Another Spring Update

Happy Spring morning!
I thought I would take a minute or two to update you all again with another blog post. Why not start off where everything starts for us - compost. We feed the soil, not the plants. Soil is our most valuable asset on the farm. It provides the basis for everything. In order for soil to grow and flourish, it needs the same things we need to grow and flourish. Air, water, food and love. This time of year, our compost shovel stays quite busy as we prep beds en masse and feed our soil.
A sure sign of Spring (there are many on the farm) is the garlic shooting up through the winter mulch. This is also a sign that it's time to put on another layer of mulch and hopefully really set back the weeds. The garlic was planted in the fall (as you can see from the sign) and establishes roots and a small shoot. Then, after being dormant all winter it begins to extend the shoot up through layers of mulch in the spring when the sun is higher and the temperature rises.

Indy and Scarlet are relaxing here while I take a photo. Scarlet is due to have her piglets at any moment now. This was a couple of weeks ago. The grass has greened up nicely now and the piglets will be born in early May on pasture. A fine way to come into the world!

And here is the beginning of a pile of culmination of winter's work. The sawyer has arrived at the farm and set-up his mill. He's begun milling out the logs I yarded out into the lumber I've requested. We hire in a local sawyer with a portable mill whenever we have building projects and require lumber. As much as possible comes from here on the farm to increase the possibility of our closed-loop farming concept.

Here is Nevin now hard at work. Luckily, it's warmer now when he comes by to work at the pile a little bit each weekend.

Before we know it, fall will be here and I hope to be working on our new passive solar seedling/winter greenhouse with straw bale insulation and thermal mass with solar powered radiant heating. Till then, we'll be busy on the farm producing local, beyond organic, real food for our friends, members and community.