Archive for the 'Gleanings Farm Plant CSA' Category

Too Many Little Brown Goats and Other Consequences of Spring

admin May 6th, 2011

It has been kind of quiet here, because well, it is spring, and that means that all my primary focus has shifted outside the house.  The period from May 1 to June 15 is the busiest, craziest, wildest period of the year, and the shoulder season, ie, the month of April, its biggest rival.

We have six baby goats on the ground right now, with two more does due this weekend and five more due in July. I’ll be posting the “goats for sale” list very soon - we’ll have a 1 year old buck (Goldenrod), at least one senior milking doe and at least one baby, and later in the season, we’ll have two doelings and a first freshener, as well as probably some wethers, so if you are looking for goats, here’s your place.

This is particularly true if you are looking for little brown goats.  The LBGs are pretty thick on the ground this year - in previous years it hasn’t been hard to tell the babies apart, but this year, everyone (except Calliope, Bast’s daughter)  is an LBG.  They are different, and you can tell - if they stop bouncing long enough to differentiate.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen very often at this stage, and so you are often fruitlessly trying to count little heads as they move at high speed around you.  So we spend a lot of time bewildered and counting fruitlessly.

We are also rapidly approaching delivery dates for the plant CSA, and our open farm day, in which we’ll have garden plants galore for sale.  That’s at our farm on Sunday, May 22 - hoping to see those of you who live in this general area there.  We’ve got lots of fun stuff planned for that day.

Besides the goat-related cuteness, we also have ducklings, chicks and one baby rabbit adding to the overall impression of acute cuteness.  And green - finally, finally, finally green.  The tulips are in bloom, the bloodroot and lungwort are flowering, the ramps, sorrel and asparagus are ready for harvest and life is GOOD.  We missed a hard frost last night, so the peaches and apricots and cherries are blooming.

It is a busy, crazy season here - every plant has to go into the ground now, yesterday or at the latest, tomorrow.  Everything needs shovelling, cutting, trimming, planting, transplanting or moving.  Add to that the fact that we are expecting more kids in our family right soon, and, well, the blogs get a lick and a promise and my best wishes.

Eric will be picking up his bees on Sunday, and that’s got a hold of his mind.  He’s fascinated by the beekeeping and still a little worried about driving in the car with 10,000 stinging insects.  My comment that this would be a bad day to get in an accident didn’t seem to help much ;-) .  Lavish hive painting by my children is underway too - I’m assuming the hives will be quite the sight!

Still, there is some stuff going on.  My 13 Ways of Looking at the Future book of essays will come out sometime in June, I’m told, and will be winging its way on to you soon.  If you’ve emailed to enquire about postage outside the US, I promise to get back to you on Monday.  If you haven’t heard about this - I’ll be publishing this directly both electronically and in paper form, and sending a copy to anyone who donates $10 or more for it.  I’ll put the button up ASAP.

Second, don’t forget about the open farm day on May 22 at Gleanings Farm 43 Crow Hill Road Delanson, NY 12053.  There will be animals for the kids to pet, scything, snacks, milking and goat care demos,  a book signing, garden tours and other good stuff.  And don’t forget baby goats!

Third, our family is looking for a couple of summer farm interns - if you’d like to spend a *working* week on our farm, email me at [email protected] and let me know what weeks you would be interested in.  You get room, board and experience, we get extra hands and new friends - it is a win-win situation.

Finally, I’m going to be offering my Food Preservation and Storage Class starting May 24, and running until the end of June - this six week, online, asynchronous (ie, you don’t have to be online at any particular time) will help you get ready for the preserving season, and also help with beginning or building up and organizing a food reserve so that you are secure in tough times.  Cost of the class is $150 and there are scholarships available to low income folks as well.  Please email me at [email protected] to reserve a space or with any questions.

Ok, back to spring - the green is calling me!  I hope it is calling you too!

Sharon

CSA Information

admin March 15th, 2011

Hi Folks - I can’t believe how much work getting the information up on my vegetable and herb plant CSA has been - first I had to wait for all the seed orders to come in so I could accurately describe what plants I would have, and I’m still germinating many of them.  I’m still not done, but it is time to put up the CSA membership information, and the incomplete plant lists - watch carefully over the next week for more info and details.

Here is how to join and our FAQ, as well as a list of “garden packages” we offer (if you’d like one of the garden packages as part of your CSA, just take 20% off the price!). Right here is an incomplete list of the varieties of garden annual vegetables and flowers that will be available. Here is a more-complete list of the herbs that will be available.  Here are the native plants, and I’ll have in the next day or two a list of  perennial vegetables and useful other perennial plants - I’ll post a notice when that is up.

Individual plants are priced as follows - all annual 4 packs are $3 or 75 cents each.  Yes, you can mix and match.  Most perennials, natives and herb plants are between $2-6 each depending although a few are available in 4 packs for the same price - I will put that up shortly.

Here’s how you can buy plants from us.  First, you can come to the farm or one of our drop off spots and buy plants individually at full price. Or, if you’d like to join the CSA, you can sign up now, and join at whatever dollar amount you want above $40.  Half is due upfront to support the nursery enterprise.  What you get for your upfront investment is this - you get 20% more plant dollars to spend - so if you guess you will spend $100, you send me a check or paypal for $50, and you get $120 worth of plants from us, with the other $50 due on delivery.  If you have a small garden and want to spend $40, mix and match, terrific, send me a check or paypal for $20, and you’ll get $48 of plants from us.

If you want specific varieties from our seed list, please email me at [email protected] and I will reserve them - otherwise, plants are first come first served.  CSA members get first choice.  I will also send out email notifications when we update our lists, so you can pick more stuff.

How do you get your plants?  I will be arranging drop off at several locations in the Capital Region - in Schenectady and Albany for sure, and probably also in Troy.  You can also come to our farm and pick up, just email or call first.  We will have several open farm days over the course of the spring and early summer as well.  We will have plants available from mid-April (for early garden planting) until July (for fall garden planting), and you can spread your investment across multiple seasons, say, if you subscribe for $200 (which would get you $240 worth of plants), you can get $160 worth of plants in may, and come back for another $80 for your fall garden - or any combination you like.  Your farm credit is good for the whole season.

Many of our plants are rare or unusual, including many pollinator attractants, nitrogen fixeres, permaculture plants, and of course, heirloom vegetables - these plants are things you won’t find at every garden center.  Moreover, they are grown with the utmost attention given to plant health and sustainable production - we use local compost whenever possible, recycle plastic whenever we can, reduce plastic use entirely, and grow in sustainable mediums.

Membership in our plant CSA also gives you farm news, and access to other farm products as well - you become part of the farm and the community.  We will happily provide you with growing advice and support by email or phone!  And that, of course is the whole point of Community Supported Agriculture - to bring us all together!

Please email me at [email protected] with questions or with your plant lists and requests!

Sharon