Pickings, August 4th
Our tomatoes have arrived in abundance. Here's Striped German, one of our best varieties, weighing in at 2 lbs, 14 ounces.

CSA Distributions
Crops are all growing well and we're starting distributions tomorrow (Monday, June 11).

Crops this week may include:
Lettuce mix
Arugula
Spinach
Broccoli Rappi
Asian Greens mix (this is a very spicy mix of mizuna, red mustard, and leaf broccoli)
Peas, probably later in the week
Rhubarb
Radish, probably later in the week
Very limited quantities of strawberries and asparagus.


We have a great supply of eggs, maple syrup, as well as pork and lamb products. If you want to add something to your regular order, please email a day in advance and we'll package it for you.

The previously mentioned kittens are available for adoption.

Memorial Day Plant Sale
We have hundreds of vegetable seedlings ready for planting in your home garden. Tomatoes, Eggplant, Peppers and Cucumbers $2.00 each, or $20/dozen. Mix and Match.

 

Apple of My Eye

When Linda and I first bought this old homestead three years ago, the old apple orchard immediately caught my attention. So covered was it with multiflora rose, bittersweet and poison ivy that we couldn't even count how many trees there were. They had grown to nearly 40 feet - far too high to harvest - and were filled with dead wood and broken branches. We called  Linda's childhood friends in western NY state for advice - people who run one of the largest orchards and cold storage facilities in the state - and they firmly advised us to cut everything down and start over. But when we unearthed the first air photos of Connecticut from 1934 and could clearly see the orchard in the image, we vowed to bring it back to life.

At first we simply removed the weeds, established a meadow understory where we grazed the sheep, and planted a handful of cherries to fill in the grid. Today we took next next major revitalization effort with the first hard pruning the orchard's had in perhaps 25 years. The trees look a bit like a scene from a horror movie but over the next several years we'll shape and sculpt them into a productive organic fruit orchard. For now, we're content to see that birds are already building nests in them and eating bugs, aiding in our pest control strategy. Our souls are also at peace with the realization that our children, and very likely their children, will walk into the back yard someday and pick fruit growing on trees planted by someone eighty years ago.

Easter Dinner

We have a great selection for your Easter dinner and are taking orders.
Smoked hams - 4 to 5 pounds each, $12/lb
Leg of lamb, about 4 lbs, $10/lb
Loin, Boston Butt and Shoulder pork roasts, $10 to $11/lb
as well as smoked bacon, chops, sausage etc.

Call or email to reserve yours.

CSA info

Sounds of Spring

The plink, plink of maple sap dripping into buckets and the bleating of baby lambs calling their mother are two unmistakable auditory clues that spring is around the corner. We hear both on the farm now, with our first two lambs born this week and our sap buckets slowly filling.

Soon we'll hear spring peepers and  smell the fresh scent of the earth as we cut our first furrows. For now, we'll rejoice in the miracle of birth, glad that our girls can experience the excitement of seeing a new life begin, as they drink chilled sap. These are the intangible rewards, which don't appear on a balance sheet, that remind us why we chose to live this life. We are all the richer for it.

Pig out

Fresh pork available next week. Call or email for a price list and cut sheet. Also fresh eggs daily.