WILD ROOTS FARM UPDATE ~WINTER CSA WEEK #8

ORDER YOUR MAIN CSA, A FEW SPOTS LEFT!

​Good morning members,

It's March and wow am I glad. I must say I'm a bit over Winter and feeling a bit stir crazy. The signs of Springs are here though - daffodils, crocus, bud break on trees, robins becoming more active, and longer days. In case anyone has felt like all of sudden they are seeing lots of robins and wondering where they go during the Winter (calling all nature nerds) - they don't actually migrate in our neck of the woods. In Winter, robins form nomadic flocks (at least within the US where Winters are not too extreme) which can consist of thousands of birds. Usually these flocks appear where food is plentiful and as Spring rolls around, they split up. They reappear in our yards and it can feel like they have returned when really they are just switching from being non territorial in the Winter to aggressively defending their territory ahead of breeding in the Spring. and now you know. :)

The first peas are popping through the soil and will be ready to transplant in three weeks!

I've been feeling very eager to move my body - to have a return to performing tasks that feel meaningful and rewarding. This past week has brought some of those tasks that feel a bit more like farming. Bailey seeded cherry tomatoes and celery and discovered that our peas she sowed a couple weeks ago are up!! This coming week we have about 70 trays to seed in our propagation house including onions, cabbage, kale, chard, celeriac, lettuce, fennel and spinach. The start of the season is upon us. 

Yep, it's already that time of year. Time to sow cherry tomatoes for our high tunnel.

Stephen worked on our main tractor in the barn this past week. She's all ready to get back to work as soon as the soil is dry!!

Stephen and I have been learning a lot and operating at the edge of our knowledge fixing farm machinery. Stephen took apart our 40 plus year old work horse of a kubota, which wasn't starting, to give her some love. Years of dirt was carefully excavated from the engine compartment to expose all the mechanics. Filters were changed, a new battery installed, and electrical issues chased down. So much knowledge was gained and now she is running once again ahead of some bed prep in the high tunnel next week. 

Me with our gator that is now once again smoothly running after a maintenance overhaul.

I (Mary) worked on our John Deere Gator which is how we get around on the farm. For the past month, it has been REALLY hard to start and sounding quite rough once running. Well, after filter changes, a new battery, and some re-wiring, it still wasn't starting. It's a diesel engine and therefore needs glow plugs to help ignite the fuel which if they are not working - your engine will not start. So I opened up the engine and changed all the glow plugs and guess what, success! Greta the Gator is now purring like a kitten and starting exactly how she should be. It can be intimidating to tackle projects that are not in our wheelhouse of knowledge and yet - this is where the biggest rewards are because we have the chance to tackle our insecurities. I was scared to walk into the tractor store, feeling like I had no idea what I was talking about. I did though and in general the folks who worked in these stores were helpful. Stephen nor I have really worked on this kind of equipment and thankfully we have Google, YouTube, and maintenance books, along with lots of curiosity, to help us bring these two projects home. It feels so empowering to know that we can tackle these projects and for me at least, has helped me conquer some insecurities. One tractor and the gator down - one truck and two more tractors to go!

We have all been working on cleaning up in the field which includes removing plastic mulch from last year's peppers. They still look beautiful after weathering all the storms of Winter.

This week you will be receiving a bunch of greens that were in our high tunnel in your share. They are from the very same tunnel that lost plastic during the ice storm that we recovered a couple of weeks ago. I can't tell y'all how happy I am that we salvaged these greens and radishes! I thought they were all lost after getting beaten back during the cold wind but a few weeks in a warmish tunnel really pushed them along. Just another message from the universe to just trust in the path.

WHAT WILL BE IN THIS WEEK'S CSA SHARE:

• pickled kohlrabi
• parsnips
• radishes
• pac choi
• braising mix
• beets
• ​herbal tea blend

WHAT FARMER MARY WOULD DO WITH THIS CSA SHARE:

This share feels like a blend of late Winter and on the cusp of Spring. The fresh greens that aren't cabbage are so exciting to me!  The braising mix is a blend of collards, radicchio, choi raab, and mustard greens. So delicious sauted and thrown in an egg scramble (maybe a breakfast for dinner situation)? Stephen and I took home a bunch of kohlrabi a couple of weeks ago to breathe some new life into them. They are just simply pickled with some herbs, garlic, turmeric, sugar, salt, and peppercorns. They are great in a salad or just by themselves. The pickle liquid can be reused for other veggies like maybe some old daikon you have kicking around or even pickling beets?!  I've been adding pac choi to root vegetable curries and loving it. I made a red curry this past week with parsnips and celeriac and some frozen cherry tomato puree.

Much love, Farmer Mary
she/her

Wild Roots Farm