Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and rang in the New Year in style. Things are hopping around here already and I am so ready for the blahs of winter to be gone. I really enjoy spring and seeing everything come up green and looking out at the farm when there are no crops growing and all the grasses are yellow is a bit depressing. We’ve had some strange weather that’s given us some very warm days when we can go outside and spend time enjoying the property, but it’s just not enough! So, for the time being, I’m stuck inside by the wood burning stove planning for the upcoming season.
One reason for me to go outside frequently and brave the cold is the birth of our two new goat kids. They are beautiful babies. Their mom for some reason didn’t bond well with them and won’t allow them to nurse, so they are being bottle fed. That means heading outside every two to three hours. It’s a lot of work, but it’s so satisfying to walk out toward their shelter and have them come running toward you yelling “ma!” They are both doing well and have been accepted by the herd; it’s just unfortunate that mom didn’t accept them.
We’ve started taking sign ups for our 2009 CSA program and have already received a great response. Seems that more and more people are interested in buying local, organically and sustainably grown produce and meats grown in a humane manner. It makes me happy to have many of last year’s customers coming back this year and we’ve got all kinds of plans in the works to be able to provide many more types of fresh fruits and vegetables than last year. We’ll be focusing a lot this year on heirloom veggies. These are classic varieties that are not hybrids and most of them will come from certified organic seeds. I am also going to make an attempt at the elusive eggplant again this year … keep your fingers crossed!
So, while sitting inside by the fire, I am planning out what seeds to buy, how many to plant, and designing our crop layout and rotations. All the while I am dreaming of warmer and greener days!
Karin