This February morning we have our first dusting of snow for the winter. Our kids gathered up scoops of snow from multiple surfaces and piled it all together on a slope in a desperate and creative attempt to sled during the Warm Winter of 2020. They are delighted. Us parents remain in an emotional muddle. Parts of us love a good, deep snow. But very pragmatic parts of us greatly dislike the logistics of clearing snow from the EIGHT greenhouses/hoophouses that we now have on the farm. Especially when the deep snow arrives during the hours in which we love to sleep. For now, this winter has spared us both the loss of sleep from nighttime-hoophouse-snow-clearing as well as the burning shoulder muscles brought on by sweeping snow off the overhead plastic of these structures. Meanwhile, our hearts will continue to worry about the warmness of this winter, and we are doubling down on our strategies to sequester carbon on our farm. More on that later this season!

What’s the scene on the farm right now, besides industrious, snow-loving children? We continue to farm year round and thus are still harvesting delicious food! We’ll be at the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s tomorrow, Saturday, as usual. (Though – we will NOT be able to be at the market next Saturday, February 29. Plan accordingly!) Right now we are harvesting Kale // Carrots // Microgreens // Sweet Turnips, and more, plus baking our Breads for the market as well as our FarmStand at our farm on Saturdays.

We are also seeding for the season in earnest. Our greenhouse is filling up with trays of baby plants that will feed our community this season. We are growing plants for you to purchase for your own gardens as well, as we have in past seasons.

Additionally, we have some amazing teachers who are holding workshops at our farm this spring. Check this out…

Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop – by Jim Moniz. Saturday, March 14, 10a-3p. Details found here. Whether you have fruit trees or hope to in the future, learn how to properly care for them now!

Wood Fired Cooking Workshop – by Rebecca Sauerdieck. Saturday, April 25, 11a-4p. Details found here. Learn to roast meats, make cheese, bake bread, and more – all with wood heat and recipes dating back to the 1600’s.

Wood, Leather, and Metal Crafting Workshop – by Peter Yencken and Paul Capriani. Friday, May 1st at 6pm – Sunday, May 3rd in the afternoon. Details found here. Choose your craft and join in a village-feel for a weekend of creating together.

That’s a lot of ways to get involved this spring! And – of course – the backbone of our farm is our Farm Share, and shareholders start receiving shares (weather willing!) the first of May. Our Farm Share currently still has shares available, but we have sold out the past three years, so sign up now to reserve your place.

Remember – our Farm Share is customizable, so the member chooses the contents of their share from what we are harvesting on any given week. And, you get to choose whether to get a weekly share or every other week (bi-weekly). Sign up for your Farm Share today, and know that we are seeding and planting your food already.

{Were you a Farm Share member with us last year and you’re not sure if you’ve signed up yet for 2020? Log in to your account here and click on “Deliveries.” If you don’t see anything listed for starting in May 2020, then you aren’t yet signed up. Click on “Place Order” to do so.}

We look forward to seeing you soon!

This week’s harvest includes…
Arugula, Carrots, Kale, Microgreens, Parsley, Lettuce, Spinach, Turnips…plus our Breads that we bake Saturday morning…this week’s varieties are Seed Loaf, Herb (Rosemary and Thyme), Raisin & Cinnamon, Whole Rye, and Baguettes.

We have these delicious vegetables in our FarmStand at our farm, open and self-serve from 9a-6p (or dusk…whichever is earlier). Plus, we’ll bring these items on Saturday to the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s – which is INSIDE from 9-12.
Keep an eye on what we have available via Richmond’s only online farmers’ market: FallLineFarms.com.

We’ll see you at the farm and at St. Stephen’s this weekend~

Enjoy ~

Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
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