What happened to Spring?

I'm sitting here looking out at a vast sea of white snow, thinking of all the thousands of seedlings we have growing in the hoophouse, and wondering how the timing is going to work out if temps fall back into the teens next week.  Yikes. One thing I've learned is that we don't give enough credit to the survival factor of cold weather plants - I'll bet the kale, spinach, chervil and parsley are going to do just fine, with a little help from another layer of remay. Fingers crossed.  We've had a tough beginning so far with voracious moles and a very determined rabbit. Caught the little bunny in a have-a-heart trap and relocated to a far end of the farm.  Happy to report our seedlings this year look awesome - both greens and flowers.  Transplanting soon and harvesting spinach and kale that have overwintered.  Stay tuned for a picture of the tulips, which are up 6 inches and growing fast!

Happy New Year and Welcome 2018!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Why does the new year always seem to slide in there and before you know it, second week already.  It's been really wonderful to have some time off and enjoy the snow and the stillness of winter. Time off....that's a matter of speaking of course, because really that means that physically we've slowed down at the farm but mentally we're working overtime on planting plans and new market ideas and dreaming of new greens and flowers to try out for the year.  I'm so excited to welcome Johanna and Emily to the Unity Farm team this year - it's all girl power folks! Well, still have the boys for horsepower and Trooper as the male mascot......and ace mouser patroller. 

We're taking orders for greens for restaurants and grocery stores, and welcome anyone who wants to have flowers this summer for an event to let us know. Looking forward to a wonderful, joyful and very productive new year and  hoping the same for you too.

November updates

Can't believe an entire month has gone by without posting - sigh - can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone already.  Can't believe we had snow already here in the valley and that it stayed a couple of days!  And now it feels balmy again.  Very strange weather to be growing things in. I was feeling kind of bad because our kale and chard didn't get as big as they have been in falls past, then I heard that many other farms are experiencing the same thing, plus getting hit hard with disease on the spinach and vole invasions.  Guess we're pretty lucky overall.  Just delivered literally armfuls of red, orange and yellow twigs to our florists for wreaths and holiday decorations. Nature provides no matter what the season, if we know how and where to look.  I'm learning a lot from our florist customers on Mother Nature treasures. Starting the first horse holiday rides in Middlebury next Saturday.  Our heads of lettuce sales have taken off this year, thanks to new restaurant clients.
   Several weeks ago, I was feeling kind of down because of my perceived pressure of competition among all the flower growers in our area.  I was telling this to a friend and she quietly said, "wouldn't it be wonderful if there were flowers for everyone and you could fill the whole world with flowers"? She was so right, and it opened up the doors of possibilities to me, because of course, there is always room for more flowers, for more love, for more gratitude, joy, laughter, sharing and embracing wholeness everywhere.  In this holiday season, may you find the doors opening for you for infinite possibilities.

Busy Season

Signs of Fall around the farm include big piles of pulled out flowers (sigh) and long lines of greens taking over the hoophouses.  Always have a hard time pulling out the last of the annuals and the bees aren't too happy either, since they are still busy getting pollen for the winter.  Luckily we have plenty of goldenrod and asters around the pond.  I've seen two praying mantis this week - one of my favorite creatures along with the great blue heron out mousing in the cover crops. Weeds are still growing, so Ernie was busy the other day finding the lettuce and carrots, with Trooper "helping" of course.  Troop is 5 1/2 months old now and getting big!  He's turning into quite a mouser himself.  And leaf chaser. And hole digger. We've got a lot of gorgeous lettuce and plenty of spinach coming in.  Kale, chard, mustards, and arugula are looking good too, and hoping the weather turns cooler.  It was 120 degrees in the hoophouses last hot spell - too hot for anyone's liking.

Fall Harvest and Special Guests

Just had to take a picture of our cooler today filled with kale, chard and salad mix ready to go for tomorrow.  And flowers!  Love the zinnia bouquets - they always brighten my day no matter what the cloud cover. We're gearing up for our winter season and direct seeding spinach, arugula and lettuce, along with seeding kale, chard and parsley for transplants in a month. Lots to do for a farm that operates year around.  How did I get myself into this?!!  Soon we'll be putting up a bunch of bulbs for the first time this year to see how we do - lillies, ranunculas, anemone and narcissi.  Tulips go along the borders of the beds in the hoophouse. And so the cycle continues.

We've been noticing a few monarch butterflies around the past couple of weeks.  Thought that was was awesome AND THEN we started spotting monarch caterpillars on all of our annual aesclepius munching away merrily.  Really?  You have to eat our cash crop and are completely ignoring all the wild milkweed we left for you all year?  How can we be mad though - have waited for these guys to show up for a few years now.  OK, munch away.

Group Photo

It's about time to update a photo of the entire Unity Farm crew.  We've been growing!  More staff, a new farm van, Trooper our new puppy, more varieties of flowers and greens.  Sadly, Pete is not with us anymore and it still seems very strange to not see him with the other boys.  I guess I'll always think I have four draft horses because his presence is very much with us. Better hurry up and get that plastic back on Hoophouse 1!

Trooper is here!

Our new shiloh shepherd puppy has arrived!  His name is Trooper and he's taken our hearts by storm.  As you can see from his nose, he's been very busy investigating the barn, dirt piles, compost piles, the barn cat's food and other choice morsels around the barnyard.  Trooper welcomes everyone with a tilt of his head and a wagging tail.  He would love to see you at Unity Farm.