Snow creates an extraterrestrial scene! I love looking at the different ways it lays and collects and imagining it at different scales and perspectives.
The vegetable beds are blanketed with snow for now, resting until spring. We have switched to a permanent raised bed system. It has benefits, for instance reduced compaction and less soil disturbance where our plants grow. It also has its challenges. We are just beginning to have a grasp on weed management and the tools that will make that possible in a system like this.
I was looking for one of my favorite snow signs: bird tracks below standing seed heads. Often below plant scaffolds of summer's past, you can find bird foot prints and scratches along with split seed hulls and plant debris. I didn't find what I was looking for on my time budget, but I did find this aster print in the snow! Snow is so special. I feel like I say it every year. But I just love how it lays bare some many features and habits that are invisible (to someone like me) for much of the year.
Our little dog Boomer leading the charge up the snowy road.
Well, it was very cold. And it will be again. Our greenhouse in a greenhouse couldn't keep the temperatures up and our plants froze. This isn't the worst news. The plants survived except some of the sunflower shoots couldn't take the cold. I am always impressed with the adaptability of these life forms. They are able to freeze solid and live to tell the tale! If only I could be so flexible.
Ahoy!
Happy Groundhog's Day! I don't think any groundhogs came out to check yesterday, although it was actually the warmest day of the week.
Most of the story is in the pictures, all tales of snow and freezing temperatures, hopes and dreams.
The quick version of the farm? We are moving winter projects forward and getting ready to start seeds for the main season. Our soil test came back and we are working on a functional plan to improve soil health. More applications are coming in, which is giving me hope that we will be able to accomplish what we hope. The little plants we are growing for our dangerously early planting in mid February are determined! The spinach and kale are looking best of the bunch, go figure.
It is cold, cold, cold, but all the animals are still out there. Many mammals snoozing away the less hospitable days. But the birds, man, they really ride out the exposure. Bare feet in the snow, what an adaptation. While I was thawing the hydrant to water the greenhouse earlier in the week, a flock of bluebirds surrounded me momentarily. The crows are looking fluffy and a coopers hawk swept past my window. The sparrows are still using the little nest they built above our kitchen window. My little bird is babbling and running in circles laughing, obsessed with cats and cars, and giving our dogs "gentle pats."
Tyler will be at Eastern Market and and Peter, Lisa, and I will be at Royal Oak tomorrow, so come out and get some vegetables and enjoy some chit chat and community.
Cheers,
Helen
I will leave these lean times support suggestions here...
Ways to support us through these lean times?
In this email:
Fresh From the Field-
Greens:
Microgreens: Various.
Sunflower shoots! The first batch finally made its way through the greenhouse! They are soooooo delicious!
All Manner of Deliciousness
Apples (Michigan grown, certified organic, only at Eastern)
Cabbage: Savoy Leaf Cabbage, Classic, and Red
Garlic (certified organic from Cinzori!)
Napa Cabbage- baby and delectable
Kohlrabi
Onions: Yellow Cinzori's (certified organic!)
Potatoes: Red and white
Daikon (Purple, Red (from Tantre) and White)
Watermelon radishes- From Tantre (grown with practices we trust but not certified organic)
Rutabaga
Purple top turnips
Coming soon:
Pea Shoots
Recipe: Sunflower Shoot Salad
From West Coast Seeds
Sprout some sun with this Sunflower Sprout Salad recipe. This salad combines stored root vegetables with fresh and delicious microgreens.
• 375 mL (1 1/2 cups) of sunflower shoots
• 62 mL (1/4 cup) pistachios
• 250 mL (1 cup) grated carrot
• 30 mL (1/8 cup) red onion (or yellow)
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) chevre
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) avocado
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Sea salt to taste
When your first step in a recipe is growing the ingredients, you know that you’re working with fresh, local food. At least a week before you want to create your salad, plant your sunflower seeds in a high quality potting soil under indoor lights. When the two seed leaves push up and out of the soil and you can see a long sprout below, they’re ready to eat. Harvest them using scissors, and wash them carefully. Sunflower seed microgreens taste nutty, and they’re full of protein – the perfect choice for a savory salad.
Chop the red onions very fine, and grate the carrots. Toss, and add pistachios and crumbled chevre. If you’d prefer a milder salad, omit the onions and add more chevre for its tart taste.
To create the dressing, blend half an avocado with a tablespoon of lemon juice, and add sea salt to taste. This salad is best eaten very fresh, so add the dressing and toss the salad immediately before you eat. It serves two as a side salad, or it can be lunch for one.
Market Details: We are at market this week
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market- Back in May
Eastern Market, Shed 3, stalls 367 and 369 (on the right when you enter shed 3 Russell St.), Saturday with Tyler! 6 am to 2:30 pm
Royal Oak, Saturday with Helen, Peter, and Lisa! 7 am to 1 pm
Happy Groundhog's Day! I don't think any groundhogs came out to check yesterday, although it was actually the warmest day of the week.
Most of the story is in the pictures, all tales of snow and freezing temperatures, hopes and dreams.
The quick version of the farm? We are moving winter projects forward and getting ready to start seeds for the main season. Our soil test came back and we are working on a functional plan to improve soil health. More applications are coming in, which is giving me hope that we will be able to accomplish what we hope. The little plants we are growing for our dangerously early planting in mid February are determined! The spinach and kale are looking best of the bunch, go figure.
It is cold, cold, cold, but all the animals are still out there. Many mammals snoozing away the less hospitable days. But the birds, man, they really ride out the exposure. Bare feet in the snow, what an adaptation. While I was thawing the hydrant to water the greenhouse earlier in the week, a flock of bluebirds surrounded me momentarily. The crows are looking fluffy and a coopers hawk swept past my window. The sparrows are still using the little nest they built above our kitchen window. My little bird is babbling and running in circles laughing, obsessed with cats and cars, and giving our dogs "gentle pats."
Tyler will be at Eastern Market and and Peter, Lisa, and I will be at Royal Oak tomorrow, so come out and get some vegetables and enjoy some chit chat and community.
Cheers,
Helen
I will leave these lean times support suggestions here...
Ways to support us through these lean times?
- Become a farm member through our CSA!
- Here is a link to information about it.
- Here is a link to the sign up sheet
- You balance will stay on the books until the end of the 2023 season.
- Come buy our vegetables at market! Make going to the farmers' market part of your weekly routine. We love to see you and we love our vegetables being part of your meals.
- Invite your friends to come to market with you or introduce them to our vegetables!
- Share our hiring ad! If you know someone that is a farmer or is considering farming, send them our way!
- Here is a link to our hiring page.
In this email:
- Winter market schedule:
- As of now we are planning on attending Eastern and Royal Oak every week. If anything changes, we will note it here.
- Generally important notes
- We are inside at Eastern Market, in Shed 3, stalls 367 and 369. You can find us on the left if you enter Shed 3 from Russell st.
- Farm Members! Accepting sign-ups for the 2023 Season. Please ask for a sign-up sheet at market or print one (here) and bring it!
- Here is link to our Social Justice page on our website. It is a list of resources to keep active in effecting positive social change.
- Fresh from the Field
- Recipe: Sunflower Shoot Salad!
- Market Details: Royal Oak and Eastern (shed 3, 367 and 369)!
Fresh From the Field-
Greens:
Microgreens: Various.
Sunflower shoots! The first batch finally made its way through the greenhouse! They are soooooo delicious!
All Manner of Deliciousness
Apples (Michigan grown, certified organic, only at Eastern)
Cabbage: Savoy Leaf Cabbage, Classic, and Red
Garlic (certified organic from Cinzori!)
Napa Cabbage- baby and delectable
Kohlrabi
Onions: Yellow Cinzori's (certified organic!)
Potatoes: Red and white
Daikon (Purple, Red (from Tantre) and White)
Watermelon radishes- From Tantre (grown with practices we trust but not certified organic)
Rutabaga
Purple top turnips
Coming soon:
Pea Shoots
Recipe: Sunflower Shoot Salad
From West Coast Seeds
Sprout some sun with this Sunflower Sprout Salad recipe. This salad combines stored root vegetables with fresh and delicious microgreens.
• 375 mL (1 1/2 cups) of sunflower shoots
• 62 mL (1/4 cup) pistachios
• 250 mL (1 cup) grated carrot
• 30 mL (1/8 cup) red onion (or yellow)
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) chevre
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) avocado
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Sea salt to taste
When your first step in a recipe is growing the ingredients, you know that you’re working with fresh, local food. At least a week before you want to create your salad, plant your sunflower seeds in a high quality potting soil under indoor lights. When the two seed leaves push up and out of the soil and you can see a long sprout below, they’re ready to eat. Harvest them using scissors, and wash them carefully. Sunflower seed microgreens taste nutty, and they’re full of protein – the perfect choice for a savory salad.
Chop the red onions very fine, and grate the carrots. Toss, and add pistachios and crumbled chevre. If you’d prefer a milder salad, omit the onions and add more chevre for its tart taste.
To create the dressing, blend half an avocado with a tablespoon of lemon juice, and add sea salt to taste. This salad is best eaten very fresh, so add the dressing and toss the salad immediately before you eat. It serves two as a side salad, or it can be lunch for one.
Market Details: We are at market this week
The Ann Arbor Farmers Market- Back in May
Eastern Market, Shed 3, stalls 367 and 369 (on the right when you enter shed 3 Russell St.), Saturday with Tyler! 6 am to 2:30 pm
Royal Oak, Saturday with Helen, Peter, and Lisa! 7 am to 1 pm
It seemed like a long time between light, but the sun eventually peaked out from behind the trees and thawed out the greenhouse. Heck, it heated it up to pool party temperatures! And the plants took that swing in stride.
Oh corn shoots, you strange, spindly delicacies. Here they are in their warm usually dark space, just doing their thing.
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