May News 2011 - CSA Shares still available!

Hello All,

        Blossom time is a critical and fragile one on a farm – the blossom is the ovum, every fruit and every seed in every fruit starts its life in the tiny chamber at the base of the flower.  Blossom stage is the only moment for the pollinators to make their move – without them, no fruit.  Most trees blossom before they are fully in leaf, so the energy they use to set their blooms was held safe in the trees roots from last autumn.  If their energy is sapped from a harsh autumn or winter, they will not blossom strongly the following spring.  On a path so frought with danger, it’s a miracle that any one blueberry or peach makes it through Nature’s gauntlet.  But that is exactly it, isn’t it?  It is a miracle.

        Springtime is a miraculous time on a farm.  Working with the seasons means is a balance between the “larger picture” and the “smaller picture.”  In the grand scheme, seasons change with metronomic regularity - summer will follow spring and autumn will follow summer.  But in the immediate moment, one never knows what is around the bend.  A week of rain, for example, right smack dab in the middle of our busiest transplanting time will set us back substantially.  The soil temperature is colder than it was last year at this time, the blossoms are later than before.  As the farmer, it is easy to panic in the face of the short term calendar – so it makes it all the more important to remind oneself of the long term calendar.  The peaches did bloom in the end, just as they have every year.  The barn swallows returned.  The grass is growing.  There is a lot that we can count on.  We just have to be patient…. and work hard. It is always worth it.

Spring Baby Animals Farm Tour:  This Saturday, May 21, at 9am, we are going to open of the farm to show off our blossoming baby animals.  Goat kids, the first lambs, baby bunnies, chicks, piglets – Spring is the time for cuteness!  It will be a walking tour to see the animals in the fields, so come dressed to walk (and after a week of rain it is sure to be muddy out there.)  The tour is free to CSA members but open for non-members to purchase a ticket through our online store ($5 per person.)  Come to enjoy spring on the farm and learn about animal welfare and grass based rotational grazing as well as bask in the simple joy of Spring’s babies.  We will try to host more open farm tours throughout the season – but none will inspire the ooos and ahhhs like this one.

 CSA memberships still available:  We have expanded our CSA  ever so slightly this year, so we have room for new subscribers.  If you would like to join, now there is “open enrollment” on our website.  You can go directly into our online store and place your order for this seasons share of our harvest.  The enrollment is on a first come first serve basis.  Our  CSA program is so important to us: our CSAers have proven themselves to be a wonderful group of forward thinking and brave eaters and farm enthusiasts. Come join us!

Enjoy the blossoms, and thank the bees.

All the best,

      Dina Brewster