BGF News - February, 2018-Vol. XXXIX, No.2

BGF News - February, 2018-Vol. XXXIX, No.2

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past month: Snow: 17.0"

                                                            Rain: trace

Our winter weather roller coaster continues this month, we got 17" of snow last week, then this week it was 50° and the snow is mostly gone. Yesterday it seemed like we had winter and spring in the same day with unexpected snow early and "flannel shirt weather" in the afternoon.  But seasonal swings are totally fine with us. That warm up following the snow let all the wonderful moisture seep right into the ground, banking it for the growing season and these freeze/thaw cycles do wonderful things for opening up our soil and providing better growing conditions for our crops. So bring it on!

It feels like this is the real start of the 2018 season. We started interviews for the farm crew this week and are thrilled that 3 of our veteran crew members are returning this year. That means we will be on the lookout or 1 more full-time person to join the BGF family. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please send them our way. This past week also marked the start of the growing season for us, as we started sowing seeds for our allium crops (onions, leeks & shallots) as well as a few long season herbs and edible flowers. These will be followed shortly by a long list of spring transplants like: broccoli, kale, chard, cabbages, lettuce and much, much more. Our cats, who live in the sunroom/nursery can't decide if they like this time of the year or not. We tend to spend a lot more time in there, so they love the extra attention, but it means they have to share the heat mats with the plants, which they aren't so crazy about.

The germination mats seem to be working just fine.

Since we're talking about this season's crops, let's also chat about the CSA. Now is the time to sign up for the 2018 Summer CSA. Veteran members should have received sign up information last month, so now we are opening all remaining slots up to new members. If you are interested in the 2018 CSA season, you can read more about it on our website at https://www.bluegatefarmfresh.com/about-csa . If you are ready to join us for the upcoming season of veggie-adventures, you can get sign-up information here: Blue Gate Farm CSA Sign-up

If you can't wait until spring for farm-fresh products, we continue to do our VegEmail deliveries all winter long. Every 2 weeks you can order from our list of available products and we will deliver them to Des Moines, Knoxville or you can pick them up on the farm. Eggs, fresh produce, stewing hens, popcorn and herbs all rotate through our availability list until the start of the farmers market season. If you want to receive the VegEmail announcements, just fill out the form here: Mailing List and be sure to indicate which delivery location you prefer.

And finally, a big happy birthday to Indigo this month. He sure was a cute little guy 4 years ago!

Is an occasional newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences and questions with other BGF members 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 Luci & Indigo)

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Posted by BlueGate at 6:18 AM No comments:

BGF News - January, 2018-Vol. XXXIX, No.1

BGF News - January, 2018-Vol. XXXIX, No.1

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation this month: Snow: 3.0"
                                        Rain: 1.0"

Happy New Year to everyone, just a bit late.  We hope your holidays were happy, merry and bright! 

It has been an interesting winter already. The extended mild fall weather did much to lull us into complacency, but the -22° that we got down to over New Year's Eve brought us right back to reality!

Full moon rising over the high tunnels on New Year's Eve (-22°)

 Then we saw -20° again last week...brrrr! It was enough to freeze up every water hydrant on the farm which we've never seen before. These conditions are hard on everyone on the farm, 2-leggers and 4-leggers alike. Chores take at least twice as long and have to be done many more times a day to ensure the animals all have water to drink. Eggs have to be gathered 4-5 times a day to make sure they don't freeze in the coops and it takes FOREVER to put on enough insulated clothing to go out and do these activities! Especially when the crazy boy-dog insists on playing frisbee in sub-zero temperatures in the snow! Boys!! Huge thanks to our crew members/neighbors the Heartsills who did farm chores for us during part of this time, so that we could make a short trip to visit family in Colorado!

Don't let him fool you, he was pouting because he only got one treat.

While we still have plenty of winter left, we did get our first preview of spring (mud-season) earlier this week. Temps were as high as 50° and then we had thunderstorms! While the January thaw is very common, the 1" of rain is not. Luckily the ground had thawed enough that it didn't appear we had much run-off. Given how dry we were last season, we will take every inch of moisture we can get!

The ladies enjoying some frozen high tunnel arugula

Speaking of spring, the preparations have already begun for the upcoming season. Most of the seed orders have been placed and are on their way to us. Next up are the supply orders that includes things like: potting soil, pots, flats, packaging and CSA boxes. In about two weeks our winter "lollygagging" will come to an end, as the seed sowing season begins. First up will be onions, leeks, shallots and long-season herbs.

Let's talk some more about those CSA boxes! Now is the time to sign up for the 2018 Summer CSA. Renewal emails have gone out to our veteran members and we will hold spots for them until February 1st, at which time we will open any available spots to new members. If you are a veteran 2017 CSA member and didn't receive a renewal email, please let us know ASAP and we'll get you rolling. We wouldn't want you to miss out on the beautiful bounty of produce that we are planning for this season. If you would like to become a new member of our CSA or have questions, shoot us an email to mail@bluegatefarmfresh. com and we'll get you rolling.

A rainbow of farm-fresh goodness!

If you can't wait until spring for farm-fresh products, we continue to do our VegEmail deliveries all winter long. Every 2 weeks you can order from our list of available products and we will deliver them to Des Moines, Knoxville or you can pick them up on the farm. Eggs, fresh produce, stewing hens, popcorn and herbs all rotate through our availability list until the start of the farmers market season. If you want to receive the VegEmail announcements, just fill out the form here: Mailing List and be sure to indicate which delivery location you prefer.

Packing VegEmail orders

Is an occasional newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures or see pictures of the farm?  Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm and/or share your recipes, experiences and questions with other BGF members 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 Luci & Indigo)

Labels:

Posted by BlueGate at 6:18 AM No comments: