WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #12/12

It is one gorgeous Memorial Day, and hopefully some of you are spending this day of remembrance with family.  Mark and are pleasantly surprised, and truly thankful, to be surrounded by our farm family today. We always treat federal holidays as optional work days around here, knowing that it is a rare day off from school/opportunity to get away. But it never seems to work.  Wouldn't you know, every single member of our crew reported to work this morning. (RIGHT?!?! ) Most of the crew has been with us for many years, and they know the insane rhythm and immense scope of all that we are trying to accomplish this time of year. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to work beside people like this--people who want to finish out planting those cucumbers and peppers, people who know that irrigation is going to take some extra effort when temps hit 80, people who take pride in tackling projects together for the good of the farm.  These are the dedicated, hard-working, inquisitive and wonderful people who grow your food.  It is their educations, their families and their bright futures that your CSA and Farmers Market dollars are supporting.  Kim, Jade, Joshan, Luis & Gavin--thank you for being downright exceptional.

With this being the final week of Spring Share, the 2019 Summer Share deadline is rapidly approaching.  We need folks to sign up for their Summer Shares no later than midnight on Sunday, June 2nd so that we can plan our harvests accordingly.  Quite a few folks have already registered for summer (BIG thanks to you!); however, I know that there are a handful of you who have it lingering on your to-do lists.  Please, be sure to get on that roster by the deadline--I don't want to keep anyone from their share of the Sugar Snap Peas that just might be plump and perfect for our first week of Summer! Not to jinx it or anything...

Closing out of our fifth Spring at Wild Hare, Mark and I are beyond grateful for all of the support that you, our partners in growing, give to this farm.  To our CSA members, our super crew, our market shoppers, our fellow farmer friends, our families and friends--thank you for your patience, your pride and your effort in helping us bring another harvest season into fruition.  It is going to be another dry but delicious Summer!

WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #11/12

This is a darn good week for a darn fine salad.  We're harvesting Green Spring Garlic and some truly delectable Red Russian Kale and Spinach for the CSA (and the markets too if there's enough to go around). It feels good to hold onto a few more Spring flavors for the time being.  When you're beholden to a farm four seasons of the year as we are (and thankfully many of you are too), it is a bit more difficult to mark the beginnings and endings as things sort of braid together week after week. That's just the life of a farm, I suppose. Thanks to our crew, there's already a whole lot of Summer going on in the fields.  Over the weekend, they planted out a full high tunnel of heirloom tomatoes, 11 long rows of cherry tomatoes, and 24 short rows of saucers, slicers and sweet lunchbox peppers.  Now the trellising begins...Yep, it may be calendar Springtime, but we're already putting in the Summertime effort, and in some cases seeding and planting some things with next Fall in mind even, which is why the members of our CSA are truly the backbone of the farm and the reason that we are  able to continue.  

BIG thanks to those of you who have signed up for your Summer Shares already,  and an enthusiastic nudge to those of you who are meaning to sign up but haven't just yet--it is time!  We're only two pickups away from the start of the Summer CSA, and we'd love to know who we're counting on, and more importantly, who is counting on us this year.  

WILD HARE WEEKLY, SPRING #10/12

The farm has seen a whole lot over the past few weeks, and it is worth throwing on your boots and walking the farm loop when you come out in the near future.  This May, we've planted through super dry fields, dodged rain squalls, freaked out about frosty overnights only to have the daytime temps push ninety within a week.  It is such a marvel.  But, sometimes that can be a whole lot to ask of  plants and the crew who works to cover and uncover, irrigate and mitigate those extremes.  The first round of rapini gave up the ghost and is now an alluring trap crop for the local aphid population, but there are plenty of living things going strong (and maybe taking their time) in the field.  So, needless to say, Mark and I were pretty pleased to taste and see that one of our plantings of Bok Choy is not only unscathed but delightfully ready for harvest this week.  Thanks for rallying, Bok Choy--heaven knows that's what the rest of us are doing around here amid the May crazies.  Rally on!