The later part of spring is always very full, and this year’s wetness has kept things interesting. We’ve been getting our big, once a season plantings done… onions, potatoes, tomatoes, etc… with frequent interruptions from the weather. We’re in the midst of a cold spring rain storm that just brought a scary bout of hail to the coast and some snow at just 3000 feet! When the hail was falling I was picturing swiss-cheesed rowcovers, but the walk around the fields afterward thankfully showed little damage. I’m still waiting to get the winter squash and melons sown ‘till it’s a bit warmer and drier.
Though the strawberries are not quite pumping yet, there’s enough good food on the farm now to start the CSA! It’ll be fun to have all the farm members coming out on Tuesdays and Fridays again, and hopefully in the time between harvests we can catch up on weeding/thinning beets & carrots and hoeing lots of beds. Talk to you again soon ![]()
Friday:
Logan and I arrive later to the farm than desired. We get in a couple of hours of harvesting before the rain picks up. Then, the mild downpour ensues for about 5 hours. As soon as we’re done harvesting, the rain ends!
Admittedly, I was pretty miserable. I’ve grown soft in these last 25 years of life. I guess this is what farming year-round is like -it shows you where you’re soft. Anyway, not harvesting wasn’t an option: we had big order from the co-op and a pre-thanksgiving farmers’ market to attend (thankfully, it was really busy). So, we buckled down and did the harvest. We had help from three friends for an hour and a half, and that helped a lot.
Maybe next year we’ll have so much planted in the fall and winter and we’ll do a CSA so we can afford to keep help on board. That would be nice. I think we’ll do that.
Another photo…check it out! - this is the garlic patch (in the foreground) before it sprouted.
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |