seed inventory completed and placing all the seed orders for the season. This is often a daunting task that requires a lot of messing about with spreadsheets and about 15 tabs open on the computer, but as of writing this, the tasks are complete and the seeds are starting to head our way.

And now we are on to the next adventures!

VegEmail deliveries return on January 28. Here's the schedule for the next 4 months (the order forms will go out 6 days before each delivery):

On May 3, we will return to our summer schedule of weekly Saturday deliveries. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

CSA 2025: BGF Bounty Boxes!

Veteran CSA members have just 2 weeks to reserve your spot for the BGF Bounty Box season. On February 1 we will open any remaining spots to our waiting list. So don't dally, lock in your 20 week membership for a box full of the best chemical-free produce that the farm has to offer. If you are a CSA veteran and didn't get a sign-up email, check your spam folder. If you still don't find it, you can use the link here: 2025 Bounty Box Sign Up .
If you want to get on our waiting list now, shoot us an email at: mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com.

And finally, the end of 2024 brought an unexpected farewell on the farm. After a very short illness we learned that our favorite tuxedo cat, Xander, was suffering from advanced kidney disease and needed to be released from his pain. He was not quite three years old so it was a very sad surprise. His friendly personality, fabulous cuddling and varmint hunting skills are already deeply missed.

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.
That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.
Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)