01 Feb Looking Ahead.

This time of year is always exciting.

And, I am sure that might be the first and only time you have ever heard that about early February…

But as gardener, it’s time to start planning.

And, now as a farmer, garden planning is one a whole other level.

We are so excited to get the growing season started and for all that 2017 might bring. Here are a few of the things we have planned:

Going Green:

Last fall we purchased a large high tunnel hoop house and we cannot wait to put it to use. This will allow us to start the growing season much earlier in the spring and extend things longer into the fall.

Greens are our first goal this spring.

In our first year of gardening, lettuce greens were the first vegetable ready for consumption in early June so it has a special place in my heart. It was the first indication that, “Hey, this garden thing? It’s pretty cool.”

I loved that I could go out and grab lettuce for lunch and dinner. And, the taste of just cut, fresh romaine, arugula, spinach and kale? It’s out of control. I can’t even look at the bagged stuff in the grocery store any more.

You’ve Got Mail

I am trying to get my creative brain wrapped around the in’s and out’s of technology and hope that by spring I will have the hang of producing newsletters.

There will be plenty of messaging and likely an incentive (Yay! Prizes!) when the time comes. My goal is to do these monthly or maybe even bi-weekly to share what is available at the farm, some fun stuff about what we have been up to and anything that might be coming up.

You’re Invited

Guests are always welcome at the farm, but we hope to dip our toes into more events such as farm dinners. We have even talked about info days and some other family events.

We love to entertain so we are so excited about the idea of hosting customers at our home.

To me, it is very exiting to let people see the farm in action. I was a kid who had never seen pigs or chickens outside of a storybook, so I cannot wait for your children to come learn. And, have some fun!

To Market, To Market

This year we have made the decision to participate in a Farmer’s Market. We are working on our applications now so there will be more info down the road about where we will be spending our Saturday’s.

After going back and forth for months on this idea, we can finally say we are pretty excited. I have loved the online farmers market and it is neat to connect over social media, but to be able to meet customers in real life? We cannot wait.

And, Action!

In an effort to provide even more transparency, we also plan to make use of our YouTube Channel. We want to show you what we are up to and how the animals are cared for, but we also want to use this as an opportunity to teach.

While we have learned so much from books and conversations with experts, we have been so surprised to find ourselves leaning a lot on YouTube over the years. We are excited to give back and teach you some of our favorite homesteading, gardening and cooking tips.

So stayed tuned…!