Cold Snap

The old red farm truck was brought back into service to usher seedlings into the barn ahead of last night's frost warning.

Frost warnings had us scrambling for ways to safeguard our new seedlings from the cold yesterday. Since our greenhouse is completely full, our strongest plants have been put outdoors to "harden off." Hardening off is the process of introducing new seedlings to the natural elements of wind and light rain, etc. before they are planted. The seedlings can take a dip in temperature but not a frost so Kevin and Charlie loaded them up in the back of the old farm truck and pulled them into the barn. I love this old truck and am happy to see it sitting in the lane today outside our kitchen window. We're thankful not to have plants in the ground to worry about but are conscience of the calendar - it's planting time! Hopefully this is the last cold spell of Spring.

Each night, we pull young seedlings into the barn on a trailer and then bring them back outside in the morning. We need to build a high tunnel!

We've seen good germination rates with our seeds and our seedlings are healthy. Our Apprentice Jess has been blessed with the gift of growing things and we have been blessed with Jess. Thank you Jess for all that you do!  Thank you also to Charlie and Sue for picking up much needed supplies for us from Lancaster recently. And a big Thank You to Bruce for fixing our lawn mower. I think we need to bestow a special title on Bruce and come up with richer barter. Offers of coffee and fresh eggs really don't make for fair trade!

Today's task is measuring out the fields and marking rows. We rotate our crops each year which means just when we've memorized where everything is, it all changes. It's windy but it feels good to work under blue skies. Empty fields are pure potential and we're eager to start planting! Once we get the fields marked, it'll be time to fertilize and make beds. This weekend will be spent working but no one is complaining. We've been waiting for the start of a new growing season all winter and we're thankful for warmer temperatures.

As soon as the first planting is finished we can start counting down to the first share distribution. We're looking forward to welcoming many of our members back and greeting new members in June!