Spring in Fits and Starts

The veggie acre has had its first disc of the season, and the soil-building cover crops have been planted on the south end in preparation for fall planting. As the disc ran over the soil, it cut open a few leftover onions, and a delicious oniony smell infused the warm afternoon. A day after the t-shirt weather that accompanied the planting, we had a light spring snow, a perfect welcome for the seeds. Get tough, guys! You're living in the high desert now!

Inside, the flowers and veggies are happily growing and some are being transplanted and will end up in other gardens in Surprise Valley. The blueberries and other berries will be planted this week, and the herb and flower gardens mapped out. Slowly but surely, a bit at a time, the garden is waking up, and the wintry dreams of spirals and teepees and deliciousness and community are starting to make their first moves towards this reality as the length of our days stretches past the length of the nights. There's still so much to do and to dream, but the ground is soft and dark and its call is inescapable. Time for steps forward, even tentative ones.

Welcome, Spring!

Acts of Faith

Today, after a week or so of springy rainy weather, it snowed. Not too much - there is about an inch or so of wet sticky snow on the ground, and it's already melted on the paved streets and other warm surfaces. We'll have more snow this week, and rain, though unless things change radically, not enough to make anyone feel comfortable with the water we've gotten this year. We hear that many people with water rights are having them revoked, that there are severe water restrictions in the cities, that big agriculture in the Central Valley is really going to be hurt.


So, at this time, with the snow falling and dire predictions of drought, with the world's economies in chaos and the future full of uncertainty, we plant seeds for the garden. We make plans for our WWOOFer guests. We create spaces for dreams to come true, though we know that creating the space doesn't guarantee success. The one thing we can be sure of is this: if we don't try, we will definitely not have a chance of getting what we hope for.

I got this in my email this morning. I think it's sweet and encouraging, like the marigold seedlings that started showing themselves after just 3 days. It gives me enough hope to think that the peppers might just germinate after all:

Until you dream, there isn't a mold.
Until you speak, there isn't a promise.
And until you move, there isn't a path.

Yet do these simple things, and you totally own me.

Friendsters forever,
The Universe

Organic vs Sustainable

We love organic produce. It's good for the earth and other living things. Last year, our first year of farming, we went through the process of becoming USDA certified organic. This is a fairly expensive process even for a small farm like ours: it ended up costing about 20% of our gross sales for the whole year - it was a little more expensive in our first year because of the application fee, but it's expensive for a small operation regardless. We think it's important for our customers to know that we don't use harmful chemical fertilizers, genetically modified or chemically treated seeds, or toxic weed and bug controls. We want you to be able to come out to the garden and feel good about eating a bean right off the vine, and we want your kids to play among leeks that are as Mother Nature intended. In November we found out that the organization that certified us got its certification authority taken away by the USDA. This didn't affect our certification status, but we were supposed to find a new certifier and keep the paper trail going. Well. We're not going to do it. Instead, we're going to keep right on providing you with the best produce we can, grown with completely organic methods, but relying on our sincere promise rather than the government to assure you that your food is healthy and chemical-free.

This year is going to be a really interesting one on the farm. The new WWOOFer teams are starting to form up, and we are delighted to know that such wonderful people will come to be our guests and to work to provide you and your family with deliciousness. We know that we will learn a lot (again), we are really looking forward to seeing you at the farm. If you haven't joined our mailing list and you'd like to keep in the loop on a monthly (now) to weekly (in the summer) basis, please send a quick email to addme@locavorefarms.org of course we promise we'll never sell or divulge your address, and it's easy to unsubscribe any time. Of course, we'll also be keeping this blog updated regularly, so do come back and visit soon!