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May 29th, 2008
Today our summer intern,
Caitlin, arrives to the farm. We're excited to have her on board and have been working to prepare the hayloft area
for her to live in this season. Whenver a car pulls into the drive this week, Ashlan asks if its Caitlin.
He's very excited as well!
The gardens are 2/3 planted and we always feel on top of things for now.
That feeling will change in a couple weeks when the weeds start to try to get an edge on us...but we're ready for them
this year and have tomatoes and onions mulched already this season. Next week will be our first CSA delivery for the
year and will start light and will gradually grow in size and weight.
Our pizza nights have been successful thus
far and have shown to keep growing through word-of-mouth advertising. We've had about 50/50 nice nights to rainy
nights. However, the barn space is available on those rainy spells for folks to set-up their picnic chairs in there
and relax in a dry space.
Til' Next Time, The Smiths
April 19, 2008 Spring has sprung and it seems like there is no end to the "to-do" lists these days.
Thankfully our energies are high and we've been lucky enough to enjoy the help of Heather's dad while we do some building
projects and reorganizing of the barn. We hope to have several projects completed before our first pizza night on May
1st. We are also anxiously waiting to get in the fields to get some food growing for the csa subscriptions! Jeremy
has also been very busy with work as his busy kayak/canoe season coincides with the farm's busy times. Our running
joke is too bad he doesn't work for a winter sport company so that we don't hit this double crunch every year.
Oh, well... Ethan has come into his own personality more and is crawling around these days. He
loves having time out in the sunshine. Ashlan has been exploring the goat pastures looking for worms. He is quite
the worm hunter and loves fishing with his grandpa!
November 15th, 2007
We haven't done much with the website lately because we've been busy raising our new little son, Ethan Robert who was
born 9/20/07. He was a big boy at 9lb 1oz and is really a wonderful baby. Adjusting to life with 2 little boys
is a constant learning experience but we are finding a groove. Now the real test will be when the farm "wakes up" from
its winter nap and things really get busy. We'll just relax for now and figure that out when it comes...
So yes, the farm and its inhabitants are beginning their hibernation. The gardens have been cover cropped and composted.
Garlic has been planted and mulched. The goats are started on hay rations as their pasture is not really growing very
fast these days with the cold weather.
Winter farm planning and seed catalog scanning is taking place as we begin dreaming about what we'll grow next year.
There's always something to do but at a much leisurley pace. Bedtime for us all comes early with the sun setting early...one
benefit of having both kids being close in age and ready to go to bed by 8pm.
Oh, check out our new blogs: smithgardens.blogspot.com for our csa members or our family blog: jeremyheathersmith.blogspot.com
for our personal blog.
Happy Holidays and Til Next Time, The Smiths
July 15th, 2007
As the summer heat builds, the hot season veggies are nearing their ripeness. There are a few tomatoes which have
turned, peppers are swelling, watermelons are almost volleyball size, summer squash are rolling in, the eggplants are just
starting to form and the the sweet corn will be ready next week. Oh the delights of summer are nearly here!
The gardens look good as ever this year even though we've been a little short on rain. We've been irrigating to
keep things going but nothing ever compares to the divine drink from Mother Nature. I was very excited to hear the buzzing
of all the bumble bees in the gardens working over the flowers this morning as I was picking the squash. As we hear
of more and more problems with the bees and their decreased populations, we have certainly noticed an increased population
hear on the farm with all of our flowers, no chemical sprays, and increased habitat for the good bugs to live.
Pizza nights have continually grown this summer with our last couple weeks reaching an average of 50 pizzas. We
are delighted to see all the children running around the yard, eating and happy to have free space to spill, giggle, and wiggle
during their dinner outing. There have also have been inquiries for weddings and graduation parties here next year as
well as private party bookings for pizza parties this year.
As always, things are busy and Heather's due date is now almost 2 months away. How time flies!
Til next time, The Smiths
June 17th, 2007
The farm is in full swing these days. We
are in a constant rotation between fulfilling wholesale accounts with salad greens, weeding and preparing plantings and harvest
for CSA, making wood-fired pizzas, tending goat, chicken or miniature horse needs, making our milk soaps, hosting special
events such as weddings, and maintaining the lawns and flower gardens.
Needless to say, there is never a lack of something to do.
Some folks wonder how we do so many things. It’s a carefully sculptured
juggling act that requires a watchful eye and flexibility. There is actually
a weekly flow to things and a generic work list for each day.
The gardens are looking very good this year. Everyone
has been working hard to keep up with the weeds and maintain healthy crops.
This last week has also brought a new addition to the farm, a female minature foul was
born to one of our boarded horses. Very sweet and cute nursing from its mother out on pasture! Be sure to watch
for it when you might be visiting the farm.
Speaking of new additions, for any of you that haven’t seen Heather lately, be informed
that we are growing more than just vegetables this season. We are expecting our
2nd child in late September and so her belly is growing bigger each day.
To help work around the heat and humidity, the garden crew is starting early in the day
and ending in the early afternoon. Ahh, the term siesta does have real meaning
this year! She is glad to be nearing the end of asparagus season as her waistline
diminishes. Asparagus picking is one of those activities that requires a full
bend over to pick the 10” stalk at the ground level.
The Smiths
April 24th 2007
Spring is here and with it our energy is flowing. Early spring seeds are coming up out in the gardens and our hoophouse
is full of delicious young salad greens and arugala.
We're are busy building a picnic pavillion in the backyard for pizza picnic folks to enjoy a little shade as well as
for musicians to play under for our live music nights. Our other building project is refacing the barn with rough sawn
pine lumber which will replace some older steel and also finally finish the unfinished hay loft on the barn.
Ashlan is a trouper helping joyfully in the gardens planting onions and potatoes. There will be some of these plants
all over the farm depending on where he has secretly stashed some in the dirt.
Little goat kids are romping in the pastures with their mothers enjoying the fresh green grass. All in all, there
are 8 new kids this season. What a joy to watch!
The Smiths
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