Spring is in the air

Spring is undeniably on the way.  When I walk outdoors in the morning, the air smells like spring.  It feels like spring against my skin.  Daffodils and dandelion are blooming.  When the mornings and evenings are warm, the peepers make a racket.  Walking around the pond I here the plop plop plop of little frogs launching themselves into the water the and the occasional splash of a red eared slider turtle.  After a long, cold, and remarkably wet winter, clear skies and warm air is very welcome. 
    The pace of work is picking up.  The onions have been planted and the first seeds of carrots, arugula, lettuce, turnips and mustards are in the ground.  Radishes and Tokyo bekana are on the list for this week.  The greenhouse is brimming with seedlings that will hopefully get transplanted out this week including kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choi and more lettuce. None of this would have been possible if Randy and Patrick hadn’t made all the seed beds in the fall and covered them up with tarps over the winter.  I cannot stress that enough.  February saw record breaking rainfall.  The field is still very, very wet.
    It finally dried up enough for Randy to use the tractor to get the shipping container positioned.  The forty-foot container was delivered a few weeks ago but because the ground was a little soft, the delivery driver wasn’t able to set it exactly where we wanted it.  The rear third of the container will be framed out, insulated, and made into a cool room for storing vegetables that like it cool but not cold, especially tomatoes and sweet potatoes.  We will also be able to keep seeds and other supplies in there that are sensitive to temperature.  The rest of the container will be used for storage.  It is amazing how much stuff need a home!  Another project has been remodeling the chicken coop.  The mobile coop was one of the first things Randy and I built out here and it has AMAZINGLY lasted until the end of last year when the floor gave way.  We took this opportunity to give it a new floor, new sides, new laying boxes, new roosts, and a new roof.  Hopefully we will get another six years out of it now!
   The goats have been busy, too.  The first babies of the year arrived in late February and since then half of our goat mammas have brought their little ones into the world.  It is a time of high anxiety for me.  I of course want all the babies to survive and be successful and I constantly have to hold myself back from rushing in and interfering with our capable ladies.   
    Our 2018 CSA is getting near to being sold out, so now is the time to act if you would like to get a box of fresh, local, seasonal produce from our farm each week.