Musings
Spring is here and it’s a marvel to behold. We are beckoned outside where there are new changes to enjoy daily. The birds are especially active and there is an increasingly diverse chorus of them. We have a woodcock with its plaintive call, in the underbrush near our house.
In big news, we are having a new barn built this spring! We are thankful for the contributions of shareholder Jim Smith towards this project and many other capable business owners and community members. The barn will be located between the Front Range Field and Dutchess, near Taylor Park Road and there will be no disruption to share pick-up or field plantings. The share room and wash stand will remain in the same location as years past. This new building will improve our handling of crops coming out of the field such as onions, garlic and winter squash while also improving our capacity to hold events, potlucks and workshops!
Remember that the start of the Free Choice share is dependent on the weather and the rate that crops mature. It is not usually May 1st, but rather a bit later in the month when there are multiple greens and herbs available.
Later in April we will officially open the littleGrasse closed Facebook group and invite all shareholders! We’ve been collecting photos of tasty recipes we enjoy along with other tips to share.
There’s still time to reserve a share for 2002, the sign-up form is here. To review share details, the write up is here. Spread the word to friends.
GH is back to grow with us again! Click on the link to see the first of many videos this season sharing behind the scenes action on the farm as well as harvest tutorials and more. Turn up your volume when it gets to GH talking- we’ll get better with our sound next time. Reach out of you have an idea or request about a video topic. They will generally be short and (hopefully) sweet.
Photo Essay of Farm Happenings
What is under the row cover? SPINACH! We planted this popular, and cold hardy crop is mon. We’ll continue to plant spinach throughout the season for shareholders to enjoy. Thanks for helping Aaron & Charlie!
In April we get to do one of our favorite things, create additional growing spaces. In 2021, the chickens enriched a new area and this season we will grow a bounty of new blooms here. In this quadrant of triangular beds we loosened the soil, added a bounty of finished compost and mulched the aisles.
I am sharing this photo because it’s the first time I’d ever seen an ermine with its winter coat. We found this perfect speciman when we uncovered a pallet of soil amendments. It had a pinpoint wound on its underside and must have been seeking a protected spot for respite. Incredible ermine fact: they only weight a couple ounces and can travel over 9 miles in a night to find food. Find more information about this elusive weasel relative at SUNY ESF page here.
Yes, it’s true the garlic is already emerging from the planting last fall.
littleGrasse is a community farm, but it’s also our homestead. So in the wintertime, we eat the bounty we preserved from the previous season. A recent curry included storage onions and multiple items frozen at peak including our broccoli and edamame, as well as some local sweet corn.
Fresh light on the horizon,
-Flip & Bob