Transplants on the Buying Club!

Greeting from a windy Dancing Hen Farm!

 Ordering is open for this weekend's buying club deliveries.  This our final buying club before Memorial Day; as we will not be delivering Memorial Day weekend.  This is also most likely our final buying club before our CSA starts up. The items to look for on this week's buying club include transplants.  Farmers Neil and Krislyn at Seedling Creek, have worked hard to produce some beautiful, healthy transplants; tomatoes, peppers and flowers.  These are large, healthy plants and are ready to help you get your garden growing.  Kale, braising mix, spinach and beet greens are ready to help you reach your healthy, local, eating goals!  So happy ordering!  Farmers Don and Phil are eager to see everyone on Saturday.

 We have really had a nice run of beautiful weather.  Warm sunshine and little rain.  To the point where a day of slow, steady, rain would be a welcome site.  We are actually quite dry here on farm.  We are lucky to have irrigation on farm, but most crops really need a nice soaking rain to get them established.  We did not get the promised rains over the weekend or on Monday.  We have had some showers, but not nearly enough moisture.  They are saying there is a possibility of showers tonight, we will see if we get any.

 So this newsletter was going to be about insects, specifically, the hated flea beetles destroying our arugula.  But, Dilly steals the show again. 

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch doing some computer updates, ok fine, I was actually taking a little nap!  When Dilly about scared me to death.  Suddenly she left out a howling bark like I have never heard from her before.  She was not happy about something or someone.  Dilly had been napping on the porch in the sun, one of her favorite activities.  I waited a bit to get up, because sometimes when I get up to see what she is barking at, my actions act like a release, and Dilly goes after whatever she is upset about.  So, I sat on the couch for a few more minutes and listened her run back and forth on the back porch making a huge racket.  Then I saw a large white blur go by the front window.  A huge dog!  Afraid someone was walking the dog and Dilly was about to bite them, I got up and looked out the window.  At that moment 2 huge dogs, the white one and an even larger black one went strolling by the window and started up onto the back porch.  This made Dilly really go ballistic.  Every hair on her back was standing up and she was crouching low to the ground as she lunged at the two stray dogs.  She proceeded to chase them back onto the road!  Of course, my dog Mommy instinct kicked in and I rushed out onto the porch just as Dilly was making her way back.  She was still really upset, barking and running from side to side on the porch looking around the house for the dogs.  I started screaming for her and did manage to get her into the house.  Dill was not happy to be in the house when she still had two villains to run off.  Eventually Dilly calmed down and I called my sister to come and check our chickens for me (Thanks Sis).  Luckily the dogs did not seem to have chicken on their minds and I was told another neighbor had the stray dogs and was going to post their information on facebook.  It seems the owners have already been found!  And other than being a bit tired, Dilly is no worse for the wear.  Another Dilly adventure and luckily another real disaster avoided.

Our kitchen has not been real exciting recently.  We are still enjoying spring greens and still eating out of our stored food from last season.  And of course, we are eating a lot of leftovers.  With only two in our family, we seem to have so many leftovers!  Leftovers are nice this time of year, when Farmer Don is so busy in the fields.  It allows for us to get supper together quickly, without a huge amount of pressure for him to be inside to eat at a certain time.  Life is good here and anytime we can make things run more smoothly is great.

Despite the fickle spring weather, we are still scheduled to start CSA deliveries the second week of June. And that day is almost here!  We do still have a few memberships available.  Please remember, unless you have contacted us, we do need to have your payment in full before the start of the season.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 And don't forget about buying club this weekend.  This is your chance to get a jumpstart on your own garden with some transplants or to enjoy the taste of spring with some tender spring greens.  Again, if you have questions, please, do not hesitate to contact us.

Thanks again for your continued support and for allowing us to grow and produce food for you and your family.  We are humbled to have such a loyal group of supporters!

Believe it or not it is looking a bit like rain!  I need to wrap this up and get my laundry off the line before it gets a second rinse.

be well, my friends

Buying Club 5/14 and Farm New

 Greetings from a sunny and warm Dancing Hen Farm! 

The buying club is now open.  You have until Thursday at 5 pm to place an order for Saturday pick up.  Once again Seedling Creek (Farmers Neil and Krislyn) have beautiful greens and transplants available.  New this week are tender nutritious beet greens.  They have also added pepper plants and some more flowers to their transplant availability.   New this week are Black Krim Tomato plants.  Black Krims are one of my favorite tomatoes, ripening to a beautiful dark maroon and oh so flavorful! 

After last weekend's heavy rains, it is so nice to finally have a stretch of sunny weather.  And the weeds are growing like crazy!  But, our crops are also starting to grow.  The peas are looking good and we are starting to see some germination in our other direct seeded crops.  This time of year, the seed house is a flurry of activity as we scramble to get our summer crops seeded for transplant into our fields, once the danger of frost is truly behind us.  Our laying hens are looking good.  The pullets have begun to lay, so we should have eggs for the CSA and for the Back Mountain Farm Market.  The first batch of meat birds are looking healthy; outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh grass.  And so far Dilly has not been harassing them too much.  She did dig under their pen the first day they were on grass, allowing 3 birds to free range, but thankfully she seems to have lost interest. 

However poor Dilly's adventures continue.  I always called Rosie "Calamity Rose", but I am starting to think Rosie's calamities were nothing compared to Dilly's.  Dilly is barely 2 and already has a large list of adventures, she is a true Calamity Dilly!   If any of you follow Farmer Don on Instagram, you already know that Dilly had yet another run in with a porcupine!  Yes, you read that right "another run in with a porcupine".  This was her second adventure with a porcupine in her 2 years of life!  The other night I was making dinner and was beginning to worry a bit.  Farmer Don and Dilly were not in from doing chores yet.  Just as I was about to head out on our back porch and ring the bell, Famer Don appeared at the back door and told me he would be eating dinner late.  Dilly had tangled with a porcupine and had quills stuck in her snout.  Ouch, poor Dilly! Farmer Don got busy collecting the tools for quill removal, securing Dilly in the workshop, and got to work.  Dilly screamed, literally screamed, but he was able to get all the quills but one.  She was losing her patience and getting a bit grouchy and snappy.  Farmer Don decided both Dilly and he needed a break.  He got Dilly comfortable on her bed and grabbed a beer for himself.  I am happy to say the final quill has been removed and we are declaring Dilly quill free once again.  Of course, less than 24 hours after meeting the porcupine, she was across the road barking wildly at something.  Lucky for her and us, she did not find the porcupine or skunk again.  Stay tuned for more updates on the "Adventures of Dilly".  I have a feeling as the summer moves along there will be many more Dilly stories to tell.  Let's hope for her sake, happier and less painful stories!\ 

Like the weather, our kitchen is starting to transition from winter to spring.  It is so nice to have some early spring greens to be cooking with and eating right now.  On Monday, I made a cream sauce featuring spinach, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes.  I ended up putting it in a casserole to finish, as Farmer Don and Dilly had their date with the porcupine quills!  We are also trying to use up preserved food stores before the fresh veggies start to be harvested.  So, tonight we are having a Pennsylvania Dutch favorite, ham and green beans.  A easy meal to make and tasty to eat.  I like to add a bit of apple cider vinegar to my ham and green beans.  One of the remaining days this week we will have leftovers and I am thinking a Dancing Hen Farm standard of sausage, kale and roasted potatoes another day.  This is a nice meal, as we often have just enough leftovers to add to eggs either for a hearty breakfast or an easy supper.  I do love to cook and one of my goals right now is to move back into the kitchen!  I will keep you posted on how this goes.  

Our CSA is scheduled to start in June and we do have a few spots available.  We are excited for this season.  Excited to be partnering with Neil and Krislyn up at Seedling Creek.  We are already seeing the beautiful vegetables and transplants they can grow!  Krislyn will also be helping out here on farm, nice to have some new younger energy on farm.                                

So, I really need to wrap up this newsletter.  It is after 2 and want to get a few things done before I get started on supper.  So in Farmer Don's words:  be safe, be well and enjoy those veggies.  Don't forget buying club.  Greens are looking beautiful and I can attest to the fact that it really feels nice to again be eating locally.

News and Buying Club Open May 7

Greetings from sunny and warmer Dancing Hen Farm!

Buying Club ordering is now open for deliveries this Mother's Day weekend.  In celebration of Mother's Day we will be offering one dollar off all orders for this week's (May 7) delivery only.  Note, the discount will not be reflected on our website, but you will be charged one dollar less when you pick up.  Our buying club availability is growing thanks to Farmers Neil and Krislyn.  This week we have added tomato and flower transplants to our list.  New also have beautiful and tasty baby bok choy and braising greens to order.  Remember all items are on a first serve, first come basis, so be sure to order early.

We are getting busy on farm!  The seed house is filling up quickly and we have started to direct seed some hardy spring crops.  Our peas are finally germinating.  The recent cool temperatures have kept the soil temperatures down, which had kept our peas from germinating.  Lettuce, arugula, radishes and spinach should not far behind, these should be ready for harvest for our first CSA delivery.  Farmer Don has also been busy taking care of our soil.  In years past we have used our small truck to haul multiple loads of compost to spread on our fields.  This year we had a large amount of compost delivered to the farm.  This has been a huge time saver for Farmer Don, as now he simply has to go to the barn for compost as opposed to driving 10 or 20 miles down the road, sometimes multiple times in one day.  Taking care of the soil is so important on the farm and using compost is one of our main ways doing this.  Compost adds organic matter, tilth and fertility to our soils and keeps them balanced so we can continue to grow nutrient dense vegetables.

As I have mentioned in another newsletter, this year we are welcoming Farmer Neil back to Dancing Hen Farm.  Early this spring, Neil contacted us about getting he and his family involved with the farm again.  Neil worked for us for a number of years in the past and recently he and his partner Krislyn have been busy raising a family and turning their small property into a thriving homestead, Seedling Creek.  Farmer Neil and Krislyn have taken what Neil learned from Farmer Don to a whole new level of intensive vegetable production.  This season they will be growing for us on their property, as well as, helping us here on farm.  The energy and new ideas this young family is bringing to Dancing Hen Farm is perfect for the farm right now.  So, stay tuned as we keep you updated not just on the happenings at Dancing Hen Farm, buy also at Seedling Creek.

Dilly is sitting here next to me on the couch, as if to say "Mom, you are going to mention me in the newsletter, aren't you?".  So yes, Dilly you will get your paragraph! 

I think our other two dogs spoiled me.  Neither really liked the water.  They did not play in puddles, play with the hose or wade very deeply into the pond.  This is not true of Darling Dilly.  She tromps right through the puddles and loves to sprayed by and play in the stream from the hose.  This means she is often wet and well, wet dogs smell, but Dilly really smells!  Early this spring, actually probably late winter, Dilly had a conversation with the wrong end of a skunk.  Yep, you guessed it.  She was a stinky mess!  Farmer Don doused her in Skunk Off and diligently tried to rid her of this new perfume.  Unfortunately, as is often the case with skunk, the smell still lingers.  And the smell is really apparent when she is wet!  There have been a few nights when she has come in from doing chores with Farmer Don that I have been convinced she was sprayed again.  I have even gone as far as to chase her outside and told Don she has been sprayed again, only to realize she is really just wet.  So, I allowed her back in the house, but tried to keep her off my lap!!  As a warning, if you come visit the farm you will most likely be greeted by Dilly, a very stinky Dilly.  I am convinced she will smell like skunk for the rest of her life.  I am thinking we may need to change her name!

We do still have some memberships available for our summer CSA.  Visit our website or contact the farm for additional information.  It is hard to believe this will be our CSA's 15th year of existence! 

I think I will end this here.  Newsletters seem to take me all day to write!  And true to form, just as I started writing, my washer stop and I took a break to hang a load of laundry on the line.  Hard for me to believe that now that laundry is dry!  Yes, it is time for me to say done, wrap this up and bring my wash in.

So, following in Farmer Don's lead of this being a year dedicated the support we get from you, our community.  Thank you for your support, you make it possible to farm this stony hillside and hopefully leave this section of the earth a healthy place for the next generation.