Quite the Surprise!
We’ve talked before about our hybrid approach to raising chickens. We have mobile coops as well as free range birds using our barn as their home base. Keeping the birds cooped makes for a more predictable and convenient egg harvest. Letting birds range freely is fun and just feels right. But, it makes it much more of a challenge to predict our egg supply. While they have their dedicated nest boxes, those free-wheelin birds lay where they choose. Sometimes it requires a hunt to track them all down.
This weekend, we heard what we thought was a “peep” outside, tucked into a corner of the house. Sure enough, a broody hen had been collecting a serious clutch of maybe a dozen eggs which were now hatching. We’ve now relocated the hen and her newborn chicks to their own pen to finish the job. Quite the surprise!
We started the season with a general crop plan. Six Months of gardens- an April garden, a May garden, a June garden, a July garden, an August garden, and a September/fall garden. Ideally, to keep harvests consistent, we hoped to plant biweekly within those monthly garden schedules. We kept up in many ways and fell behind badly in others. The plan was ambitious and busy and compromises had to be made. You all continued to support us and motivate us. We have been so grateful.
Week by week, we evaluate how that plan has manifested. We determine what harvests are realistic and what produce ought to be available. Sometimes we keep up and sometimes we fall behind. Weather occasionally inhibits harvests. We run out of time. Despite our best intentions, sometimes we under-deliver. Last week, for example, we ran out of time to harvest cherry tomatoes for Wednesday and replaced them with butternut squashes. We failed to get to herbs. You all have continued to express gratitude and the feeling is mutual.
This is exactly what we needed in a community. We needed supporters and shareholders that would appreciate what we provide and be patient with the lessons we learn along the way. We needed folks to be intimately involved in the ups and downs and persevere with us. Thank you for your steadfastness throughout these four months.
This week, the plan is to provide the following:
Cherry Tomatoes, Heirloom Tomatoes (as available), Zephyr bicolor summer squash, Mild Peppers (Bells, Carmens, and/or Shishitos), Hot Peppers (Jalapeno, Anaheim, Hungarian Hot Wax), multicolor Radish, Red Okra, fresh Delicata squash, Eggs, and Flowers.
Our sweet potato/yam patches look promising! We dug out a few to check on them and they’re about thumb-sized. It’s likely we will wait until the first frost (mid October) to harvest. It’s our first time growing these crops and we’re relieved to see they’re producing.
In the September, fall garden, we have root vegetables established including carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, and radishes. With so much fluctuation in temperature and precipitation lately, our late summer radish row is funky, it matured earlier than expected and we’ll get some out this week. We have some greens that struggled through the late summer including some buggy arugula. We hope to get greens back in the rotation as soon as possible, but prepare for some buggy proof of our organic practices. We can expect Kale soon as well. We’ll be transplanting seedlings this week including Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, and Bok Choy starts.
We’re sharing the last of our Delicata squash this week with Butternuts and Spaghettis on the way. We’d love to hear what you think and how you’re preparing them. Next week, we hope to include some sage leaves to spice up your Butternut preparations.
Bittersweetly, our Wednesday market at Franklin Park Conservatory concluded last week. Wednesday city pick up folks can still meet us at the parking lot during the same hours to pick up their shares. Wednesdays this season have been tough as we’ve needed to harvest, pack, and deliver for our CSA as well gather surpluses for the market. It will no doubt be a relief to need only focus on our shareholders moving forward.
We are very grateful to the shareholders who purchased meat shares last week. It’s quite an emotional process, but it gives us peace of mind to know that our hard work and precious animals will be appreciated.
A friend from Florida visited the farm last week and brought along a drone for some aerial photography. We think the clip that we’ve shared on social media does a great job showcasing our small farm, the extent of our gardens, and our practices of rotationally grazing and herding our flocks. Check it out on Instagram if you can but we’ve included some still shots/frame grabs in this email as well.
We sincerely cherish this experience and this community. Thank you again and have a great week.
Erin & David