Wednesday, March 16, 2016

March

Has Spring Arrived Early?

Most folks are psyched that the snow has melted and all that falls from the sky is rain.  Simon, however, is still searching for any last bit of snow he can cool off in.


March has certainly been much different than last year!  In the April 2015 blog I wrote "Happy Spring" and there was still 2 feet of snow on the ground!  The farm's progression remains about the same every year.  I tend to work by the calendar and not by the weather--not trusting early warm temps.  The fact that the snow is gone, however, puts a little more fire under my feet, making me feel like I am already behind.


Zach is super into college basketball (to say the least) and I admit that I buy into it and fill out a bracket every year.  I am feeling like we have our own little March Madness happening here in the farm with the snow gone and the chore list already a mile long.  Although we don't have too many fruit trees, it's still quite a task to prune them into shape for the season.  The hoop house spinach is growing a mile a minute with the warmer temps and it's been hard to keep up with the harvest.  


....And the green house is fired up and zillions (literally) of seeds are ready to be seeded.  One by one.  I think I have elevated to a production size where I need to make my seeding process a bit more efficient.  I am going to experiment with a vacuum seeder today and see how I like it.  They are kind of pricey, but it could save hours of labor....hopefully.


...and sugaring is here.  Well, kind of.  It's been another funky season with lots of starts and stops due to the weather being either too hot or too cold.  Many folks have already wrapped up their season, but Mitch's taps are deep in the woods, so they keep much cooler than trees that are out in the open.  Hard to say, but maybe the end of this week will make for some good collecting again.

So that's what we've been up to!  We are already sold out of all of our shares for 2016!!!  Thanks to YOU!!  It takes a huge load of stress off (meaning that I am not worried that I won't make the income needed to run the farm or that I am not having to spend anymore time advertising).  It also allows me to finalize lists and planting plans much earlier which is great, because I have more time for it now than I will in a few weeks.  A new season has begun!