February News

Groundhog or no groundhog, I am banking on an early spring. Buds on the tips of the high limbs, broody chickens hunkering over their eggs: I think the world outdoors is trying to tell us something. Indoors, it is business as usual on the farm: stoke the woodstove, keep flipping wistfully through the seed catalogs, check the weather online, tinker away on last year’s worn out tools and machines.

Despite this recent downtime, the winter has been far from quiet around here. We have been experimenting with growing lettuces and spinach and carrots in our temporary winter greenhouses and cold frames. The fourth season, winter, is the frontier of our learning right now. Last year, we charged into winter with swords drawn against the cold. Furnaces clanged and banged, we lost a lot of sleep, and, of course, it was futile in the end. This year, we have learned a lot about putting the right plant in the right place at the right time. Very special and sometimes hard to find varieties of lettuce and carrots and other crops can thrive throughout the winter with very little to no heat at all. They won’t grow fast and they may look a bit imperfect on the edges, but they can sustain you and your small community through the winter. Our first Winter CSA participants were wonderful, and we shared great food and good stories together. On a personal note, I am getting more and more of my sustenance from the farm: not only from food preserved from our harvests, but also laughter, love, and good health. It is a family farm after all.

So to the news:

WEB NEWSLETTERS: Our website got a facelift and my generous brother, its creator, assures me that I can update it now on my own. I have promised to be a vigilant and organized web-farmer his year. So please “bookmark” us and explore and participate in some of the resources it offers. PLEASE NOTE: in the future, all our e-newsletters will be sent via email only to those who have registered on the website: www.thehickories.org. Most everyone has, but if you have not, it only takes a moment to do so.

SYRUP: The Maple trees are tapped and we will be boiling down sap, weather permitting throughout this month. If you would like to volunteer to participate in the collection, or see the sap being boiled stay tuned into the website for details.

FIREWOOD: My predictions are generally known for their optimism and not always their accuracy, so on the outside chance that spring does not come early, and you find you still need seasoned firewood, we have some left for sale.

EARTH DAY: We are eagerly looking for ideas for how to celebrate EarthDay here on the farm, so please login to our website Messageboard and help us organize a way to celebrate this important day on the farm.