Spring is a season of dramatic change... suddenly the natural world around us is waking up: buds swell, bursting into bloom and unfurling brilliant green new leaves!
It's a time of new beginnings and great anticipation as we look forward to warmer days and new growth.
Here at the farm we are busy transitioning from crops that served us well through the cold and dark days of winter, to spring and summer seedlings.
Spinach and kale are being pulled out of the beds so they can be prepared for planting all of the little seedlings lined up in our greenhouse... and in our office... and in our basement...frankly we are up to our eyeballs in tiny plants around here!
The girls enjoyed the fruits of our labor - snacking on spinach and kale is a welcome treat at the end of winter!
Left: the girls enjoy the fruits of Irene's labor (right)... soon all of that bare ground will be filled with cherry tomato plants!
Lettuce, carrots, radish and spinach are already planted in the garden...fingers crossed that crazy hail storm last week didn't do any permanent damage.
Tomatos and peppers start going into the ground in two weeks! Then we will watch the weather carefully in hopes that we don't get a frost. But we are ready with row-covers in the event that everyone needs a blanket to get through a cold night! It's extra work, but it's worth it when we can sink our teeth into a juicy heirloom tomato at the beginning of July!
Even bigger changes may lie ahead...
Back in November we signed a contract to purchase our own land - an exciting first step, but many more steps lie between that signature and actually owning the land.
Last week we took a big step forward: we turned in our application for the MARBIDCO Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program. It was a heavy lift to complete that application: lots of time spent writing a detailed business plan, researching market data, and doing other businessy things that are well outside of our comfort zone!
What a relief to hand that big binder over and know that we did all we could for a successful application!
If we are awarded the money that we requested it will serve as the down payment on the land and infrastructure we need to build in order to operate our farm at the new location. In return, we will sell the development rights to a land trust and the money generated will go back to MARBIDCO to fund another farmer's land purchase.
This program is vital for farmers who didn't inherit land, and everyone wins: a beautiful piece of land is preserved forever and we keep growing food for our community!
We find out at the end of May if our application was approved (fingers and toes crossed)...in the meantime our next step is in process: applying for a (big) mortgage! What time could be better than Spring: a time of growth and new possibilities!
Cheers,
Jennifer & Brian