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Hello Everyone! This newsletter comes to you from an office strewn with nuts, bolts, maps, and spreadsheets which can only mean one thing; April has arrived. This time of year is the center of the Venn diagram composed of the production season of Summer and the logistical season of Winter. Though April masquerades as Spring, and therefore conjures images of tender, bright green shoots and happily thriving plant life (I blame daffodils for this ruse), April can be quite a stressful time on the farm. Will the rain bring impassable mud that breaks our hearts to smithereens? Might the forecasted seventy degree stretch next week be JUST the time to plant our Spring transplants? Could a late freeze still descend? Given the promising forecast we’re hard at work breaking ground for some of the first crops of the season. The greenhouse is filling up; lettuce, chard, kale, scallions, fennel, kohlrabi, summer squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans are all getting ready for their first great outing - some will be transplanted into the field, while others (like the cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans) will find themselves tucked into the safety of the high tunnels. Speaking of the high tunnels, David has been hard at work installing new ventilation and roll up sides, while also zhuzhing the end-walls, which have been in need of some TLC after a few too many winter windstorms. Max and I are busy planning out the field and fertility plan based on our crop plan, soil tests, rotation needs, field conditions, and land availability. It is not an easy task to juggle all those needs! Will is getting ahead on tractor and implement maintenance, getting into the field to prep and seed ground when possible, turning over cover crops and applying amendments, and has a long list of trees to trim, brush to cut back, and gravel to spread for the never-ending task of farm road maintenance. Tess is busy interviewing and hiring for the store, as we expect a busy summer, has planned an extravagant flower garden to satisfy your needs for those very cute mini bouquets you all seem to be so very fond on, and is hell bent on filling every inch of shelf space with even more goods to round out our offerings. Lillian has stepped in as post-harvest manager for this season, writing protocols for the new season, running our winter wholesale program through March, and keeping everything clean and orderly in our pack-shed since she first stepped foot on our farm. She has also been spending time with and learning about tunnel maintenance from David, and is the most dedicated and quickest stake pounder and tomato weaver on the farm. Sam is transitioning from her split store/farm position to taking over more BOH work (record keeping, grant research, certifications, and all that jazz!) and become a more integral part of the farm team. Max and Maria have been thrown a few curve balls courtesy of the USDA and the LLC formation not meshing quite as nicely as promised - so another round of mortgage paperwork is under their belts in record time. In the meantime they are each running their own parts of the operation while trying to figure out how to fund and plan the repair and maintenance of this expansive barn we operate out of. So far we are all starting to feel the work days becoming longer; feet are a bit more sore, backs are definitely in need of a stretch at the end of the day, and faces and hands are looking a little less wintery pale as we spend more time outside. Emotionally we’re mostly ready for a brand new season of farming, but as any farmers will tell you - whether you are ready or not the season will start! All we have left to do now is grow all those vegetables we, and you, like so much. Please read below for some quick farm updates, mostly photos!, CSA info, and our plant sale start date + special Hillsdale plant sale! Thank you all for eating with us, year after year and I hope to see you some soon at the GB Farmers Market!
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