Farm Dirt January 2020

It is definitely winter here and though we had a nice mild spell, we’ve had plenty of cold nights. We gauge the cold by 1. if Glenn has to run auxiliary heat in the greenhouses to keep them somewhat up to temperature and 2. if I have to wear thermal underwear and a balaclava on the morning walk. Both have happened an average amount so far this year. Average is good. 🙂

We just got rid of the last snow and can go about maintaining the hedgerows and cutting next year’s firewood. We will begin pruning the orchards before long. While some snow cover is good, it is near impossible to get any outdoor work done when there is much, or if it is icy. We have also noticed that when there is a long period of deep snow, the rodents have more time undercover to chew on the orchards.

A picture is worth a thousand words right? It’s been 4 weeks since the last Farm Dirt and the lettuce is looking great!

Missed last month’s news about the NEW hydroponic system on our farm?  December Farm Dirt 2019

In addition to the gorgeous Boston lettuce pictured above, we now have several other red and green leaf varieties growing, along with arugula and basil. Every space is occupied and by next week we will start harvesting our own fresh, organically grown, hydroponic lettuce! Look for it at BPM and WPM in the coming weeks.

Okay, who cares about lettuce when we have a new

BABY!

Curt and Halley Stillman had a beautiful boy, Kipling Gene Stillman and every one is doing well!!! I know many of you already know from social media, but lest a few of you missed it, he’s wonderful and we are delighted to welcome our third grandson into the world. We are sure he’ll be giving orders with the other two by Springtime!

Red tails mating! Our pair have been together, daily, in a favorite dead tree (yet to be cut down by staff, grrr) and I see a neighboring fellow sitting in his nesting tree (epic nest).

Snowy owl nearby! Yes, that’s right. Glenn heard and saw one a few years ago and one has been spotted again about a quarter mile form us. I keep listeing for it, but since their call kind of stinks (read: not cool sounding hoo hooooo, or hoo-hoo-hoo hoooooo, etc) it’s hard to pick up. I can count the Barred owls within my earshot at any given time but I’d really have to see the Snowy to be sure

Coyotes busy – hope they are eating mice! It will be time to clear out the Bluebird boxes soon and  am sure there will be PLENTY of Deer Mice residing in them to make quite a few animals happy.

Funny story, last year Faith went around with Glenn to help clean out the boxes and to stun a few mice to bring back for Dijon (her Enchi Ball Python). When she had the opportunity to hold a few and look into those big black eyes, she let them all go…she’s her father’s daughter!

That’s one of the funny things about farming for us, we can be wildly upset with damage caused by (insert animal name here) but when it comes down to it, they have a purpose to serve. We grimace while the deer rub our evergreens, usually rendering it unsalable or killing it, bears pull bee hives apart destroying comb and honey, coyote pups chewing apart our freshly laid plastic in play…. BUT, the deer and bears are majestic, browse the woods and have cohabited with humans for a long time. The coyote, while they may kill/take livestock and wreck our plastic, they also are the biggest predators of littlest destroyers. Don’t forget that female coyotes rely on a heavy feed of mice for reproduction…the same mice that eat our newly planted seed or girdle our fruit trees under the snow. Mr. & Mrs. Red Tail hunt the same things the coyote do, picking up the mice, rabbits that eat our small greens, woodchucks that eat EVERYTHING, and more. Glenn tries very hard to provide habitat for all these creatures and they are each part of good stewardship and holistic farming. Having said that, all rats and English Sparrows remain fair game for removal. Sorry, not sorry.

What to remember: it is important for us to coexist with our fellow creatures, they have a purpose here, as do we.

Thank you SO much to all of you who have signed up for the CSA 2020 summer season or CSA A La Carte. Your early dollars make such a difference! We’ve had all sorts of kooky expenses already and with Worcester Public the surprises keep coming. Thank you, really.

Have you heard about our Workplace Wellness CSA? It’s just what you think – get CSA boxes or bags delivered to your office. Check it out or pass it on to someone you know who might enjoy a drop off at their workplace. Workplace Wellness CSA

Due to the birth of our 3rd blessed grandson, and then being down with the flu, I did not get a letter out reminding newcomers about the discounts. I had intended to get this letter out two weeks ago and blew it, but that’s on me.

The 10% discount continues for 2 more days! STILLSAVE10

Here’s the blip I got out to returning members pre-flu:

It’s 2020 and we have a few substantial bills to pay early, One of them is our labor visas and transportation bill, another is the continuing increases in minimum wage. This increase has many ripple effects like workman’s comp, our payroll taxes, the new Paid Family and Medical Leave Act in Massachusetts…. It’s hurting us a lot already.  We have already been informed there is a a $1 increase per hour with the H2A (guest worker program) labor. Note that we have not increased our CSA price this year and we are still offering you an early sign up discount -even thought our payroll is going to be substantially higher this year. (Feel free to sign up and not use the coupon, lol)
Please help us out by signing up today and we’ll help you out by continuing our discount of 10%!!! The 10% applies to regular CSA purchases only, not our A La Carte, which is already discounted. 

Can’t sign up for our regular, most awesome CSA this season? Please consider buying any amount of CSA A La Carte …it’s a big help to us and it is surprising how quickly everyone goes through their store credit. If you are not sure what I am talking about, with the a la carte option you choose a level and we give you “store credit” in a higher amount…the more you spend the higher the percentage of store credit we give you. It does not run out and it gets you on my weekly CSA email, gives you access to the farm, etc. Then you just shop at any of our farmers’ markets (including Boston Public and Worcester Public). The discount is already included, so today’s coupon will not work on a la carte:^)
We had quite a few people sign up for both the CSA and the a la carte – so there’s that too!!!

THANKS!
Don’t forget to use coupon code stillsave10 good through January 30th