First planting of the season

With the first farmers market about three weeks away, it was definitely time to get plants out of the propagation greenhouse and in the ground.

We were all feeling (mostly) better after a round of colds, so we headed up to the farm to plant kale (green curly, purple, and red), collards, Swiss chard, lettuce, and green onions. We’ll be seeding radishes and a few other things this weekend.

After a long break, Jason will soon get microgreens going for the Saturday, May 6, market at the Meadville Market House.

It was a beautiful, warm night, and we could hear the peepers in the woods. Ever since last season ended, Jason and I (and Silas, too) have been mostly working from our computers, and it felt good to get back on the farm. The garter snakes are back. The spiders and bugs are back, and so are the frogs, groundhogs, kale, and Ruggieros. See you all soon! Enjoy the lovely weather.

~ Stella

Spring is in the air — Season 9 begins!

Jason and Luna (above) spent Sunday afternoon prepping the Big Tunnel for planting. We’re hoping to plant our kale and other greens as soon as this weekend. The first farmers market is only about six weeks away!

Spring so far

It’s been a blur of baseball, cyber school, farming, and other work. So it goes with spring.

It’s Silas’s first year playing ball. Grandpa Gary mowed a ball field at the farm. We’ve had a lot of fun helping Silas practice and watching him play. By extremely lucky circumstances, I get to watch my 7-year-old and my 74-year-old dad play ball.

The photo above is how every season begins — with Jason starting dozens of seed flats. If you follow along, you know Jason quit his full-time, off-farm job in December. He also started his own company — a grant-writing and project management firm. We were both surprised — OK, stunned — at how quickly this took off. Another one of life’s plot twists. It’s been great for our family, but it’s re-shaping our year. We’re also going through the formal process of officially making me an employee of the new business. We’re still figuring out what a “typical” week looks like during the growing season, and trying to rein in the number of hours worked.

So this winter and early spring, Jason ended up poking seeds in potting soil late into the night once more. We thought days like that were behind him, but we were wrong. We were mistaken to think this new life would neatly click into place, but we’re figuring it out.

This garlic was planted last autumn. We’ll harvest mid summer.

The night Silas scored his first run!

First market of the season. You’ll find us every Saturday at the Meadville Market House at 9 a.m. We’ve been loving our market Saturdays. For one thing, the Friday harvest is so much easier and more enjoyable with Jason and me working as a team. The Market House has been a bustling place Saturday mornings. Opening the doors and at times seeing people milling all around has been awesome.

Down to the last chive. Someone came along and bought it.

Notice the change in attire from Week 1 to Week 2.

The Big Tunnel after Jason straightened it out and I put straw down thick. Green onions, oregano, spinach, broccoli, and radishes were growing earlier this spring. The empty rows now have tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.

Here we have garlic, kale, broccoli, and lettuce. You may notice the lack of landscape fabric. We learned last season that fabric is a no-go for anything in spring, and unwise year-round for any crop voles find delicious and we hold precious — like lettuce.

The onions are doing terrific. We put down thick straw and planted directly into it. We won’t worry about those anymore until late summer.

Above is a photo of the tomatoes and peppers we planted Memorial Day weekend.

Hope you’re enjoying spring. The CSA will likely start in the third week of June. We’ll send out plenty of notifications beforehand. We’ll probably open our online orders around that time, as well.

In the meantime, if you’re in the Meadville area, come see us on Saturday mornings.

~ Stella

Spring gifts

Stock image

I was about to call it a night when Jason turned to me on the couch and said, “Want to see the baby lettuces?” Tired as I was, he looked and sounded too sweet to refuse.

He has them in the basement under grow lights. Poking out of the potting soil, reaching for the light, are the tiniest lettuces possible. Just wee green slips. Baby broccoli and lots of herbs, too. The oregano is so small you have to squint to see it. And lots of kale. Seed trays are the first sign of spring for us. Here are a few more favorites:

BIRDS SINGING

Everywhere and all the time. Isn’t it a relief to hear them again?

MOSS SEASON

The moss is never more brilliantly green than this time of year. Any place it grows takes on a mysterious and enchanted appearance. Unless it’s your roof.

HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS IN HIGH GEAR

We had all winter to make home interior tweaks but as usual we waited until now. Maybe it’s because the clock is about to run out on such projects, when farming takes over in early spring. Or maybe the promise of good weather has us motivated to tackle all that needs tackling. Right now, we’re making a few inexpensive but big impact changes to my office, including green paint. And Jason taught me how to refinish my desk.

EGGS

Hurray! The chickens are laying again. This is a big deal since we go through about four dozen eggs a week. The ladies are relishing rolls in the dust on sunny afternoons. It’s nice to see them in the yard giving their feathers good shakes.

SYRUP MAKING

We put in about 10 taps. When conditions are right, we’re getting about 10 gallons of clear sap a day. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of maple syrup. Our goal is two gallons of syrup for the year.

TUNNEL WORK

Jason mowed inside the Big Tunnel the other day and worked up the rows. He seeded carrots, cilantro, radishes, and spinach.

BACKYARD BASEBALL

The weekend was extra warm. After an all-around great day, I was doing a few things in the house when I spied Silas and Jason playing catch in the back yard. Silas will be a minor leaguer this spring. He missed out on T-ball altogether thanks to the pandemic so Jason’s been working with him on the basics.

On this particular evening, the sun was setting behind them, and with no leaves to block the glow, they were both outlined in gold. I watched them as a warm breeze blew through the screen. Thank you, Spring, for so many gifts.

~ Stella

First major planting! Almost 1,000 feet of deliciousness

It was a great couple of days on the farm.

On Saturday, Angelica and I redid Caterpillar 2 (the one dismantled by the wind last week), then Jason helped us fix Caterpillar 1’s wind damage.

After those issues were set right, Caterpillar 1 was filled with broccoli, Swiss chard, and kale transplants.

On Sunday morning, we planted in the Big Tunnel for the first time ever! We started with lettuce and pac choi transplants. Then, Angelica and I planted the first tomatoes of the season. (Returning CSA members will be happy to know that sungold cherry tomatoes went in the Big Tunnel! These bright, orange, cherry tomatoes are fantastic for snacking and cooking. They taste like sunshine.)

Doesn’t this Asian green look crunchy?!

Later in the day, Angelica practiced using the seeders. (We have a Jang and an Earthway.) Carrots, peas, beets, and French breakfast radishes were seeded in the Big Tunnel. Last spring, we spent hours weeding and trellising several hundred feet of peas, only to have the deer munch the vines down to stumps overnight. However, with the Big Tunnel, they should be safe. This was just our first major planting of the season. Many more to come! - Stella

Here’s the weekend rundown:

Carrots: 90 feet

Lettuce and pac choi: 95 feet total (Pac choi is an Asian green. Tasty in stir-frys and soups.)

Red Russian kale: 100 feet

Green curly kale: 100 feet

Swiss chard: 40 feet

Broccoli: 100 feet

Red cherry tomatoes: 80 feet

Sungold cherry tomatoes: 45 feet

Peas: 90 feet

Beets: 90 feet

French breakfast radishes: 90 feet

Baby broccoli under a Caterpillar tunnel.

Friends who would know - is this a silvery checkerspot?

UPDATE: CSA member Dianne checked with her husband, Rich, a zoologist. This butterfly is an Eastern Comma, one of the first butterflies to arrive for the season. Thanks, Rich! This particular Eastern Comma was rescued by Jason from under plastic.