By Russ Cerocke, Farm Manager
Hello readers, new and returning, to the March edition of Connections. Is it spring yet? Our future farmer Carya is experiencing her first full cycle of the seasons. One way we are learning about it is through reading books like Tree by Britta Teckentrun. In this book, the reader takes on the perspective of an owl observing the seasons from his hole in the tree. One line from the book reads “The snow is melting once more but wise owl has seen it all before.” The signs of spring are ones we delight in on the farm as they kick off a new season with predictable tasks and new, exciting changes.
We should certainly talk about the new things right away! This year we will be welcoming new crew members to the farm starting on April first, led by the ever-capable and newly appointed Crew Leader, Cherese! Also, for those of you familiar with the farm layout, you will notice that the north greenhouse that usually sits between the Clow House and the back of the barn, is now located squarely behind the farm manager’s residence near our west greenhouses. Although the change of scenery is nice, it’s not the reason for the relocation. The move will make room for the exciting addition of a new pole barn that will house our essential equipment and much more. And that’s not all! Over the past month, we have been test driving new equipment that will help the farm be more efficient, thanks to our grant award from Endeavor Health — with delivery coming soon!
One of the “new on the crop line-up” front is onion sets, which are small onion bulbs that will bulk-up during the season to bolster our onion harvest. And, for those of you who were accustomed to seeing our new farm baby, Carya, nestled in her bouncy seat or being held at pickups, that’s not where you’ll find her this season. New this year, she will be walking around and may be hard to contain in the barn. As of writing this, she is continuing to practice her first steps all on her own!
Some of the welcome and familiar aspects of spring season on the farm are the multitudes of seedling trays starting to burst with life. The onion seeds from last month have
sprouted and been relocated to the south green house where the natural light of the sun will take over from the LED lights at the start of their lives. Tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce now take the onion seedlings place in the historic chicken coop that has been our grow room for years, balancing the right temperature, moisture and light to nurture our little seedlings. The herbs that sat as seeds in the fridge and freezer over winter, cold stratifying, will be carefully separated from their tight rows and placed into larger pots to stretch their roots and shoots. The first fields have been rotovated and seeded with beets, spinach and carrots, and have been nurtured by the spring rain and the snow melt allowing them to swell and pop with life in the coming weeks. In the greenhouses, our fall spinach, which regenerated over the winter, was gleaned (harvested) for donation to Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry AND our Spring Greens Season subscribers got an early treat and had a chance to harvest a big bag for themselves as well to help clear out the greenhouses for our spring crops. Now in its spot in the sun, soil and warmth of the greenhouses are carrots, beets and scallions.
With the warming weather, we will be looking forward to hearing the hum of the sides of the green houses opening and closing letting the house breathe, instead of the roaring fiery breath of the heat cannons. Soon it will be potato planting day and mark a year since the birth of our daughter. Thinking back now how she started out as a sweet little potato, she will now stretch her roots out all over the good green earth on McDonald Farm.
“The seasons have all come and gone. Snow has fallen, sun has shone. Owl sees the first new buds appear, and so begins another year.” Looking forward to a beautiful spring and year with all of you!
~Farmer Russ
