Driving past blossoming orchards on the way out to the farm I had to pull over for a photo. I think this is going to be a good season for tree fruit since it has been consistently cool which has preserved the blossoms, however we need the sun to get these bees a buzzing. This past week with the weather felt like one step forward and two steps back. One day felt like summer as we worked in the sun finishing our festival stage wishing we’d build the roof first. The next few felt like winter. While creating a punch list for our Earth Day volunteers coming this weekend I think I became the first farmer to wish for weeds. This was to be the primary activity because as we learned last year, for a small crew hand weeding the two acres of strawberries is a daunting task. This season the plan was to invite our patrons out to the farm and make a party out of it. It has been so cool, however the weeds are way behind schedule.

We have also been staking out additional acreage at the farm for production, parking, and cover cropping. We will have roughly 15 acres for vegetables and sunflowers, a couple acres seeded in Kentucky Bluegrass for event parking, and the rest in cover crops to replenish the soil, suppress weeds, control erosion and reserve for our rotation. We are renting a seed drill and planting barley for the spring, then rye and forage radishes in September. Have a great week everyone.