BGF NEWS - May 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 7

Signs of Spring!

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Weather in the past month:      Rain: 2.5"

                                                        High temp: 79° (4/22/22)

                                                        Low Temp: 25° (4/19/22)

The overriding theme of the past month is the weather (have you heard this song before?) Did you notice in the weather summary above, the listed high and low temps for the past month are only 3 days apart? Talk about weather whiplash! While spring is always a bit chaotic on the farm, this year has shown a whole new level of crazy. Our soil temperatures are 3-4 weeks behind schedule, which means that so is nearly everything else; grass, trees and crops.

That said, we are making forward progress! 

With half of our Farm Crew back on staff, we've been planting whenever the conditions allow. In the past month we've sown: carrots, beets, turnips and chard to add to our earlier peas, spinach, salad mix, arugula and choi. Transplanted crops include 3 rotations of head lettuce, kale, chard, celery, broccoli and cauliflower, onions, leeks, scallions and shallots, potatoes, hearty herbs, perennial flowers and snapdragons. 

This coming week will mark the real start of the asparagus harvesting season (3 weeks later than normal) and then things will get serious with trying to get more field space ready and crops in the ground.

This week VegEmail sales returned to our summer schedule of Saturday deliveries from 10-noon. It's a perfect opportunity to get first choice at top quality, chemical-free produce and other farm-fresh products, like jam, seasonings and yarn plus meat and eggs from Ebersole Cattle Co, and cheese from Lost Lake Farm LLC. It's like a farmers market in your inbox with no crowds or parking hassles. Plus, in DM you can enjoy your favorite beverage from Peace Tree Brewing Co. If you are interested in joining us for VegEmail but aren't already getting the order form emails, be sure to let us know!

This is the final monthly newsletter until November. Starting in June we move to weekly postings as a companion to our CSA deliveries. Only current CSA members will get the weekly email link to the newsletters, as we don't want to overwhelm or annoy the rest of you. The newsletters will focus on the CSA box contents along with recipes and produce hints, but also include the weekly news of the farm. If you aren't a 2022 CSA member, but want to continue to follow along, you can subscribe to the posts through Blogger at the blue "Follow" button on the right side of the screen, or you can always check in here:  http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com/

The first CSA delivery is tentatively scheduled for June 7th (though we may have to postpone a week due to weather delays). 2022 CSA members should have received an invoice via email at the beginning of April, with the balance payments due by May 1. If you haven't yet paid for your membership, we'd appreciate receiving that payment ASAP. If you need some flexibility in that, please contact us to make arrangements. 

Speaking of the upcoming CSA season, we have big news!

Options! This year we are excited to offer some new options to add on to our base CSA shares. These options are available at ALL delivery locations. 

1) Spice it Up Share: Receive 1 jar of our Seasonal Seasonings each month, farmer's choice of flavors

2) Jam Share: Receive 2 jars (different flavors) of our "farm-fresh" jam each month, farmer's choice of flavors

3) Bread Share: From our friends/neighbors at Farmyard Fancies. Receive a fresh loaf of sweet or savory homemade bread each week. 

4) (For DM customers only) Meat and Egg Shares are available from our friends at Ebersole Cattle Company. 

CSA members will be receiving an email in the next week or so with details on the add-on options and about the start of the CSA season.

We do still have a few spaces available for new members and we'd love to fill up those last spots! If you are interested in joining us this season and haven't already done so, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and we'll get you set up. Know someone who might be interested in a season of fresh, healthy, delicious food? Please, send them our way!

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. 

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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky

BGF NEWS - April 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 6

This wasn't the weather I was expecting today.

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Weather in the past month:      Snow: 3.6" (and still snowing!)

                                                        Freezing Rain: 0.25"

                                                        Rain: 2.35"

                                                        High temp: 79° (4/10/22)

                                                        Low Temp: 24° (3/27/22)

Beautiful red seed potatoes

What interesting weather we are "celebrating" on the farm this spring. We were extra warm in March, and now, as we would normally be transplanting in the field, I'm sitting with a cup of tea, watching it snow. Don't get me wrong, I like snow. But I'm done! We've got potatoes to plant and seeds to sow and so much more to get going on the season! 

That said, despite the slow start, things are rolling forward,. This past week our newest crew member started, (welcome to the farm, Jim!) and we were able to get all of the fields composted and the early crop beds are tilled along with some early cultivation to battle the scourge that is chickweed. We burned the asparagus patch and we even got a few of the earliest field crops sown including peas, spinach, salad mix, arugula and choi. 

Grow, garlic, grow!

The garlic has pushed up through the mulch and looks to be growing well. The seed potatoes are cut and prepped for planting (thanks, Mom!) 

The high tunnel crops are growing well, albeit a bit slowly due to so many cloudy days. 

We have moved most of the early, cool-weather transplants out to the small tunnel to harden them off, but the nights have been so cold that we have to drop them to the ground and cover them with fabric to keep them growing. 

The sunroom (our plant nursery) is jammed to the gills with our heat-loving plants until the outside temps overnight are warm enough for them to move out. 

But it sure is exciting to see all those little basil, pepper and tomato plants flourishing inside until then. And even outside we are seeing more little peeks of spring color around the farm. 

The Cornelian and Nanking cherries are always the first to bloom and they were starting to grace us with their beauty last week, so it isn't all cold snow gloom and doom!

So along with warmer weather, what else are we looking forward to? 

The first CSA delivery is scheduled for June 7th and we have a few spaces available for new members. We'd love to fill up those last spots! If you are interested in joining us this season and haven't already done so, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and we'll get you set up. Know someone who might be interested in a season of fresh, healthy, delicious food? Please, send them our way!

2022 CSA members should have received an invoice via email at the beginning of the month.  Many of our members have already sent in their payment for the upcoming season. Thank you! Just a reminder that membership payments are due by May 1.

Want to get some great local food in the meantime?  VegEmail deliveries continue throughout the year. You can custom order your farm-fresh produce, preserves, seasonings, (plus Ebersole Cattle Co. eggs & meats and Lost Lake Farm LLC cheese in DM) from the comfort of home (and pick up tasty beverages from Peace Tree Brewing Co. at the same time!) It's like a farmers market in your Inbox! If you want to order and aren't already getting email announcements about the deliveries, be sure to let us know!

**VegEmail Schedule Change**

Just a reminder that April 26th is our final Tuesday VegEmail delivery. Starting in May, VegEmail moves back to Saturday mornings from 10-noon. Our first Saturday delivery will be May 7th at all current locations.

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. We wish you all the joys of the season and a bright new year!

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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky

BGF NEWS - March 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 5

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Not quite ready for planting yet...but soon!

Weather in the past month:      Snow: 11.5"

                                                         Rain: 0.25"

                                                        Freezing Rain: 0.10"

                                                        High temp: 69° (2/3/21)

                                                        Low Temp: 5° (3/12/22)

Here we are at the cusp of Spring and all I can do is shake my head and keep planting seeds! We listened to stories of invasion in Ukraine as we enjoyed unseasonably warm March temperatures, followed by devastating tornadoes, and then snow all within 36 hours! Our hearts go out to those affected by violence, both by man and by nature. We were so lucky to miss the tornadoes last week, the closest one was about 14 miles south of the farm, but we know folks who weren't so lucky. So we support those people as best we can and, like I said, keep planting seeds.

The biggest task of the past month was the turnover of the big high tunnel. All the spent crops were cleared, soil amended and new crops either seeded or transplanted. 

At the start it always feels like a rather Herculean task for just one person and it takes me about a week from beginning to end, but like so many things, getting started is the hard part. It's a bit shocking to see empty beds in the tunnel, but they don't stay that way for long, some of the new seedings are already germinating.

Besides the high tunnel work, you probably won't be surprised to hear that sowing seeds has been a large part of our focus in the past month. We've sown flats of celery, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, kale, collards, peas, and LOTS of flowers! We also direct seeded lettuce, arugula, choi and mustard in the tunnels and transplanted chard, kale, choi and misome. There are baby plants coming up everywhere! It's a good thing spring is just around the corner, because our nursery space is about to explode!

what a difference a month makes!!

Beyond plant care, we have managed to do a few other things, like ordering supplies, fine tuning our planting plans, posting ads for our farm crew and attending online meetings. But it isn't all work...I've also been taking advantage of the snowy weather whenever possible to get in a bit of cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The alpacas aren't too sure about that activity though. 

One of the highlights of our winter is the annual farmers' retreat with our Gang of 5 Farm friends. We alternate hosting the event and this year we were thrilled to spend the weekend with the group at Grinnell Heritage Farm. In fact, that's where we were during the storms that spawned the tornadoes. We've never had to head for the basement during that event before, luckily all was well. Big thanks to my parents for taking care of the farm so we could go! 

We're hiring!

 Do you know someone who might be interested in spending a season outdoors in a beautiful setting, working with great people, eating great food and getting lots of physical exercise? Is it you?? A son or daughter, niece, neighbor or friend? Send them our way ASAP, we'd love to talk to them about the possibilities!

CSA 2022: The first delivery is scheduled for June 7th and we have space available for new members! 

If you are interested in joining us this season and haven't already done so, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and we'll get you set up. Know someone who might be interested in a season of fresh, healthy, delicious food? Send them our way!

Want to get some great local food in the meantime? VegEmail deliveries continue every two weeks throughout the winter. You can order your farm-fresh produce, preserves, seasonings, (plus Ebersole Cattle Co. eggs & meats and Lost Lake Farm LLC cheese in DM) from the comfort of home (and pick up tasty beverages from Peace Tree Brewing Co. at the same time!) It's like a farmers market in your Inbox! If you want to order and aren't already getting email announcements about the deliveries, be sure to let us know!

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. We wish you all the joys of the season and a bright new year!

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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky

BGF NEWS - February 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 4

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Weather in the past month:  Snow: 9.0"

                                                     High temp: 53° (2/8/21)

                                                     Low Temp: -6° (1/26/22)

The days are definitely getting longer and the deep cold spells don't seem to last as long. Even though there is plenty of winter left, the air and light feel different and the bird song in the morning has changed. I guess that means spring is truly on its way. 

The late winter activities are in full swing. Conferences have been attended, supplies are being acquired and most of the seeds have been delivered. Plus a few books have been read for pure entertainment :)

Loaded germination chamber

The first week in February is the traditional start of the seeding season for us and so far we are on schedule! To date we've started all of the allium crops (onions, shallots, leeks and scallions), a few early flowers & herbs and the early greens for the high tunnels.

 

Tubs of freshly sown allium crops

Shelling popcorn

We also took advantage of a warm day a couple of weeks ago and got all of the 2021 popcorn crop shelled. We prefer to let it do most of it's drying while on the ear, and we finally had the right conditions to run it through the sheller. It was perfect timing as we are just about to the end of our 2020 popcorn stock.

Harvesting continues for our VegEmail deliveries and we really enjoy seeing our customers, members and friends on those Tuesday evenings! The sales this year have gone so well that we are sold out of many of our storage crops, but our high tunnel crops are starting to put on more growth again so we should have additional fresh greens to offer in the coming weeks, plus potatoes and turnips! And speaking of fresh, local produce...

CSA 2022:

Veteran member sign up has concluded and we have sent invitations to folks on our waiting list. If you were a CSA member in 2021 and you haven't signed up, but want to, let us know ASAP! Huge thanks to those of you who have already responded and an additional farm-fresh round of applause to those who have already paid (that helps us cover all those new seeds!) If you were on our waiting list and haven't received an invitation, be sure to let us know or if you are interesting in joining us as a new member this season,  email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com.

Also for the upcoming season...

We are looking for one full-time and possibly a part-time employee to join the Farm Crew. Do you know someone who might be interested in spending a season outdoors in a beautiful setting, working with great people, eating great food and getting lots of physical exercise? Is it you?? A son or daughter, niece, neighbor or friend? Send them our way ASAP, we'd love to talk to them about the possibilities!

And finally, we have some sad news to share. We bade farewell to our Indigo at the end of January. It was an unexpected goodbye and we miss his steadfast companionship every day. Run well, buddy!

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people.  

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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Luci & Sky

BGF NEWS - January 2022 - VOL. XLVII, NO. 3

WHAT’S UP ON THE FARM?

Happy New Year from the farm!

Weather in the past month:      Snow: 5.0"

                                                        Freezing Rain: 0.25"

                                                        High temp: 74° (12/15/21)

                                                        Low Temp: -8° (1/2/22)

The darkest days of winter are now past us and as each each day dawns we have a bit more daylight. The winter crops really appreciate the increasing day length. Crops in the high tunnel are basically held in stasis from mid December until around Valentine's day. Then, it's as though a switch is flipped and they suddenly start to put on lots of new growth (much to the farmer's and VegEmail customers' delight!)

So what are we doing to keep ourselves busy on the farm at this time of year? Mostly, keeping everyone warm, fed and watered, managing and harvesting for the VegEmail sales and massive amounts of office work! (At least that's how it feels.)

Two big recent projects included the annual tasks of The Great Calendar Transfer where all of the target seeding, planting, harvesting and fruiting data is added to the new year's calendar. This is essentially the farm's brain and operations manual. It is amended daily as we go along with weather, task and sales information so at year's end it is the repository of the farm's season. We archive each calendar and then are able to use them as a resource for historical data. Yes, most people probably do this electronically these days, but a paper copy and a handful of colored pens in still how this farmer's mind works and I relish the ritual at the turning of the year.

The other big January task is establishing the garden maps for the upcoming season. These we do electronically, using spreadsheets to visually represent each plot in the field and high tunnels. This allows us to manage our multiple season crop rotation in a fairly efficient manner through simple cut and paste functions rather than having to recreate the entire system each year. There will always be changes on the fly during the season, depending on a variety of conditions, but this sets us up to know how much seed and how many of each plant we will need to start in the coming months. 

Besides paperwork, this is the season of conferences and zoom meetings for farmers. It is also a time of focusing on catching up on fiber work, tool maintenance, organizing, correspondence, ordering supplies and hopefully learning some new things! 

A couple of weeks ago we held out annual "Post Mortem" of the season with the farm crew. This gives us a chance to sit down over a cup of tea and reflect on the season while it is still somewhat fresh in our minds. We review crops, equipment, processes and anything else on which the crew members might have an opinion. This is also the time when I ask them about their plans for the future season (while hoping every one of them declares their intent to return!) 

We were half successful on that mark with two of our crew returning for 2022 and two of them moving on to other things. On that note we want to send three big cheers of congratulations to Rebekah who just celebrated her high school graduation and is looking forward to college in the coming year. 

So what does that mean for the farm? It means we are looking for one additional full-time employee for the coming season and possibly a part-time as well. Do you know someone who might be interested in spending a season outdoors in a beautiful setting, working with great people, eating great food and getting lots of physical exercise? Is it you?? A son or daughter, niece, neighbor or friend? Send them our way, we'd love to talk to them about the possibilities!

Speaking of the upcoming season...

CSA 2022:

Veteran member sign up has begun. If you were a CSA member in 2021, you should have received an email last month with the details and a link to the sign up form. If you didn't receive your membership email for the 2022 season, please let us know ASAP.  Veteran members have until the end of January (just a few more weeks) to lock in their spots and then we will open any remaining shares to our waiting list. Huge thanks to those of you who have already responded and an additional farm-fresh round of applause to those who have already paid (that helps us cover all those new seeds!) If you are interesting in joining us as a new member this season, you can email us at mail@bluegatefarmfresh.com and ask to be put on the waiting list.

Want to get some great local food in the meantime? VegEmail deliveries continue every two weeks throughout the winter. You can order your farm-fresh produce, preserves, seasonings, Ebersole Cattle Co. eggs & meats and Lost Lake Farm LLC cheese from the comfort of home. It's like a farmers market in your Inbox! If you want to order and aren't already getting email announcements about the deliveries, be sure to let us know!

That's about it from us this month. Thank you for making it all the way to the end of the newsletter and for joining us on all our farming adventures. It is such a privilege to live in this beautiful place and to raise safe, healthy food for so many amazing people. We wish you all the joys of the season and a bright new year!

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.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

Indigo, Luci & Sky