Thursday, April 18th
We've definitely had our share of April showers, wouldn't you say? If the nursery rhyme is to be believed, we are in for a spectacular display of May flowers. We're keeping our muddy fingers crossed that the recent heavy rains won't keep us out of the fields for too much longer. Most years we start planting lettuce and other greens by the third or fourth week of April. Based on how wet the fields are right now, it looks like planting won't begin for a couple of weeks. When we do get started planting, onions and head lettuce will be first on the list. (The head lettuce seedlings are in the first photo below, and that's me with the onion plants in the second photo.)
In the meantime, we continue working on projects that keep us fairly dry--fixing tractors, getting our washing and packing area ready, feeding chickens, planting seeds in the greenhouse and caring for newborn lambs. All 9 ewes have now given birth. Here's a picture of Matt with our final set of twins, moments after they were born. We ended up with a grand total of 20 lambs from only 9 ewes. Even professional shepherds with years of experience would call that a grand success!
Our good friends, Bryce and Jen Reimer (pictured below), live on a farm on the other side of Brodhead. They raise the beef for our meat share. Just as lambing season is winding down for us, they are preparing for calving season on their farm. Bryce and Jen are 3rd generation farmers who raise their animals on pasture without the use of hormones or antibiotics. Besides being talented farmers, they are also a heck of a lot of fun to spend time with. Last week Jen and I worked together with the butcher to figure out the number and the type of cuts we will need for this season's meat share. The job would have been a big hassle had it not been for the fact that I get to work with Jen. Her enthusiasm and sense of humor have made the whole process more enjoyable and more educational than I expected.
The Riemers' pastures are greening up just in time for calving season. Pretty soon those big Hereford mama cows will be heading from the barn out to the pasture where they will spend the spring and summer with their calves.
Meanwhile, at the Grayslake farm, our partners, Jeff and Jen Miller, have been busy building an arc for our 300 laying hens. As of this morning, the farm had received about 4 1/2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Many of the fields, including the chicken pasture, have standing water at the moment. Donna and Nadia (pictured below) helped place extra straw bales underneath the chickens' shelter to give the birds a dry place to perch until the ground dries out.
We're grateful to have such hardworking employees, loyal friends and supportive CSA members. Rain or shine, you make it all worth it!
Have a great week. --Peg
Miscellaneous Announcements
- Spring deliveries will begin the week of April 29th. Your exact delivery day will depend on your pickup site. That first week we will be delivering vegetables, eggs, dairy, meat and trout. Veggies and fruit are delivered weekly, eggs and dairy are delivered twice a month, and meat and trout are delivered once a month. The calendar on our website helps you keep track of what types of shares will be delivered on a given week.
- Sandhill Family Farms now has a Facebook page, so you finally have a way to "like" us! I must confess that Facebook is something I have yet to fully embrace, but my partner Jen is a social networking whiz and has been posting regularly.
- We still have some summer shares available. If you are a fan of our farm, please help us spread the word about all of the great farm-fresh foods we offer. The sooner we sell all of our summer shares, the sooner we can focus on the farming part of our business. (The part we love!) We'd like to sell all of our summer vegetable shares by next month. You can help by telling your friends and neighbors about us. Thank you!
