A SIGN OF SPRING

the other day, i came across these snowdrops. throughout the spring and summer, i think we will be surprised by the flowers growing and blossoming since this will be our first season living on the farm. i remember from frequent visits last summer that there were lots of lilies scattered around the farm along with other landscape flowers buried in weeds. this summer, i would like to mark where & which flowers are growing with small flags. it will help me to remember in the fall when i am ready to dig up bulbs and transplant them.

as i mentioned last week, i attended the FEED conference. it was a great opportunity to meet other farmers, teachers and school food service workers in our area. we now have a great contact from the east salisbury elementary farm to school team. the school is just 10 minutes away. this makes our farm accessible for field trips in the future. for now, they have asked us to be a part of a taste test this spring. the farm to school team wants to use our black beans to develop a black bean hummus recipe to serve in the school lunch program. i am excited for the possibilities. i have been involved with the vermont farm to school program for 4 or 5 years in various ways ... digging potatoes with first graders, attending school open houses & community dinners presented by elementary students, working on farm maps with 5th graders in the classroom, handing out samples of red pepper slices during lunch periods and more. part of our mission at the elmer farm is to be a resource and classroom for local school groups. we will start small. maybe first with this taste test and taking part in the farmer pen pal program.

in the greenhouse, we have seeded parsley, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, endive, onions, scallions, calendula, kale, chard and tomatoes. we have moved all of the trays from the house to the greenhouse. i think there are a total of 20-22 trays now. the rocket stove is heating fairly well. we have also been lucky with some sunny days to help with heating. we are learning alot and already coming up with ways to improve this design for next year.

another sign of spring... spencer shaved his beard but i am not supposed to write about this on the blog.