The birds are back
plus market updates (even more veggies this weekend!) and the last few CSA spots
Hi friends,
Market season is officially here! Thank you to everyone who came out to the first farmers market of the season last weekend. It was by far the warmest first market we’ve experienced – usually we’re bundled up, crowding around our market neighbor’s propane heater and dodging raindrops – but not this year. The sun was out on Saturday and so were the crowds. Thanks to everyone for showing up, buying plant starts and very nearly selling us out of greens and veggies. We returned home with a lot less plant starts than we brought plus one bag of braising mix and one bunch of cilantro. It was the perfect amount to complement our own dinner.
The beginning of May marks not only our first market of the year but also the beginning of more consistent help on the farm. I plan to introduce y’all more formerly to our two amazing employees in the coming weeks, but for now I’ll share that Beth and Lena are full-on rock stars. You might remember Beth from last season – we’re so glad she’s back! Lena is our newest addition to the crew and we’re so very happy she’s here. More on these two soon.
As planting and seeding picks up and harvest begins, all the other plants and creatures around the farm also seem to be getting livelier. The birds are back. There’s a bird, I believe a starling, who has reestablished her nest in the rafters of our old chicken coop. A robin has built a nest in the crook of the poplar tree near our front porch. We sit out on the porch some evenings, watching her fly off for a worm or tasty bug, then return lickety split to fluff and hurumph around as she positions her feathery body back over her eggs. There was a pair of sandhill cranes living in our neighbors’ field last month but in recent days there seems to be just one. For weeks I would often see both of them flying over our farm and caterwauling their echoing, fluty calls. Now I watch the singular crane most evenings as it goes about its business and I wonder about its world. It stalks around on its stilted legs, long neck bent as it digs through piles of old hay set out for the three cows and new calf inhabiting our neighbors’ lower field. I find myself wondering where the second crane went – if it’s nesting somewhere, decided it was time to leave, or worse.
The caragana hedge around our property is also waking up, each plant unfurling its bright green leaves and slowly but surely opening its long yellow flowers. Early last week I saw the first hummingbird of the season and now they’re back in earnest, swopping and diving through the hedge’s reaching branches. This annual return of the hummingbirds to the caraganas always feels to me the like the best marker that spring is fully underway. By next weekend, all the branches will likely be alive and abuzz with bees and hummingbirds. If you get close during the peak of this time, the world is full of twitters, cries and swoops of wings. It’s one of my favorite times of year.
Yesterday afternoon I was out in the sun, seeding several hundred feet of new carrots, beets, greens, dill and cilantro. Seeding is not my favorite farm task on a good day and I was already feeling a little tired and a little grumpy. I likely hadn’t drank enough water throughout the day plus I’m still readjusting to the roll of the season. A typical day of farming sometimes includes tending to thirty different unexpected tasks for an entire morning before actually getting to the planned items on your list. That combined with the current state of the world has the potential to make anyone grumpy if you’re not holding adequate perspective, and maybe even if you are. As I trudged down the bed behind the seeder, trying to keep my rows straight, I suddenly saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I paused, leaned closer, then finally abandoned the seeder altogether to get an even closer to look. What I saw was a little frog, hopping its way along the edge between the compost and the aisle. Its grey black body blended in well with the tarp and sandbags in the following row. I’m guessing it was coming from one of the pools of water that gathered from a storm earlier this week on the black tarps covering a few of our unprepped beds. I don’t know where it was going but I crouched and watched it a while, hopping its slow way toward more water. I remembered I should probably drink some water myself, and so, once the frog was out of sight, I did. And I felt a lot better. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes you just need to pause, watch a frog hop by, and drink some water.
As the season picks up and the to-do list grows and grows, I’m trying once again to remind myself to take deep breaths and remember why we do this work. It’s easy to get sucked up into endless tasks and timelines, but as I’ve said before, I’m working to lean into these moments of attention: to be present for moments that might just hold a little wonder. I’m trying to hold quiet observation up there with the long list of tasks that need to get done. I’m guessing it might just be a life-long-learning situation.
FARM NEWS:
Our CSA is nearly sold out! If you’ve been hoping to sign up, now’s the time. Here’s a link with even more info, FAQs etc. Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word for us these past few months. We’re stoked to be almost sold out and looking forward to growing food for all of our CSA members this summer! The CSA starts middle of June. If you’re signed up, look for an email in next couple weeks.
See you at Clark Fork River Market this Saturday, 8am-1pm! We’ll be all set up under our yellow tent in our regular spot with plant starts plus lettuce mix, arugula, our lively greens mix, spinach, braising greens, LOTS of radishes, salad turnips and herbs. The list of veggies is growing friends, and we’re so happy about it! We’ll also have some of our fun new Long Step hats and totes available. Can’t wait to see y’all.
ASK A FARMER!
After the no-till post a few weeks ago, I'm hoping to get back on a roll with answering questions and engaging with this space. I’ll likely still keep the every other week rhythm as we move into busy season. With that said, I’m officially re-extending the offer - Ask A Farmer is open! If y’all have any farm or garden adjacent questions, please send them my way. Thank you thank you thank you to you all, for engaging and showing up for this space!
Tune in next week friends, for another dispatch from the farm.
