During an evening dip in the pond last week I was reveling over the deep brown of my arms and shoulders—about equal parts of dirt and sun—a sure sign that summer is well under way here and I’m in my happiest element.
The squash and tomatoes are settling themselves in nicely and the potatoes are just poking their first leaves above ground. The cold, wet weather of April and May delayed some of the earliest crops, and rotted the first planting of green beans before they had a chance to germinate. An incredibly brief but heavy storm in May left us wading through standing water and half-inch diameter hail. The air was left thick with the smell of damaged plants and flowers. It’s rejuvenating to the farmer’s soul to see how quickly the young and tender plants restored themselves. Bruised and battered stalks were soon righted, fresh and vibrant leaves replaced the torn bits that had been left dangling.
The pigs are fattening themselves rapidly in the pasture and the first batch of Freedom Rangers are nearly the size of the laying hens. Four beautiful, brown calves have been born—Austen, Rapunzel, Gale and Gus. Abby and Lightning have been shedding their winter pounds and bulking their rumps clearing old pastures, harrowing to remove the sod and weeds, and working up a nice seed bed for feed corn and eventually wheat. And the shutters have been taken off of the bank barn, ready for another season of slow progress on its restoration and ever closer to its destiny as our farm center—home of distribution, root cellars, and butchershop.
Jesse showed up at the farm a few weeks ago—a master with plants, animals, construction and the lunch table. He and Nathan have been entertaining the dinner crowd around the firepit at Dogwood Friday nights with some amazing music.
In the veggie share: spinach, loose-leaf lettuce, mesclun mix, beet greens, spring onions, asparagus, pac choi, rhubarb, red and white dry beans, ruby red kraut, last year’s potatoes and onions. Coming soon: lettuce heads, kale, chard, and garlic scapes.
In the meat share: pork, beef and whole chickens.
See you all between 4 and 6.
Sara Kurak
Full and By Farm
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