April News

GREENS!!!

We have a planting of greens maturing in our high tunnel and will be attending Bridgton Farmers Market on Saturday April 20th.  The Market is located in the Masonic Hall Lodge in Bridgton near the golf course and runs from 9am-12pm.

If you would like to pick up greens from the farm next week, please email us to arrange a pickup time and indicate what you would like to order from the list below.  We can have orders ready for Friday the 19th or Saturday the 20th.    
-Arugula (bag) 6.00
-Baby Kale Mix (bag) 6.00
-Spinach (bag) 6.00
-Radishes (bunch) 3.50

The tunnel survived last week's storm, the snow piled up high on the sides and helped defend the plastic against the gusty winds.  Kyle ended up shoveling the roadside of the tunnel twice during the storm. The way the wind comes off the pond causes most of the snow to build up quickly on that side, and once it reaches above the height of the hip boards the top of the tunnel will no longer shed snow and is in danger of collapse from too much weight on the plastic. 

Although the storm temporarily dampened a little of the spring energy we were feeling, the rain and warmth of the last few days have revealed most of the bare ground again, although in a bit soggier condition.  The daffodils by the front of the house seem to have easily shaken themselves off after the dumping of snow and look no worse for the wear, almost ready to bloom.  All the signs of actual spring are now here, the small patch of crocuses bloomed this morning, the magnolia is toying with the idea of opening its petals, and we are back outside doing our normal spring garden tasks. 

We have been treated to an explosion of flocks of robins, red wing black birds, and brown headed cowbirds over the last few weeks. They gather in absurd numbers on our lawn and in the trees pecking for worms and bugs.  Joni has been trying to count them, pressing her face against the window trying to keep track of their numbers before something spooks them and they flutter away.  The redwing flocks must number in the hundreds, they spend most of their time down on the pond, but occasionally fly back and forth between the trees in our yard, allowing us to watch them from below as we do the yearly spring repetitive walks back and forth from seed house to tunnel, moving and watering baby plants. 

The seed house filled up with the first rounds of plants, and we moved onions out to the high tunnel earlier this week. We made good use of the remaining snow and used Joni's snow sled to drag the trays out, which saved a couple of trips.  I seeded our brassicas that same day, and the seed house filled right back up. The timing of seeding and moving plants is always a carefully managed dance between weather and available heated space.    

It really seems winter is over now, although it's always possible to get another big April snowstorm in Maine.  We certainly have planted Onions and Leeks in years past to then watch them get a dusting.  Although the snow cover was inconsistent at best, all types of winter fun and tasks were had this year: Joni wore ice skates on the pond and enjoyed some epic sledding adventures at my friends place on a big hilltop in Effingham.  I managed to get myself out cross country skiing both here and further up in the Whites several times with some skiing over rocks and exposed streams of course.  Kyle shoveled the roofs and the greenhouse multiple times (impressive considering the tunnel didn't have plastic for most of the season).  We are ready for spring.