The strawberries are playing tricks on us this year. A few weeks ago it looked like they were coming on strong, but after that first burst of fruit we’ve got a bit of a lull before the main crop really comes in. The plants are loaded with flowers, so this is just the calm before the storm and we should have the expected bounty of strawberries before too long. For now, we’ll keep it a mystery. You may instead get some of the first blueberries coming in, the very first summer squash of the season, or those wonderful Shiitake mushrooms from our friends at Far West Fungi.
We tried out our new transplanter last week and it is sweet. Bending over to put in transplants is one of the worst jobs on the farm, very hard on the back. The Europeans really know how to make small farm equipment that works. We’re very pleased with our new gadget and the crew had a lot of fun giving it its trial run. We’re also continuing work on the blueberry netting. This robin thinks we just put that post in for him to perch on. (A few years ago, when we first put in the blueberry plants a friend told us that he had real problems with robins eating his blueberries. I remember saying that I hadn’t seen many robins on our farm. Ha! Now I see them all the time!)
Don’t forget our Spring Farm Tour is this Saturday afternoon. This is a great time for you to come see the farm and ask us questions about how your food is grown—what we use for fertility, how we handle pests and weeds, what equipment we use and why, how we irrigate, what steps we take to reduce water runoff and general water use, what varieties we grow, how we handle our different slopes and soil types… We’ll walk around the farm and show you as much as we can in three hours. Kids are welcome (we should see the goats but probably won’t go in to pet them as they are down on the conservation easement doing their job eating weeds). Please wear long pants, socks, and closed shoes, as there are some stinging nettles and other pricklies about. It looks like we’re in for a warm week going into the weekend, but bring a sweatshirt just in case the wind picks up in the afternoon. See you Saturday!
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
