Last week I placed our seed order for the 2012 growing season and by Wednesday little boxes began to arrive in the mail. Most of the seeds arrive in tiny packets. It seems unimaginable that a few boxes stacked next to my desk hold inside of them a years worth of produce for hundreds of people. Tiny packets of tomatoes weighing less than an ounce will be transformed into hundreds of tomato plants that will stand taller than me in about 6 months and be heavy with fruit. The order included all of the crops for the winter share as well. We will be growing more kinds of winter squash, dry beans and even popcorn for the winter share. It is almost time to start cranking on the heat in the greenhouse and start our thousands of seedlings. Soon our first batch of baby chicks will arrive for the season. We will feed them and move them around in their mobile chicken houses. In the next couple months we will buy in compost to spread on our fields for next year. We will drive to Vermont Compost Company and come back with many trucks full of seed starting mix. We are looking to purchase a potato digger, a tractor implement that will make our potato harvest easier, making it possible for us to grow a lot more potatoes. We are looking for an RV trailer to house our summer employee. Soon I will place an order on additional vegetable growing supplies for the season.
Spring is the busiest time of year on the farm. We try our best to use the winter as a time to make sure we are prepared for whatever challenges come our way. We feel very fortunate to be able to operate as a CSA farm. Part of the advantage of being a CSA is that when you sign up early we are provided with the capital to deal with the many challenges that the spring presents us with. It also means that later in the season we can harvest and care for your food and not worry about marketing our produce. It means that we can devote our energy 100% to producing top quality produce, eggs and meat for the farm shares. For all these reasons we are very grateful to those of you who have already signed up for the 2012 Summer season. The deadline for the 5% discount is April 1 but the earlier you sign up for a farm share the more helpful it is for us, your farmers. If you are planning on signing up for the 2012 season, consider doing it sooner rather than later, and help your farmers add fertility to their fields, heat the greenhouse and provide the necessary infrastructure to do the best job we can do. We are grateful for your support and are getting pumped for another summer of growing food for you.
