March 2, 2018

Earlier this week we heartily welcomed the shining sun as we watched the first few geese fly overhead. Later, over steak, some of us pondered who brought the most reliable sign of season change. Would we base our bets about the date of our cattle's return to pasture on the calendar? Or, perhaps there is some magical number of days we can count from the first visible new growth of grass or the first trickle of geese in the sky.

The date of sping grazing can be difficult to predict with any amount of certainty, but other cycles are surprisingly clock-like. As of today, all signs show that our matriarchal pig, Gertie, is likely pregnant. You might remember that we were concerned that this might not happen in time for spring farrowing. If all is well, her piglets will spend approximately 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days growing inside of her, and will arrive just in time. 

This week Bekah, Corie and Alex got serious about spring seedlings and made a trip to Unity Farm to start our hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, scallions, herbs and greens in their heated greenhouse. We also gathered for our monthly stakeholder meeting, where we discussed some of our near and further afield building projects. Alex presented his design for our new 3-season wash-pack room, and others weighed in on what might become of our staff outdoor kitchen. Mike, who many of you know from your morning Butter Coffee habit, presented some of his research on a lynch-pin infrastructure expansion project. This longer term project will enable many more dreams that we have on the farm, one of which is the evolution of Blank Page Cafe into a more full-service restaurant (read a little bit about the cafe in Mike's essay below!). For now, he's working on expanding his menu with some incredible savory bites. 

We are in the middle of registration for our Spring CSA shares and encourage you to reserve your spot now. Likewise, our next yoga & brunch event is coming up in just a few short weeks! Come move your body and fill your belly with food and friends. And finally, we just re-stocked short ribs in the farm store, so make sure to come try them while they are still on sale! You can find a basic recipe for them here.