We’ve been busy planting…

The onions and tomatoes are up…in fact, the first round of tomatoes has been transplanted; AND they will be transplanted into the ground in a few weeks! The greenhouses are filling up with all sorts of lush greenery – veggies like celery, onions, arugula, spinach, tomatoes, shallots, peppers, eggplant… herbs like thyme, rosemary, lavender, chives, oregano, lemon balm, basil, basil, basil… tons of annuals like geraniums, violas, pansies, fuchsias, succulents, grasses, sweet potato vine, coleus, supertunias, lobelia, bacopa, mandevilla, succulents…. Deep breath! The aloes, sempervivum, sedum, echeverIa, etc make for very tolerant container gardens and power through our hot summers and busy schedules (like too busy to water?).
Plants are available at Boston Public Market as they come into season, the Lunenburg Farm April through June, New Braintree farm by chance (though I think we will be having regulars hours this year), farmers’ markets and Find our very comprehensive list of tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings on our website – you can even order  from our online shop. Please indicate where you will be picking up your plants when they are ready (mid-May) or select shipping.

Farm Dirt

The best news is that Merrick, Lucius, Boothe and (oops) Gerry are up from Jamaica! Normally we only have three men come in March…BUT, I made a mistake. Well, Gerry didn’t get his planting done, but he did get to see several noreasters, so there’s that 😉
(I feel pretty secure in stating that Gerry would have been perfectly content missing out on the cold, wind and snow)

Glenn has been seeding non-stop and has all the peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes complete. Those are the big three that chew up all the time – and space. With over 15 varieties of eggplant, 40 varieties of peppers and then all the tomatoes for field, retail sales and the heirlooms – Phew! That’s a whole greenhouse of just seedlings, we really scramble once it is time to transplant those babies out.

There is still snow on the ground, but the snowdrops are blooming and a few crocus are out too. Today is a lovely Spring day and none to soon! It would be nice to have more warm, sunny days to dry things up a bit. We will want to be planting peas out before my next letter – let’s hope so!

Markets

HUGE CHANGE COMING! Many of our loyal market shoppers are aware of the roll out of the HIP program last year. We wanted to let you know the program has been suspended. While we will miss our HIP customers, we hope you will continue to frequent our stall at BPM which is amazing! AND, if you have stopped patronizing our markets for any reason, we hope you will make us part of your shopping habits again. BPM is open daily, Copley Plaza and JP will begin early May.
Thank you.

Wildlife

No amphibians yet…the ice is still on the woodland ponds and the edges of our farm ponds are still covered with snow and ice. SOON! It’s going to happen!
I saw a lovely coyote was hunting the blueberry orchard one evening this week. It was wonderful to watch her motionless, listening, and then pouncing on her prey under the snow and grass. She realized I was there, watching and bounded off. I hope she has a successful litter. Did you know coyotes are dependent on mice and other small rodents for successful gestation and litter size? Did you know the worst orchard winter loss we ever experienced was the year our neighbors killed 13 coyotes…the mice ran amok unchecked, fed on the apple tree bark and girdled many trees. Yes, before you ask, we have tree guards around the young trees.
The hawks all continue to be busy picking off doves, perching above our hen house (yikes), scanning the fields for rodents. Speaking of the hen house, Faith spotted a Great-Horned Owl camping out in the tree next to the chicken run. Fortunately our run is completely enclosed/covered, but between the hawks and the owls, we have not been able to let the hens out out to run free in our back yard. Overall,  it’s pretty cool, and these predators are our friends, hunting rodents, mustelids, and cleaning up the roadkill. This is a boon to the orchards and helps the battle we have later in the season with creatures eating our seeds and roots.

TONS of Blackbirds!

Next month will be the amphibian update!

CSA

Thank you everyone who has signed up and taken advantage of our early bird pricing!!! Believe me, there’s plenty of expenses this time of year and your membership helps us cover costs and it ensures you have the security of fabulous fresh food this summer! We have a pretty substantial payroll already and still a month to go before bedding plant sales and outdoor markets begin.

Save 5% with   SAVE5CSA.
I have nice CSA posters and brochures to send out if you would like to post one in your library, fitness center, local eatery…you know the place! Shoot me an email if I can send you our posters and or brochures. Don’t keep your favorite CSA a SECRET 🙂
Sign up today.