Today we'll have 90 more seconds of daylight than we did yesterday, thank goodness. As the sun slowly edges higher into to southern sky and the workable hours begin to shake off the constraints of solstice, we are steadily ramping up our preparations for the new season.
These days much of our farm work revolves around keeping animals fed, watered and comfortable. We also continue work on the ongoing barn project, improving pasture areas and employing livestock to help us get ready for planting. As I write there are laying hens scratching their way through the hoop house, removing leftover plant debris and adding valuable fertilizer. In the "deep end" of the main garden, Chacho the Nubian buck and Luna the sheep are doing the same.
Projects that will continue to keep us busy this winter will include inoculating new logs for shiitake and oyster mushrooms, building up our raised beds with compost and mulch, constructing an additional hoop house, and seed-starting.
This week brings new piglets to our little farm. We are delighted to be raising Red Wattle pigs for this year's CSA shares; they are an American heritage breed known for foraging ability, nicely marbled and tender meat, and easy-going temperament. As the piglets come in, larger pigs move on out to processing - we'll be sharing info soon on an exciting new pork share offering in collaboration with one of our favorite local businesses, Nine Pin Cider (more info to follow)!
We are so thankful to all of you who have already secured your CSA shares for 2021 - we've been blown away the early support of so many families! Your early commitments allow us to plan for a diverse and quality CSA offering that will make us all proud. Thanks as well for everyone's input on varieties that you'd like to see us plant. We've already received the majority of our seed orders from Johnny's and High Mowing, and we're energized by the hope for a brighter and productive new season.
2021 CSA shares are still available here, and if you haven't already, we hope that you lock in your membership soon. If you plan to join us for a full-season share, there's still time to save 10% now through January 15, 2021 with coupon code FullSeasonDiscount at checkout.
Thanks as always for your support. This work keeps us grounded and helps us find peace amid the chaos we all are facing, and as we often say, we could not do it without you. We want you to know that the food we provide for you is grown with love and care, and we hope that receiving it will give you one less thing to worry about in these difficult times.
Sincerely,
Mark