May 28th and 31st

Looking on the Bright Side

Well I cannot say this May has been easy.  Many of the farm's tribulations are weather related and although I try and not dwell on them too much (admittedly you will probably get tired of reading about it), I think it is good to give folks a healthy perspective of what we deal with/how we handle things that are out of our control.  A little reality insight into the romanticized farming life.  Strictly for educational purposes...not to complain...I Do Love my Job : )

As I type this VERY least minute Blog, right before pick up starts, it is raining yet again (surprise, surprise).  And since I am running late and need to get pick up set up, I will mostly show pictures this week, with some captions of the highs and lows from May....although funny enough, they are all highs and lows withing just 5 days!!

We planted and covered over 1000 plants in one day!  

And then the wind ripped apart our remay and decorated the trees.

Kale is looking beautiful in the greenhouse

Our "Sink Hole" field has held on to its namesake by sucking me in while trying to aerate the soil.  Luckily my neighbor has a larger tractor and he pulled me out.

The greenhouse is BUSTING at the seams and looking lively.  LOADS of planting to be done in the next couple of weeks ... just need to get the fields dry enough to prep!!

The pigs are out and about.  A little skittish still but fence trained, seemingly well behaved and vigorous.  Be sure to visit them!

Borrowed equipment....a mulch layer.  I bought a drip tape attachment (the thing sticking upright) which lays the drip tape under the plastic.  When this mulch layer is working perfect, it goes so smooth and MUCH faster than laying everything by hand like we used to do (sorry Jean). Not that I love using plastic but in our colder, shorter season it enables us to grow better crops for those that like it hot (winter squash, tomatoes, peppers, melons, cucumbers and sweet potatoes).

Plastic all layed and ready to be planted -- yeah!!

Celery and Celeriac going in the ground with the help of an awesome crew!

Thank you all for supporting Little Ridge Farm!  We would not be here without you and we enjoy serving you with product that is tended to with love.

This Week's Bounty: lettuce, tat soi, kale, cilantro, dill, lovage, beets, spinach and asparagus

The Farmer's Table (A peek at what we eat in a week using the products we grow)

*Fresh pork shoulder, smoked in our smoker with shredded carrot/beet salad

*Grass Fed Beef Steak Salad

*Cheeseburgers with local cheese, roasted parsnips and spinach salad

May 14th and 17th

Planting Planting Planting!

Between drops of rain we have managed to find a few dry spots of soil and have planted thousands of plants already.  Yeah!!  It is a sophisticated process which sometimes takes hours to plant just one crop.  This time of year, the added part is to cover everything we plant.  It makes a tent-like cover over the beds and keeps the plants a bit warmer in the cool wet weather.  It will also help protect them from insects who will begin to emerge and make their way to feeding sites soon.  

We are lucky to have a great crew this year!  I had to hire 3 people to replace the one fabulous Jean.  They are doing awesome, picking away at the task list and getting so many things done when we have a break in the weather.  So far, with their help, I feel like we are pretty caught up on things.  I am a bit anxious about wet soils.  (I am sure many of you have noticed the excess of rain)  Most of my fields are still very wet.  I have not been able to "prepare seed beds". This means creating a smooth surface to plant tiny seeds like carrots, arugula, turnips.... So I am behind in getting these in the ground.  We were lucky enough to get peas in the ground.  Those seeds are larger and can take clumpier soil.  I have faith once I am able to get the smaller seeds in the ground, they will catch up and we will be enjoying them sooner than we think!

I am grateful for this spring and am looking forward to this year's bounty.  We have an excellent number of CSA shares and are also adding some new wholesale sales as well as producing hemp for CBD oil.  I will give you more info on that soon, so stay tuned!

Welcome new shareholders and welcome back old friends!  I hope you find season with Little Ridge Farm full of flavor, good energy and exciting visits to the farm. 

THANK YOU for your support and love!

This Week's Bounty: spinach, lettuce, spring parsnips, storage carrots, beets, garlic, onions