So the calendar is saying it is the first day of spring, but I would argue it just has not arrived yet. By this time of March, spring has usually sprung. People in their yards. Nurseries full of excitement. Farmers’ Markets and CSA starting to gain some momentum for the season. And quite honestly, we just are not seeing it yet. It will come, I know that, but I am just getting impatient.
All in all, it has not been all that bad with the mild weather. It has given us a chance to get baby plants out in the field without the stress of an 80 degree day followed by a 34 degree night. So the silver lining on this late spring for me is that we should have healthier baby plants to show for it.
Speaking of healthy plants, I think it is time to have our Spring field walk. So let’s have a farm tour next Saturday, March 28th, at high noon at the farm in the South Valley. We had our last tour in January to see what a wintery farmscape looks like, so let’s get you back out for an early Spring tour. Directions to the farm are on the web site. This, as always, will be a free tour that will take an hour to an hour and a half depending on questions.
Please feel free to bring any non-farm members to introduce them to the local food movement. Please leave all dogs, cats and hamsters at home though. Thank you and hope to see you down there.
Another quick event blast that you should put on your calendar. May 2nd we will be hosting our annual Spring Plant Sale at the warehouse garden. We had over 400 people come out to the Plant Sale last year and it was a very fun day. There was a brainstorm floating around as to how we could make it better. Simple, add cider!
So we are happy to announce that the farm together with all 3 cideries in Santa Fe will be hosting the first ever New Mexico Cider Festival on the same day as our plant sale. This should be an epic event and I want to get it on your schedule early. Unless you are attending the Kentucky Derby that day at Churchill Downs, I want to see you here.
Lastly this week, we are going through the process to fix up the back of the newsletter. More useful, more tips, more better. Right now it has been kind of fluffy. I don’t like to admit that, but it just has been. So our goal is to add two (pertinent) recipes a week, some tips from the web site, and storage ideas for the produce.
With that, I ask you to share with us any recipe ideas you may have for spring veggies and then we’ll transition into summer. We want these recipes to be short (like 20 minutes to prepare) and refraining from recipes that need wild flax seeds from Kerplakistan (ie stuff you already have in the kitchen). So look for this new facelift on the backside of the newsletter and don’t be afraid to share those recipes from ole’ Aunt Edna…except maybe the Jello Salad.
Reminder that this will be the last week for the pre-pay discount this Spring. For every $1,000 you prepay, we will add $100 to your account. If you are interested in this, don’t wait because this will be the last week.
Have a great first day of Spring.
Farmer Monte