Finishing up- Stillman’s December 2019

There’s actually a lot to do in the late Fall here at Stillman’s Farm: buttoning up greenhouses, planting garlic, moving pipe, picking up remay, spreading straw, getting the wood in, and so much more. The outside work came to a screeching halt this Fall with bitter cold and then two feet of snow. We had been busy spreading straw on the garlic and strawberries, but the thick snow blanket is cover enough! The temperatures warmed and we had several heavy rain events (thankfully NOT snow) and everything was exposed again. I believe Egbert finished the straw yesterday – just in time for the freezing rain and snow today. Hopefully the crops will remain safe and sound until it is time for them to come out of dormancy.

A picture is worth a thousand words right?

Glenn had been wanting to set up a hydroponic system for some time, and he did it! Constructing the whole thing took a little while because he was off the farm driving to BPM or attending a market, and then the New England Vegetable Growers Conference was smack in the middle of December (if any of you NEVFC organizers are listening – the timing of the conference is just terrible!!! January would be much better). But he got it finished and plumbed and then planted two weeks ago. YIPPEE!!! It is what is called an NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) system, which basically means water with all the necessary nutrients is recirculated by the plant roots in a trickle stream. It is a closed system where there is a pump continuously moving water from the holding tank to the channels the plants are growing in and then all the water drains back into the holding tank with gravity. It’s pretty cool.

The lettuce is growing with 100% organic practices and so far so good. As soon as the lettuce is ready, it will be available at Boston Public Market and Worcester Public Market in a few weeks! We will be experimenting with basil and some other greens too, so stay tuned 🙂

The birds are very busy at the feeders – especially in weather like today. The snow cover we had made for lots of good animal track viewing and I have a good handle on where the deer are travelling to and from, as well as the turkeys. Mr. and Mrs. Red-Tail are keeping a close eye on the hedgerows and I know the rabbit hunting has been rewarding! Hopefully the coyotes will spend some quality time in the orchards regulating the rodent population. It’s actually very enjoyable to watch coyotes hunting in the open fields: they crouch and listen, then when they hear their prey moving, they pounce front feet first, breaking through the snow, then snatching whatever and tossing it back with a chomp, chomp gulp. Very effective!

Writing about rodents makes me think of owls. The owls have been out in numbers at night and when it isn’t too bitter we will stay and listen. Nocturnal or Diurnal? 🙂 We see plenty of Great Horned and Barred hunting at dawn and dusk, but It is not unusual at all to see the Barred out during the day, sitting low on a branch for some easy pickings. Last Spring I saw quite a few (more than usual) during the day which made me wonder if they had had larger clutches of owlets to feed. I’m no ornithologist, but I am an avid student of what I see where and when.

Hydroponic lettuce!

Opening at Worcester Public Market!

A new Stillman!

In other Farm Dirt, feel free to skip over:

Curt and Halley got some amazing support to help them rebuild their collapsed greenhouse. Thank you all who contributed…if you didn’t it’s all good, you can still help by doing your regular shopping with us at markets, signing up for CSA, or just being part of our farm family in spirit. We are all excited about their January baby and having another grandchild!

Reid and Faith are both busy with school and missing their market and CSA customer friends (you know who you are – and there’s a lot of you! :))

We welcome the new year (2020!!! WTheck? I’m still recovering from the Millennium Bug! LOL? with wonderful plans for new crops, wishes for good weather, optimism for bountiful quality harvests, and prayers for the prosperity (I’m digging deeper than $$ here) of our entire Stillman family.

We thank you for patronage and hope you continue to join us in eating well – whether it be at markets, CSA or on farm. Glenn often remarks that one of the things he likes the most about going to markets is food is not political…or at least local, conscientiously raised food shouldn’t be. Chatting about the latest radish we are growing, purple potatoes, turnip greens, callaloo, red carrots, white sweet potatoes, baby butternut, microgreens, ghost peppers, Green Zebra tomatoes….what you did or going to do with them – that’s something we all can enjoy. We all love eating and many of us love sharing our ideas about how we last enjoyed some particular fruit or veggie. Let’s hold fast to that relationship in 2020!

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous new year full of good food and great times.

Eat well,

Genevieve Stillman

Still have not signed up for CSA? No pressure, but we are counting on your CSA subscriptions to help with new expenses..like the increase in minimum wage 🙂

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