The past few weeks have been very busy and productive here at the farm. The ground finally warmed and dried up enough to get out and turn some soil, and make beds. We have some beds of kale planted in the field, in addition to the beds in the high tunnel. Field plantings are covered for protection from flea beetles, woodchucks and the cold. Thankfully- so far I haven't seen any of the dreaded flea beetles, who's early season appetites can devastate early plantings of brassicas, including kale, broccoli, turnips, radishes, and ANOTHER species of them love tomatoes and eggplant. We have seen the woodchuck though. The consensus from many other farmers has been hopeful the winter was harsh and long and cold enough that we won't see the pest levels of the past few years of mild winters. However, the long term forecast looks like May will be pretty cool as well, and this season has put many farmers I've spoken with a bit behind, not being able to get out into the fields has been a challenge to many, so we count our blessings that we were able to take advantage of a few days nice weather to be able to get out there both on the leased land at Grindstone and here, as well as our high tunnel space.
We have confirmed one market so far, the Saturday CNY Regional Market; we'll be under the overhang outside Shed E on the North side. If you are signed up to pick up at the Watertown Market you will be picking at Grindstone Farm's booth, and we are still waiting to find out if we have a space in Oswego. If we don't get a space there, you will be able to pick up CSA shares from Grindstone there as well. We have an application as well for the new Downtown Syracuse market in Franklin Square on Mondays and are on the fence about the Rome market.
A reminder that the next CSA-CNY planning group meeting will be May 7th at 7 p.m. at the Friends Meeting House on Euclid Ave in Syracuse. All members are invited to attend to share ideas, or offer a hand. I encourage POD leaders especially to attend. Meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month.
Along with the kale, we have peas, radishes, swiss chard, spinach, red mustard greens, and braising mix going in the field, and will be transplanting lettuce and collards this week. I hope to get some pictures added to the site soon of the plantings! We also have worked on seeding or transplanting the following: basil, tomatoes, leeks, brussels sprouts, pac choi, weekly lettuce plantings, broccoli, peppers, eggplant, nappa cabbage and more! Next week we will be starting on cucumbers, squashes, and melons.
We have confirmed one market so far, the Saturday CNY Regional Market; we'll be under the overhang outside Shed E on the North side. If you are signed up to pick up at the Watertown Market you will be picking at Grindstone Farm's booth, and we are still waiting to find out if we have a space in Oswego. If we don't get a space there, you will be able to pick up CSA shares from Grindstone there as well. We have an application as well for the new Downtown Syracuse market in Franklin Square on Mondays and are on the fence about the Rome market.
A reminder that the next CSA-CNY planning group meeting will be May 7th at 7 p.m. at the Friends Meeting House on Euclid Ave in Syracuse. All members are invited to attend to share ideas, or offer a hand. I encourage POD leaders especially to attend. Meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month.
Along with the kale, we have peas, radishes, swiss chard, spinach, red mustard greens, and braising mix going in the field, and will be transplanting lettuce and collards this week. I hope to get some pictures added to the site soon of the plantings! We also have worked on seeding or transplanting the following: basil, tomatoes, leeks, brussels sprouts, pac choi, weekly lettuce plantings, broccoli, peppers, eggplant, nappa cabbage and more! Next week we will be starting on cucumbers, squashes, and melons.
Travis got some new "toys" last weekend as well. Tractor attachments that will make our job easier, include a multivator; which is essentially a multi bed cultivator/ rototiller tool. This goes along with the other tool, a bed shaper, which does just what it says, and can be used in no/low till systems. (We also like the fact that a raised bed is less stress on our backs!) He got them for a steal at an auction. We'll share some photos of these babies in action soon too.
While we are a small family farm and most of the operation has been a two adult, three kid venture, we would like to commend those who have helped thus far.
Dick DeGraff of Grindstone has been a number one champion in many ways; by leasing the land to us and offering the CSA essentially as an already rolling business. He has also lent a hand in many tasks, such as getting our high tunnel up, moving seedlings, and sharing advice.
Dave Coppedge (aka Tractor Dave) and his partner Mary have joined our team for the long haul, and are the only "employees" we have thus far. Dave worked with Grindstone for over 15 years and has a wealth of knowledge and experience to bring to the team. We have worked many projects with him through the years, from farming, to construction, and fixing vehicles; while Mary has been great help in transplanting, seeding, and babysitting.
Friend and fellow farmer Andy Jacobson formerly from Jacobson's farms in Palermo has lent a hand at the farmers markets, and a bit here on the farm and will be sharecropping on a couple acres here on our property with a variety of veggies.
And mostly, my father, Dan Wells who worked with Travis on many aspects of getting our house livable, from electric to plumbing, to house jacking, as well as electric in the barn, high tunnel construction and soon some welding projects, we have kept him pretty busy in his early retirement! With the overwhelming support from so many people, POD leaders, Planning group members, family, friends, customers, and even total strangers; in a way this truly is a grassroots community farm.
In addition to the ever growing farm tasks, there was two weeks of spring purging. As I stated before, this property came with a lot of history, and with it a lot of junk. While we discovered many utilitarian antiques, there were mountains of newspapers, glass, and a section of the barn that had fallen in. We rented a dumpster and filled it with anything that couldn't be recycled or burned. That was a huge task, as we filled a 30 yard dumpster, and still have a second load of metal to go to the scrap yard. But the potting shed is well on it's way to being put into use, and the barn's potential really shines now that there's empty space aside from the goats and chickens quarters.
The following painting was left behind of the farm in spring. With the trees starting to get buds, and daffodils blossoming in the garden, spring is surely here, and the greenhouses at the farm are near overflowing with seedlings waiting to settle their roots into the earth. The painting is somewhat abstracted, as the henhouse turned potting shed on the right is not nearly as large or as close to the barn as it appears, but it is nearly as angled, a unique construction of weight bearing timber framing still standing after nearly 150 years. The red chairs in the painting were also found in the clean out, too badly rusted out to salvage. There are photos of Alice and Frances sitting in those very chairs, enjoying a summer drink in their garden space, their pride and joy which we are pleased to carry on the tradition of, except we'll need more chairs!
Dick DeGraff of Grindstone has been a number one champion in many ways; by leasing the land to us and offering the CSA essentially as an already rolling business. He has also lent a hand in many tasks, such as getting our high tunnel up, moving seedlings, and sharing advice.
Dave Coppedge (aka Tractor Dave) and his partner Mary have joined our team for the long haul, and are the only "employees" we have thus far. Dave worked with Grindstone for over 15 years and has a wealth of knowledge and experience to bring to the team. We have worked many projects with him through the years, from farming, to construction, and fixing vehicles; while Mary has been great help in transplanting, seeding, and babysitting.
Friend and fellow farmer Andy Jacobson formerly from Jacobson's farms in Palermo has lent a hand at the farmers markets, and a bit here on the farm and will be sharecropping on a couple acres here on our property with a variety of veggies.
And mostly, my father, Dan Wells who worked with Travis on many aspects of getting our house livable, from electric to plumbing, to house jacking, as well as electric in the barn, high tunnel construction and soon some welding projects, we have kept him pretty busy in his early retirement! With the overwhelming support from so many people, POD leaders, Planning group members, family, friends, customers, and even total strangers; in a way this truly is a grassroots community farm.
In addition to the ever growing farm tasks, there was two weeks of spring purging. As I stated before, this property came with a lot of history, and with it a lot of junk. While we discovered many utilitarian antiques, there were mountains of newspapers, glass, and a section of the barn that had fallen in. We rented a dumpster and filled it with anything that couldn't be recycled or burned. That was a huge task, as we filled a 30 yard dumpster, and still have a second load of metal to go to the scrap yard. But the potting shed is well on it's way to being put into use, and the barn's potential really shines now that there's empty space aside from the goats and chickens quarters.
The following painting was left behind of the farm in spring. With the trees starting to get buds, and daffodils blossoming in the garden, spring is surely here, and the greenhouses at the farm are near overflowing with seedlings waiting to settle their roots into the earth. The painting is somewhat abstracted, as the henhouse turned potting shed on the right is not nearly as large or as close to the barn as it appears, but it is nearly as angled, a unique construction of weight bearing timber framing still standing after nearly 150 years. The red chairs in the painting were also found in the clean out, too badly rusted out to salvage. There are photos of Alice and Frances sitting in those very chairs, enjoying a summer drink in their garden space, their pride and joy which we are pleased to carry on the tradition of, except we'll need more chairs!
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