Who Says Winter is the Off-Season?!?!

After probably two months of no substantive posts, get ready for this jam-packed post!  Lots of things have happened at the Farm since I last checked in. 

As you may recall, Michael and I spent a snowy, cold day putting up a cattle guard for the new entrance to the Farm.  However, on the other side of the cattle guard was a pile of rocks and boulders covered in asphalt.  How does our landlord expect our hordes of volunteers to enter our property??

So, Michael and our sister-in-law, Nicole, took to the task of jack-hammering the barrier to non-existence.  Here are a few pictures of the two of them hard at work (notice again the snow on the ground...it appears that Michael likes to have his minions work in the snow!!).  I, luckily, was granted a stay of execution for this task!!

Now, thanks to their hard work, we have a suitable (and most importantly, accessible) entrance to our new Farm...can't wait to see you out there!!

We have also placed our Seed Order for the 2011 Season! Some may think that placing the Seed Order is the most fun aspect of farming (I would fall into this category). It is, however, stressful to ensure that you purchase the proper quantity and a decent variety.  We selected some of our successful standbys from our previous seasons, such as sungold cherry tomatoes (my personal fave!), red and yellow potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, lettuces, swiss chard, onions, and eggplant.  Some new things we are trying this year are: arugula, celery, kohlrabi, banana peppers and mushrooms.  Although garlic was a big hit last year, we will not have that until the 2012 season because it must be planted in early Fall and we did not have our land deal solidified then.  Trust me, we are just as disappointed as you are!

Most of you probably do not know what Michael undertook last year to deliver you fresh and crisp vegetables.  I will just say this, every Wednesday night he would come home apoplectic about whether the greens would wilt or the other veggies would look their very best for your distribution on Thursday.  Hopefully we have found our saving grace for this season (and for many, many seasons to come)!  We recently purchased what is known in farm (and perhaps blue collar) lingo as a "reefer trailer."  Look at this beauty:

This purchase will allow us to put the vegetables into a self-contained refrigeration unit immediately after harvest and allow them to stay refrigerated, cool and fresh until they are delivered to you.  Hopefully, the late-night worries about our "ice bag refrigeration" failing are over!!

Finally, Michael planted his first thing of the season...mushrooms!  Specifically, shitake mushrooms.  The mushrooms come in "plugs" and you drill holes into logs and hammer the plugs into the logs.  You then "seal" the plugs with wax to keep the moisture in.  The logs are stored in a wooded area and after several months of rain, the mushrooms will be ready for harvest!

First, Michael built a fire to melt the wax so that it could easily fill the plug holes. If this whole farming gig doesn't work out, I now know that Michael will be a top-runner in "Survivor." :)

Here are the completed logs, waiting for nature to take its course!

Stay tuned for more developments about our continued efforts to get the necessary infrastructure in place for a bountiful 2011 Season!!!

Until next time...