March News from the Field

The most exciting thing happening on the farm this coming year is our introduction to a Community Supported Agricultural program, aka CSA (click here for a detailed explanation of our CSA program) What does this mean for the farm? Two things:

1. We are building an alternative market for the crops that we grow, which is the most important because being in a highly perishable industry we like to have a market before we produce a crop.
2. Our crop base is expanding for our other wholesale customers so we can provide more of a one stop shop. Some examples of expanded production this season will be Brussels sprouts, pickling cucumbers, additional hot peppers and some specialty cabbage.

With the Polar Vortex never seeming to stop our eye on the calendar is forever adjusting, yes already we are tweaking our plans for the field. Why might you ask? Well because as we speak we are starting to seed some of the transplants in the greenhouse that will be planted out in the field. Although we can control the items planted in the greenhouse it is best to keep every crop in an orderly fashion so when it comes time to harvest we eliminate any gaps or overlaps that we have. The first thing on the menu to be planted will be Brussels sprouts, red and green cabbage, cauliflower and onions. We have already seeded our tomatoes and peppers that will be in our greenhouse production. The tomatoes for the field will be seeded around April 1st and pepper plants for the field will occur the second week of March.

We have received all of our seed for the field and have that organized in the shop ready to go according to our field maps of when we want to plant. Organization is the key to success because when spring breaks and all hell breaks loose we are prepared and ready to go. Our marketing plans with our customers this time of year are set but will be forever changing as the crop progresses. The scotch bottle has been put away for another season and it’s time to go back to work. Remember I have never worked a day in my life; every day I wake up brings exciting and new opportunities that are enjoyed and passed on to the next generation.