Spring Updates

Order vegetables, breads, flowers, and more for pick up this Saturday, May 8

 

It’s been an eventful Spring. See below for an overdue update that has taken time to get together. To skip straight to ordering for pick up this Saturday, see our digital “Harvie” FarmStand found here. We’ve got an abundance of spring vegetables for you, plus our usual wild-yeasted Breads and the first of our spring flowers. The butter-on-the-radish (get it? instead of icing-on-the-cake!) is that we also have Herbal Gift sets and Fermented vegetables available from our friends at Gathered Threads Farm in Nelson County, plus Eggs from our friend Steve Ault in Pamplin & Deer Run Farm of Amelia. This means you can round out your nutrient-packed, delicious meal planning with our vegetables, plus pick up some gift-worthy goodness (or just pamper yourself).  Ordering closes Friday morning at 6:00. We pick and pack for you Friday. You pick up your order on Saturday! Enjoy your options!

Spring farm updates: We are celebrating what seems to be the end of a 7 weeks-long injury for Dan. He finally feels back to normal (thanks to acupuncture, massage therapy, physical therapy, herbal and western medicine, stretching, exercises, acupressure, plus time??) after a debilitating and exhausting bout with excruciating back/hip pain. We’re not certain of the cause and were glad when he finally felt reassured that it wasn’t a bulging disc. Thank you to all of you who reached out with care and concern. Our farm crew definitely picked up extra slack while Dan wasn’t able to work like usual (and worse of all was that he couldn’t sleep for hardly any consecutive hours for a few weeks). We truly have the best farm crew in the world. We knew that before having to ask them to adapt to an unexpected injury, but they really showed their stuff when it was most needed. We are so grateful and fortunate!

We are still going strong with our self-serve FarmStand at our farm, our booth at the Farmers’ Market @ St. Stephens every Saturday (see photo above!), and our virtual booth on the online farmers’ market Fall Line Farms/Local Roots Co-op. Visit us at one or all three this season. We love growing food for you!

Farm Event Update:

With vaccinations on the rise, better understanding of how Covid-19 spreads, and plenty of masks to wear, we are excited to host our first event on the farm in over a year! We have three fantastic instructors who want to guide you through your choice of rustic crafts. May 21-23, choose between leather, wood, or wool for one of various projects: Wooden bowl, carved knife handle, leather bag, hat, or vest, felted wool object, carved bone or antler jewelry…

Full details about the workshop are found on the Facebook event here. See sample photos below and many more on the event page. Registration link is also found on the event page. We hope you join us!

On the farming front, we continue to see more and more evidence that the weather here is getting warmer and wetter and more prone to extreme events. This is pushing us to ensure our systems (soil management, drainage management, irrigation management, etc.) are set up to be more resilient than we previously thought necessary, and to anticipate more needed changes in the future. We continue to monitor weather patterns, climate data and trends, scientific reports, research about agricultural methods that pertains to our region and crops, and advocate for fair and progressive policy supporting organic, regenerative agriculture. Humans will always need to eat, and we’re committed to continuing to be part of a regenerative option from which our community may choose their vegetables. See here for information about the Agricultural Resilience Act from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, with whom we recently partnered to inform and advocate to members of Congress about this important bill. 

Unfortunately also related to politics, but also so much else in our culture, gun violence took one of our farming community’s own this spring. Lucia Bremer, beloved child of our Liberty Tree Farm friends, Jon & Meredith, was tragically shot and killed by a 14 year old on March 26. All that can be done right now is to mourn the loss of her, celebrate her life, contribute to the scholarship fund in her name, support her family’s farm, and wait for the facts and the family’s guidance on how to best prevent this senseless loss of life in the future. 

So, here we are on the brink of the busy flurry of our 11th season. We are surrounded by amazing people, healthy soil, nourishing food, humbling reminders of the aging process, and the maddening heartbreak of the senseless loss of sweet Lucia. We never know what life has in store. Thank you for being here with us on the journey. 

Hug your loved ones tightly, and pour blessings on your meals, 
– Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Karen, Rachel, Courtney, Maya, Nick, Parker, and the farm kids)
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