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.
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