​The Jackson County Conservation District has a newsletter. In it I learned about the new financial assistance program for creating monarch habitat, the annual tree sale coming up (with some amazing prices!) and the winter Stonefly hunt! How cool is it that we live in a place where people in my county are wading out into the waters counting winter loving insects in February!? 
But what about the insects who, unlike the humans on a foray, are living the cold all the time? How do they do it? I am not going to pretend to understand all the details but from my bouncing internet searches, I can tell you that the stonefly uses two strategies. It avoids the coldest of the cold temperatures by living in their larval state in the stream, insulated by ice on the waters surface. Additionally, they produce an antifreeze like substance that allows the water in their bodies to drop well below freezing temperatures without freezing. If you are interested in knowing more check out this article on Winter Stoneflies or go to the Jackson Conservation Districts Stonefly count on February 3rd (RSVP here) or check out this article written by the engaging scientist and ecology writer Holly Menninger.

In good news, daylight hours are increasing. All the more day to enjoy!

See ya at market!

P.S. To all of our CSA customers: please be aware that we are unable to update your balance in the email at the moment. Sorry for the inconvenience! As soon as we finish creating our spreadsheets for the 2018 season, balances will once again be up to date in the weekly email. Thanks for bearing with us! If you need your  current balance, please email us and we'll tally it up for you!
 
All the best!
Helen, Jim, Exie the dog, and the Lake Divide Farm Crew!
Vegetables!
Cabbage: Green, red, round, crinkly, smooth, ALL DELICIOUS! Check out our pseudo-brussels-cabbage too!
Carrots: Orange, White, Yellow, and some sneaky purples
Garlic
Kohlrabi: Beastly beauties. I have been cubing and roasting them and can't get enough. I don't even peel the little ones!
Potatoes: White, red skinned, and fingerlings!
Radishes: Loose daikon, green meat (sweet daikon), black, watermelon
Rutabaga
Winter squash: Long pie, spaghetti, butternut
Turnips- Purple Top and a sweet white ruta-turnip


*We send this email out before harvest, and although we do our very best to make accurate predictions, crops and quantities found at market may vary. 
Markets, always rain or shine!
(we begin attending on dates listed above)

Saturday: Ann Arbor and Chelsea 
The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI. The market runs from May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm and January thru April from 8 am to 3 pm.

The Chelsea Farmers' Market is in the cafeteria of the Washington Street Education Center at 500 Washington Street in Chelsea, It runs November through March from 9 am to 1 pm.
We are currently revamping our spreadsheets. Updated balances will be in the next email. If you need your balance, don't hesitate to email. 

It is going to be downright balmy tomorrow and it looks like the trend with last. The release of the icy death grip on our young farm means opportunity! An interesting, new to us but long heralded technique that we are trying out this year is frost seeding. Seed is spread in the morning when the ground is hard and frozen. The rise and fall of the sun thaws and freezes the ground. This cycle along with additional snowfall works the seed into the ground. Frost seeding depends on the expansion and contraction of clay in the soil to suck the seed down into the cracks. The tiny size of red clover seed, among other things, makes it an exceptional choice for its ability to work its way into the soil. 

We are also rounding the bend on our seed order. We have inventoried the seeds remaining, are pushing through the crop review, and heading towards the nuts and bolts of populating our order spreadsheet. In my first few years farming, everything was a question. I didn't have any tried and true varieties that pulled through no matter how much I put them through. Selecting our seeds was like walking into a room full of strangers (granted well researched strangers but...) Now, like old buddies that tolerate some of my more reprehensible character traits, these seeds are by my side: Carmen the most delicious red frying pepper; Long Pie the fantastic pumpkin; Silver Slicer the crisp hydrating cucumber; Detroit Dark Red the sweet sweet heirloom beet. More of them. And they are in my head! I know their names. Now the strangers I bring in are easy to see. Easier to understand in the context of familiarity. 

In the meantime, there are lots of delicious winter vegetable to eat. Jim and I have been enjoying a simple but hearty vegetable stew. The vegetable are sauteed with a little wine, then cooked down with some broth and flour. I think I will try this one next. Usually, I substitute in vegetables I have when items from the list are absent. 

I have also discovered that the loose cabbage compare to brussels sprouts only gigantic and delicious! I cut them in half, put a touch of oil on the cut surface to allow it to sink in, season with salt and pepper and roast. In the last few minutes, I flip 'em to crisp the outer leave. 

I am excited to find the crops we will trial. I am excited to succeed where we have failed. Not so excited to fail where we have succeeded but undoubtedly that will happen. Oh farming. 

Can't wait to see you at market and enjoy the sunshine. 
​
All the best!
Helen, Jim, Exie the dog, and the Lake Divide Farm Crew!

​Happy New Year! 

First things first, because of the very cold temperatures, we will not be at the Ann Arbor market this Saturday. Never fear, you can still find our delicious winter bounty in Chelsea.Come Sunday, this cold streak is going to abate momentarily, likely leading us back to the outdoor market in Ann Arbor.

CSA members that order for pickup in Stockbridge, be on the lookout for the order form!

The cold is an interesting experience on the farm. I am happy to see that our big walk-in cooler is able to maintain temperatures in the safe zone. The fingertips of freeze are creeping in next to the door and along the wall but the bulk of the space is holding well. The greens in the hoop house are at a complete standstill. I think they are going to survive, but the plants are still small and are growing at a snails pace both because of light restrictions and because of the deep cold. I can't be sure when they will offer us some edible leaves. Washing vegetables for market happens outside. This means rolling out the hose, waterproofing myself, and working quickly to keep everything from being seized by ice. It is working okay but I think an indoor wash station may be in our hopefully not to distant future.

I have to remind myself that even though the idea of the world out there is cold, to bundle up and get out there. To look around and see what the amazing wild things are doing. The snow hushes the visual noise of the world and showcases select items. The birds are eating weed seeds (thank you!) and others seeds. The grasses are leaning over and tracing semicircles in the snow. The old bird nests are snow capped and obvious. 

Just before this cold came in, Jim and I hustled to finish the hoop house. The project was completed Tuesday the 26th, on the first of the most frigid days, and by Thursday, it was inspected and given the nod by our NRCS agent Jeff. We were relieved both because we were no longer working outside when the brrrrr hit and because we met our end of year deadline. Hoop houses are great for winter growing, true, but they are also great for getting early crops, keeping crops healthy by preventing exposure, and growing heat loving crops. Since the new hoop house is gigantic and we have an existing one of the same size plus two pint-sized ones, next year I won't have to choose between growing tomatoes or cucurbits in the hoop. We have enough space we can do both. We are going to grow so much food in there! And hoop city is looking like a real metropolis.

With the completion of this whale of hoop we have reached a clearing in the frenzied activity of growing a farm business. It took a solid three day count before I felt the relief rising from the projects completion. We have officially been in Michigan for a year and have been on the move nonstop for the last two. For now, there are no big construction projects on the horizon, no big moves, not even any crazy new purchases, nothing new except a fresh season. Thanks to the lull in all things farm expansion, I feel like I can look at our upcoming season with focus and intention. It feels great. 

Jim and I have been using the deep freeze to squirrel deep into planning. We are reviewing growing systems and coming up with plans to do better by our land and the creatures that live here, ourselves included. We are also attempting to put systems in place to promote healthy habits when the growing season is full tilt. More will be revealed when some clarified details manifest. Until then, I am incredibly grateful for the slowed pace, the opportunity to take stock.

​Vegetables!
Kale?
Cabbage: Green, red, pointy, round, crinkly, smooth, ALL DELICIOUS!
Carrots: Orange, White, Yellow, and some sneaky purples
Garlic
Kohlrabi: Beastly beauties. I have been cubing and roasting them and can't get enough. I don't even peel the little ones!
Potatoes: White, red skinned, and fingerlings!
Radishes: Loose daikon, green meat (sweet daikon), black, watermelon
Rutabaga
Winter squash: Long pie, spaghetti, butternut
Turnips- Purple Top, golden globe, and a sweet white ruta-turnip


*We send this email out before harvest, and although we do our very best to make accurate predictions, crops and quantities found at market may vary. 
All the best!
Helen, Jim, Exie the dog, and the Lake Divide Farm Crew!
Markets, always rain or shine!
(we begin attending on dates listed above)

Saturday: Ann Arbor and Chelsea 
The Ann Arbor Market is located in the Kerrytown District at 315 Detroit St, Ann Arbor, MI. The market runs from May thru December, 7 am to 3 pm and January thru April from 8 am to 3 pm.

The Chelsea Farmers' Market is in the cafeteria of the Washington Street Education Center at 500 Washington Street in Chelsea, It runs November through March from 9 am to 1 pm.