Greenhouse almost ready for planting!

The last four days we've been out at the farm taking advantage of the gorgeous spring weather-- and after many frozen fingers & muddy knees, we've finally finished putting all the new plastic up & it's just about ready to go. First we had a little excavating job to dig out the sides of the greenhouse...
Then we pulled the 2 layers of plastic sheeting over the top of the greenhouse (by 3 ropes attached to the plastic around snowballs!)... securing it on all sides with a metal-rod system & bolts. This system is outdated & extremely time-consuming & frustrating. Next time we do this, we're updating to the "wiggle-wire" method. Boy, what a headache. Thankfully a few farmer friends came out to give helpful advice (they have more experience with greenhouses themselves). Then we stapled smaller pieces of plastic to the endwalls... on the north wall I was able to use the old plastic from last year, since we don't care too much about light penetrating through this side.As the sun set this evening, the greenhouse glowed as I walked back out to my car.
All day big "V"s of geese were squawking overhead... I like to say "welcome back" to them in the spring, even though I know that lots of them overwinter here probably!
Spring feels like it has arrived. The ground was thawing & the mud was making its presence known-- on our boots, gloves, pants, & everything. Glorious, glorious mud.

Thank you to all the enthusiastic volunteers who came out to help with breaking in the farm for the 2010 season!

I'm excited to get to know everyone-- all the new CSA members who'll be joining us this season -- as well as seeing old friends who are back for a second summer. Happy spring!

Muddy times...

An inspiring article... about communities supporting agriculture in a slightly different way.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28food-t-000.html

First seeds of 2010 started!

The first seeds of the season have been sown. Onions! 5 trays of potting soil, sprinkled with tiny seeds-- we will keep them in a warm part of the basement for a week until they pop up out of the soil, then put them in a sunny window until the greenhouse gets heated. (Which hopefully will happen before March 7th, when a lot more gets planted!)

We expect to harvest over 10,000 onions this year.

CSA memberships still available!

Lots of folks have been calling & emailing lately, inquiring about the CSA & how it works. That's so great! I can't wait to meet all these new additions to the farm "family".
We still have quite a few openings for 2010 membership, so start asking your friends & neighbors if they'd like to join up with us this year! If you want to post fliers up at your office, yoga studio, library, favorite restaurant, etc., let me know!

Seed order update: all seeds have been ordered and are in the mail! I was happy to buy most of them from High Mowing Seeds this year, which sells 100% organic, and is located in Vermont not far from where Luke grew up. If you're interested in buying some seeds for your home garden, I highly suggest them, but also Fedco Seeds has some really interesting varieties too. Johnny's Seeds is the standard for vegetable growers all over the country, and they have an extensive collection of garden tools too, including these awesome lightweight hoes that I'm ordering more of!

Right now Luke & I are designing a more efficient way to heat the greenhouse tables in the spring-- studying solar greenhouse design & radiant heat systems. Can't wait to get everything started.

2010 begins!

Well, the farm is fast asleep these days, under blankets of snow. The meadow voles have cozied up in their burrows with abundant stashes of beets, carrots, cabbage leaves & other field residues. I've been in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont for the holidays. No, I don't ski, but I do enjoy snowshoeing. Even more enjoyable is pawing through seed catalogs selecting next year's varieties of vegetables we'll grow! I can't wait to fire up that greenhouse... just 9 more weeks before it starts all over again. Happy new year.

Mud Creek Farm CSA Info Meeting this Sunday!

This Sunday, December 6th, 12pm - 1:30pm
@ the Artisan Church, 1235 S. Clinton Ave, Rochester, 14620

Mud Creek Farm CSA Informational Meeting

Come enjoy a potluck lunch, then hear Farmer Erin explain the benefits, costs, and rewards of personal involvement in locally grown organic produce.

This is a basic introduction to the CSA: new members & interested folks are encouraged to come, as well as returning members (although you are all experts in CSA involvement by now!) There will be a slide show with photos from 2009, and an introduction on organic food by Kristina Keefe-Perry, Food Justice Coordinator for NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association).

Tell your friends! This is a great way to get to know more about how Mud Creek Farm CSA works, ask questions, meet the farmer, etc.

See you there.
Erin

December... still going!

Still some green left on the farm... we've been taking advantage of the nice days. Rolling up drip tape to reuse it next year...

Honestly I thought I'd be done by now, farm all wrapped up for the winter, me taking naps & dreaming of florida... But I'm still out there working! We are ALMOST done with everything-- just took the last crops from the field, really late stuff that took its time maturing & is finally ready. We are bringing them to the Brighton market (which is indoors, thank goodness!). Cabbage heads which were really wimpy back in October are almost perfect now-- Luke & I made over 200 lbs of sauerkraut & kim chi yesterday. We will ferment these over the winter & sell them at spring markets. We are selling some of our earlier fall ferments already.

We got a nice blurb in the D&C on Tuesday for our hot sauce line-- "Local Collaboration", it read. Indeed, when farmers & bakers get together, good things happen.


Next week: crop planning for next year!