There is a tiny glimpse of spring at the farm today! Snow is melting off the barns, birds are chirping and the first seedlings have bravely emerged from the soil in the greenhouse. On Saturday, we started sweet onion and red onion seeds along with some broccoli and cauliflower. The greenhouse has been turned on and is keeping at 50-54 degrees. With temperatures dipping below 10 degrees at night, making sure the greenhouse and thermostat are working correctly is important. The first day of seeding is always exciting and nothing compares to the rich smell of the soil after so many winter weeks.
We've been in planning mode and have spent countless nights looking through seed catalogs preparing our seed order. Once we finalized our list of crops, we consulted The Rutgers Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations for NJ. We learn from our own experience year to year but this list of crops and varieties that grow well in our region is very useful. The seed order has been placed and we have about 30 different crops planned including a few new things like miniature eggplant, arugula, Brussels sprouts and red cabbage. Kevin is also drafting our crop rotation plan which will hopefully include the addition of a new field allowing us to leave one fallow.
The price of seeds has gone up noticeably since last year. We are going to use any viable leftover seed whenever possible but not all older seeds will germinate. We're happy we held on to some of last year's kale seeds as the seed companies are all out of stock. Can you say kale craze? How can kale be sold out everywhere? I wonder if there is a black market for organic kale seeds. I've come across some of the thicker dinosaur variety in stores but am still searching for the curly type.
Kevin recently participated in the Organic Farm Advisory organized by Rutgers NJ Agricultural Experiment Station. Held at Terhune Orchard, this roundtable discussion was a nice opportunity to share ideas and information with other farmers in the area who have a desire to farm in a traditional way without the use of harmful chemicals. Topics included OMRI approved pesticides and recommended practices to reduce plant diseases. It's always inspiring to spend time with other farmers in the area and it reminds us that there is a strong organic farming movement right here in NJ.
Spring cleaning is also on the agenda this month as we hope to be able to set up our market table inside this year. No more mud puddles to wade through! This farm has been here for a long time, and that means there is equipment and machinery that is no longer used. Some of it can be re-purposed but not everything. Thank you to our friend Bruce for helping us out by carting off over 1,300lbs of scrap metal recently. It's a start!
There are a lot of expenditures involved in operating a farm. Some are obvious such as labor, equipment, seeds and fertilizer. Other costs are not as obvious such as propane to heat the greenhouse, building supplies and insurance. We are planning to sell about 90 shares this year, with many of our shareholders spitting their share with others. This means we will have over 100 members in total, such an exciting milestone! Community Supported Agriculture means that our costs are divided by our members for which we are grateful. Thank you to our returning members who have renewed their subscriptions and for the new members who are in the process of signing up!
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