Garden Update #2 April 20th

Saturday was a full moon - the Planter's Moon. It was honored with the help of a few SLU students and shareholders who joined in on a wonderful day of planting.
We planted peas. Lots of peas! The first of two rounds of snap peas and a major planting of shellers are in the ground. The snaps are a tasty treat for fresh eating while the shell peas are a nice addition to the freezer for winter consumption. They are a bit laborious, but having yet another green food option in the winter is well worth the effort. The peas should start to come in around the end of June.
Also planted was another round of spinach, as well as carrots, golden beets (the last two in the cold frame), radishes, arugula and sorrel.
We also expanded the raspberry patch, which should start to yield fruit next season.
Last year's saved edamame soybean seeds were cleaned and the flower beds weeded.
The next crop to go in will be onions. We will start on this later in the week.

Todd Moe from NCPR came by for a visit and garden update. He is interested in doing a monthly
audio "postcard" from the garden. This year NCPR is celebrating their 40th year. As part of this celebration they are highlighting all things food. So from time to time, Todd will be stopping in and reporting on the evolving growing season and the wonderful local foods that come with the changing of each season.

Garden Update #1 April 12th

Wow! what a difference a week makes.

Since we cancelled the first work day, we've had lots of melting snow, a flood, mud, 70 degrees with sunshine and now more rain and mud. In between the episodes of mud we have been staying busy by transplanting fruit trees and blueberries, expanding the asparagus patch, direct seeding spinach and radishes, sneaking in some early onions and leeks, transplanting lettuce into the cold frames, mulching the shallots and garlic and working on fencing. We have expanded the turkey house and now have a sweet nesting room. It didn't take the hens long before they started to lay. We will collect the eggs until the weather turns milder. At that point we will let the eggs be and allow the hens to set. We hope to have a hatch somewhere around June 1st.
We are also happy to report that the overwintered spinach is doing well and should provide a crop towards the end of the month.

We are especially excited about the amount of interest and help we have been receiving. Barter shareholders and kind volunteers have made for an inspiring start to the spring.
If you are interested in joining in on the fun and excitement let us know. There are opportunities for everyone to learn and share in this wonderful time of the year.

The next scheduled "First Saturday Workday" is May 3rd.

Stay in touch,

bob and valerie

April 5th "First Saturday" Workday Cancelled

Hello Folks,

Due to the wet and soggy conditions, aka "mud season", we will be cancelling the first of
our "First Saturday Workdays". The late spring has delayed the snow melt etc..

Our next scheduled work day is May 3rd.
Hopefully by May we will have more family friendly weather.

For those of you interested in getting out to the garden before May 3rd we will be
available on most days from here on out. However, we have set aside Wednesdays and Saturday mornings as days
that we will regularly be available for volunteers and folks involved in the barter exchange.

Give a call or email if you are interested in coming by for a pre season tour or to lend a hand

take care,

bob and val

Harvest Schedule by Month

Harvest times depend on weather conditions
during spring, summer and fall

MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUG	SEPT-NOV
Asparagus Greens Green Garlic	Asparagus Beets Broccoli Carrots Cauliflower Cucumbers Kohlrabi Lettuce Peas Zucchini	Beans Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Cucumbers Eggplant Kohlrabi Lettuce Onions Potatoes Peas Summer Squash Swiss Chard Tomatoes Zucchini	Beans Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Herbs Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Melons Onions Parsley Parsnips Potatoes Peas Peppers Rutabagas Summer Squash Sweet Corn Swiss Chard Tomatoes Winter Squash Zucchini	Beans Beets Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Gourds Herbs Kale Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Onions Parsley Parsnips Peppers Potatoes Rutabagas Salad Greens Summer Squash Sweet Corn Swiss Chard Tomatoes Turnips Winter Squash Zucchini

Foods We Do Not Currently Produce

During the early years of our homesteading experiment we took on some very labor and space intensive projects. Since we were only producing for ourselves, crops like dry beans, corn for freezing and even small grains and crops for the livestock were manageable. Fast forward to today when we are attempting to have a significant impact on not only our diet but also that of 10 or so other families, we have had to go back to the basics and forego some of those earlier experiments.
Shelving these projects does not necessarily mean abandoning them all together. On the contrary, we would love to supply dry beans to all of you. On our part, this involves increased cultivated production. For your part it would mean being willing to commit to some extensive post-harvest handling and processing. Since in the marketplace these products can be secured for the time being at an unreasonably low price, many will find it to not be worth their while. On the other hand, from personal experience, and regardless of the low market place price, cleaning beans while watching a movie or visiting with friends is well worth it. You cannot place a price on the time honored practice of shared hand work.
We will be growing a variety of dry beans this year for the veggie shares. We will work closely with these individuals to share what we have learned about processing etc..
Perhaps next year these same individuals will be able to share their experience with the whole group.
As much as we are proud to list all of the things that we do grow, we think it equally important to list those items that we still secure from other local sources. We are blessed where we live to have folks that specialize in various agricultural products such as dairy, fruit, honey, maple products, bedding plants, and copious acres of corn.
Bulk items like grains, flour and other legumes can be sourced regionally by special order through buying clubs, the Co-op or Natures. When buying in bulk you can request that these items come from regional sources such as Champlain Valley Milling etc..

As always, we welcome your thoughts and comments.

bob and valerie

FFT Steering Committee Forming

Hello Everyone,

As our FFT project is evolving into its second year, we would like to form a "core group" of shareholders to help us better facilitate the planning, operation and direction of the FFT project. This group will meet informally to discuss how we can better
function as a community farm. Your involvement in this group is in no way mandatory, but if you are interested in participating on this level, we welcome you.
The first meeting of this group will take place on Monday, March 17th at 7pm at our house.
The agenda for this meeting will be to define the purpose and operational process for the core group, set up a schedule for future meetings
and hopefully prioritize future agenda items.
These meetings should be limited to no more than 1.5 - 2 hours.

Tea will be served.

Please let us know if you plan on attending.

thanks, bob and valerie

The "First Saturday" of the Month Workdays

Well...March is here, the days are lengthening and we'll reset the clocks this weekend. The seed orders have arrived and the earliest seeds of onions and celeriac have been planted, with many more to follow.
Late winter and early spring is an exciting time. All of the winter planning and head scratching is over and it is time to put all of that dreaming to practice.

The first of our "First Saturday" workdays will be April 5th. For those of you new to the FFT project, these days start at 9am and we work until noon or so and then share in a farm lunch provided by us. Folks interested in bringing a dish or dessert to share won't be discourged!

We work on many a varied task depending on the day and time of the year. April tends to be a month in which we concentrate on garden clean-up, fencing, bed preparation, etc. As the season develops, the tasks evolve as well. This firsthand experience of witnessing a garden go through all of its phases is quite a gift.

The other "First Saturday" work days are as follows: May 3rd, June 7th, July 5th, August 2nd, September 6th and October 4th
If you cannot make a particular work day, don't get stressed out. We are in the garden almost always and make up days can be accommodated.

Your garden experience need not be limited to these work days. You are more than welcome to spend time in the garden as your interest and time allows. We are always more than willing to answer questions as to how and why we do what we do. Beyond the food, this is one of the real benefits of our project. The hands-on connection with the production of your sustenance will not only give you practical gardening/farming lessons but it can give us all a deeper connection with one another. This time spent together is what puts the "C" in CSA.

If you cannot make a particular workday, please let us know so that we can plan accordingly.

Otherwise, see you in the garden on the 5th. Come on, spring!

bob and valerie