As Fresh as it Gets

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Opening day coming soon!

Our projected date for the opening of the farm is August 1. As we work toward that date, I'm happy to report that the flowers and veggies are all progressing well. On any given day, members of our farm crew are either out in the strawberry fields, weeding the planters or hoeing the perennial flowers. We've been hand-pulling weeds out of the potato patches, too. 

Speaking of strawberries . . .

This is the first year that we're offering u-pick strawberries on the farm. We've got over 23,000 plants growing in 30 elevated trays, which are similar to raised beds. This innovative method of planting will make it so easy for you to just pluck off the strawberries from the plants. Our farm crew has noticed a proliferation of strawberry blossoms on the plants this week, and we estimate that within a month, strawberries will start ripening. We use no sprays on the berry plants.

Bouquet building!

We've created our first bouquets of the season, with monkshood, lady's mantle and iris grasses. It's fantastic to see the vibrant summer blooms. 

A-maze-ing growth in the sunflower and corn maze.

Sunflower and corn plants are growing well. This is the first year that we're not spraying the mazes for weed control. Instead, I'm out in my tractor, cultivating, which is working well to control the weeds. 

Baby chicks on the farm.

Last week, we had 70 baby chicks hatch on the farm. Our adult flock consists of seven different heritage breeds, which historically have a strong constitution, as well as being extremely hardy.