Is Spring in the Air?

I am hopeful that Spring will be here soon! They are saying temps should be in the 40's and 50's by the end of the week...such good news. I think everyone I speak to has been tired of winter for quite some time now.

In farm related news, we are starting to build our portable chicken coop. I will post some pictures when it starts looking like a coop. Our chickens will be arriving on the farm around April 20th. We are ordering pullets that will be about ready to lay once they get here. We are also working out our planting rotation and where everything will be going...and we just purchased a small greenhouse, so hopefully we can get that up with some of this nice weather and be ready to start some seedlings in the next few weeks. We also have plans to try growing some cool weather crops in it this fall and see how long we can extend the growing season. We would really like to purchase a large high tunnel (when money allows) to be able to extend our growing season for the CSA. Some CSA's provide a summer share and a winter share (through December anyway)...we would like to get there someday! More pictures will be coming soon...

Seeds!

We received our order from Pinetree Garden Seeds last week, and I'm dreaming of spring planting time! The following are the types of seeds we ordered:

green beans

yellow beans

beets

broccoli

cabbage/chinese cabbage/pak choi

carrot

swiss chard

cucumber

kale

kohlrabi

lettuces

greens

melons/watermelons

okra

english peas

sugar snap peas

pumpkins

popcorn

radish

spinach

micro greens

summer squash

winter squash

basil,parsley,cilantro, dill

asters

calendula

cosmos

sunflowers

zinnias

We will also be planting sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), eggplant, strawberries, asparagus, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, berries (blueberries, raspberries, and gooseberries), peaches, and plums. I look at this list and think...we have A LOT of work to do, but we are excited to get outside in the warm sunshine and get some work done!

(If any of our customers would like a certain variety planted, now is the time to let us know...we can try to find it before spring arrives) :)

Winter...Will It Ever End?

Only with winter patience can we bring the deep-desired, long awaited spring.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh


I am trying to be patient for this winter to be over, but it is getting more difficult with each new winter storm. I am tired of SNOW! Please Lord, bring the spring quickly!!!!

***Edited to add:
On the news last night they said we have gotten 52" of snow so far this season, breaking an old record set in the 1880's...with more snow expected on Saturday:(

Farm Fresh Eggs

Anyone interested in purchasing farm fresh free-range eggs? We have a few pullets (hens that are just about ready to lay) that are arriving on the farm in April. They will provide us with some eggs for our Summer CSA season, but we are thinking of expanding our egg production by purchasing chicks at the end of this Summer/Fall to raise over winter so that they would be laying by next Spring. We need to get an idea of how much interest there is to determine how many chickens we'll need. Anyone interested can email us at the link to the right.

Beekeeping Class

This winter we have been taking a beekeeping class and we are learning alot! It has been really interesting and we are hoping to expand our beehives this Spring. We had 3 hives on our farm last year (1 belonging to us and 2 others belonging to a friend) and we could really tell that they helped pollinate the garden. We saw bees all of the time and our yields for most things were good, even though we had a less than ideal growing season with our wet and cooler than normal Summer. The wet and cool weather also took a toll on the honey harvest. We were only able to harvest 3 pints of honey from our hive and our friend harvested around 150 lbs. ( I think) of honey from 4 hives. We have learned in our bee class that in a good year it is nothing to harvest 150 lbs of honey per hive! We are hoping to add 2 more hives to our 1 that we already have...and we are hoping for a Summer that is a bit warmer and drier! If all goes well, we'll have some all natural honey to sell!

2010 Membership

We just wanted to let everyone know that our 2010 member list is quickly growing, so if you are interested in becoming a member you need to email us soon. Also, for any members from last year that would like to continue membership this year (and you HAVEN'T contacted us yet) please do so soon so I can add your name to the list as well. Here's to a great 2010 growing season!

Longing for Spring...

Is anyone else tired of winter? I am longing for a warm spring day to be outside in the garden. I've been looking through seed catalogs, putting together my orders and it makes me want spring here even more! It seems we have had all types of winter weather this year in Iowa...Lots of snow, frigid cold, fog and hoar frost, now an ice storm. Winter can't last forever, right???