vacation

We went on vacation. Florida is funny. The beach was nice, when it wasn't brutal windy. Leif watched the kite fly up and over the condos after the string broke. I let the surf pound the crap out of my while "surfing." -I think it was on one of the knee-deep days at Stevens. Canoeing in the Indian river is full of excellent nerding. Stingrays fly out of the sand, porpoise chase fish in 2' of water, and so many birds. Pelicans, egrets, loons, eagles. Yeah, pretty much nerding. Oh, watch out for Sea World, you're better off in the lagoon.

It is still snowing. Usually the snow has melted in the valley by now, but we still have 6 inches on the ground. On the upside, about 6 feet fell at Stevens Pass in the last week or two.

One way or another, spring will get here. Many of our crops need an early start we can plant them out as well established plants once things have warmed up.

The top photo is a tray of tomatoes, below celery.

We start most of our seeds in soil blocks. Eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, celery, and some flowers in 3/4" mini blocks. They germinate very quickly. Once the cotyledons have emerged, we move them into 1.5" blocks.

Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, pac choi, etc) start in the larger blocks, planning to get them into the soil in a month.

We had a cold week again. A little fresh snow at the beginning, then clear and down to 6 degrees at the farm. Days warm up quickly though, it was 50 degrees inside hoophouse at 11am when this photo made itself. Outside temp, 20. Once the frost has thawed from the salad, it's ok to cut, as long as it doesn't freeze when you take it outside.

2009 CSA

We are currently accepting down payments for our 2009 season. 30 shares will again be offered, starting June 5. Two drop-off locations are available this year at Sage Mt. Natural Foods and Just Plain Grocery. Or, come out to the farm to box your own share and watch your food growing. I hope to make the brochure available for download soon.