CSA, Week 2

We are up to over 1,000 page views on the Farming with Francesca blog!
We baled 202 square bales yesterday -- the hay is beautiful and green!   So, of course this means sore arms and scratched up legs.
Most of the things in the garden look pretty good...except for the bone dry soil. I feel like the first couple pages of The Grapes of Wrath will be reenacted on Oakmanor Farm any day. The peas have started forming on the plants, and I ate some and they were very juicy and sweet. We picked our first quart-and-a-half of strawberries yesterday. We  have been setting up our been pole teepees.

Vegetable list (subject to change):
Mesclun mix
Lettuce
Peas
Broccoli
Chard
Kale
Spring turnips
Beet greens
Green onions
Peppermint
Oregano
Thyme
Cilantro
Spinach

Job well done!

Chinese cabbage

CSA, Week 1

Wow, CSA time again! We have had a few busy weeks on the farm, from planting and seeding, to watering. We had a few showers over the past week, but we need so much more water. I wish it would just rain!! So this week it will be lots harvesting, lawn mowing, and watering.
The market started on June 2, we had a pretty successful opening day, and hope the weeks to come will be even better!
We have three new new calves; Zephyrus, Zorro, and Costanza.

CSA Week 1:
Garlic

Beet greens
Swiss chard
Kale
Broccoli
Onions
Spring turnip
Radish
Lettuce
Bok choy
 ~If you are interested in our CSA, shares are still available.

Our table at the market

The long weekend...

Today we harvested the first of our field spinach--if only the market started this week!  The bok choy, lettuce, broccoli, kale, and swiss chard are doing really well. The beans don't really seem to be growing, but we're hesitant to seed out more, in fear that they will all come at once and we'll have, like, 300 pounds of beans to deal with.
We're hoping to get some rain in the near future, the gardens are a bit dry.


All the animals are out on pasture.

All of the fruit trees are blooming.

I feel good!

Apple blossoms

  The Windsor Farmers' Market starts on June 2, the hours are from 9am-1pm.

Cherry blossoms/swiss chard growing in a pot on our porch

The Merry Month of May

Not only has spring sprung, May has begun! April was a busy month; a vacation down south, transplanting, seeding, garden preparation, fencing, et cetera.

Yes, I did "the tourist thing" while in NY

The gardens are starting to come together nicely, we are postponing the planting of some things until it gets a little warmer, also until we get some rain (we have had an unusually dry spring).  So far we have planted peas, beets, beans, lettuce, lettuce mix, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, onions, bok choy, radish, spring turnips and broccoli.

peas

    









The horses are out on pasture. We have one new male calf, Zamaree.

micro greens

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in the greenhouse

Yesterday I started mowing the lawn.

Daffodils  

Ver Adest

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Since then six calves have been born; Zoe, Zanzibar, Penelope, Zeus, and Zachary, and another male calf that was a stillborn.

Zanzibar

In March we had a couple days of 80 F (27 C) weather. All of the flowers started popping up; a few days later we had snow! Speaking of snow...that's what's covering the ground right now! It has been a surprisingly dry spring, we have had very little rain and the ground is quite dry.

This is what Gabriel looks like now

Yesterday we seeded out some peas out in the garden. Most of our seedlings have been doing quite well, and as soon as the weather stabilizes we hope to transplant some of them.

Zoe

Zachary

Spring is just around the corner

View out of the front window

With spring just around the bend, we have started seeding. All of the onions have been seeded. Bok choy and lettuce, along with other greens, have been seeded to plant out in April.

Isabelle (the sow) is back from her hiatus with the cows, and is once again residing with Frisco in the pig barn.

Gabriel has grown a considerable amount. He spends most of his time with Tony, the blind calf.
A couple of the cows are expected to calve soon.

It is registration time for the CSA.

All you gardeners out there make a note that this year we will be inviting you to bag up aged manure for your garden. We will keep you posted on this.

Swiss chard, kale and broccoli

Welcome, Gabriel!

Gabriel

We are almost at midwinter.
Most of our seeds have been ordered.
Rachel had her calf on January 16.
I picked three possible names for him; Santiago, Gabriel, or Michael. We chose Gabriel.

The weather has been quite strange; snow, rain, freezing rain, temperature fluctuations.

The winter CSA is almost at it's close. The summer CSA brochures are ready.

We have been busy cutting firewood. Along with trying out some new recipes in the kitchen. For some delicious recipes, check out my other blog: http://inthekitchenwithfrancesca.blogspot.com

Isabelle, our pig, has been spending the winter in the company of the cows.
And, a very exciting fact, the days are getting longer!