Full circle

November 8, 2018 Market newsletters, Weekly Updates

As we move into the fall, it’s really starting to feel like we’ve completed a full year on the farm. For most of the last year, everything we’ve done has been done for the first time on this farm, but over the last few weeks, we’ve started cycling back through tasks we completed at this time last year. Just like last year, we’ve been seeding cover crop to protect beds and preserve soil over the winter. We’ve also covered a large section of beds with a thick silage tarp which will not only protect the beds over winter, but also allow us to get into these beds for the earliest...

Warmer weather

October 4, 2018 Market newsletters, Weekly Updates

Despite last week’s cool, rainy weather, overall we have had an unusually warm fall. Normally, we would be preparing for our first frost of the fall in the coming weeks (our average first frost date here is around October 15). Instead, we’re looking at forecasts of temperatures as high as the 80s with lows only in the 60s until at least the end of next week. Fall is always a tricky time for planting as the weather can vary in this totally unpredictable manner and the continued heat has provided us with both challenges and benefits. We’ve been able to add in a bonus outdoor planting of salad mix, a...

Cole slaw and other greens

September 27, 2018 In the Kitchen, Market newsletters, Other recipes, Weekly Updates

Fall is definitely in the air around the farm. Last week, we tilled in a huge chunk of the spring beds and put down a winter cover crop of rye and vetch, which the very rainy weather over the last few days has already helped to germinate. The fall spinach in the hoop house is putting on it’s first true leaves and the last bed of outdoor salad mix is beginning to grow in the field. As the weather cools and the days grow shorter, more and more fall crops are appearing on our market table. Last week marked the first harvest from both our broccoli and cabbage plants. Cabbage...

And suddenly it’s fall

September 13, 2018 Market newsletters, Weekly Updates

In less than a week, it seems we’ve transitioned from high summer right into autumn. Temperatures over the weekend didn’t climb out of the 60s, a nearly thirty degree difference from last week’s heat. All in all, we’re starting to get that end-of-season feeling on the farm, even though we still have several months of market to go. With cooler weather and no sun in the forecast for at least the next week, we finally removed the shade cloth that helped to keep our hoop house cool over the summer. This was just in time, as the first fall crops started going into the hoop house last week as we...

New crops, new market!

June 15, 2018 Market newsletters, Weekly Updates

It’s an exciting week on the farm! To start with, as I sit outside writing this on Tuesday afternoon, the sky is blue and it’s not raining, which at this point is about all we can ask for! Additionally, we’re starting to see a true shift in the harvest from exclusively spring greens to more early summer items and even some true high-summer crops. This week will be the first we have a heavy snap pea harvest. While harvesting snap peas can feel like an endless tasks, the sweet crunch of the peas is a pretty good reward! The cucumber and zucchini plants in the hoop house are really taking...

Oh, the weather

April 20, 2018 Market newsletters, Weekly Updates

What a weather roller coaster this spring has been! Over the past month, we’ve had a foot of snow, 55 mph winds, temperatures of 19 and 89 degrees in the same week, and, most recently, two inches of rain in just 12 hours. Weather is always one of the most challenging variables in farming and it makes it even more so when the weather is so extreme and unpredictable. The great thing about plants is that they are for the most part pretty adaptable and just keep on growing! For us, the biggest recent change is getting back into the swing of market season. After months of seemingly endless work,...

April 2018 Photo Shoot

April 8, 2018 Monthly Photo Shoots, Weekly Updates

March into April is always a transformative time on a farm in this area. As you’ll see in these photos, we went from a bare hoop house to an explosion of green and even had time to squeeze in a significant snow storm! Be on the lookout later this week for our first market newsletter in advance of our first day at the Burke farmers market this Saturday, April 14 from 8am-12pm!...

Certified!

March 29, 2018 Weekly Updates

It’s been an exciting week for us, even while we’re still waiting for all of the snow to melt! Over the weekend, we made our first sale- several pounds of arugula to the Community Garden Market, a natural foods store in nearby Shepherdstown. And at the end of this week, we’ll be selling lettuce mix to the same store. I also harvested several pounds of baby kale from the hoop house, but elected to keep that for our own use, as well as giving away a few bags to neighbors. It’s been great to have fresh, home-grown greens on hand again! In addition, we are now officially Certified Organic and have...

Onion Snow

March 20, 2018 Weekly Updates

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday we were outside in T-shirts prepping beds in sunny, 60-degree weather. Today, it’s barely getting above freezing and there’s already several inches of snow on the ground, with many more predicted to fall over the next 24 hours. And, I swear, this is what happens every year I’ve been running a farm. You get right up to mid-March when outdoor planting can begin in earnest and, invariably, a snow storm decides to pop into the picture. At this point, I more or less plan on it! We did take a few steps to prepare for the snow. Yesterday, we prepped a bunch of...

Seeing Spring

March 4, 2018 Weekly Updates

It’s been lovely watching spring begin to cautiously peak its head around the corner. With the recent warmer temperatures, our garlic has popped above its layer of straw mulch and the hay field next door has turned from a determined winter brown to a startling green. As more and more hints appear that winter’s end is not too far off, our preparatory work is drawing to an end and the real growing season is more and more upon us. We do, of course, still have a few tasks to complete that fit more into the “farm set up” category. One of the big projects that had been looming over us...

Two Feet in the Dirt

farmette