7 APRIL 2023
7 APRIL 2023
Farm Update + Ponderings + Fails + Upcoming Events + Where to find our creations + Win Brunch Tickets
Good Morning!
After a glorious week of perfect planting weather, today is mellow & grey. The warm spring drizzly rain is settling in over 300 bed feet of newly planted spring crops. This time of year the growth from day to day is exponential; I can see the lettuce in the farthest fields aligning into their tidy rows & blocks like an electric green marching band on a mulch football field.
As the farmer, I can feel the first week of real work settling in over me as well. The first few long work days lend sunburn and sore muscles and a glimmer of the strength that returns each season.
The farm shows its beauty in new ways every week. I've written before how seeing other's experience this place is my favorite way to see it as new and appreciate the wonder it holds. Last Sunday we held our Easter chocolate-making and egg dying extravaganza. What I thought would be a couple hours of fun crafts turned into an afternoon that elicited the best of childhood memories. Our chocolatiers/dyers consisted of five little fellas under the age of ten, so of course after the egg masterpieces were complete, we had to hide them. The perfect sunny afternoon suggested a nice time to sit by the creek, so the group wandered down to the tender-grassed creekside sittin' spot. The boys showed no hesitation and soon were all splashing and playing in the stream. The grownups sat and chatted and laughed. I was reminded of my best times as a kid- always in the creek or building a fort or creating an ephemeral world that existed to those who knew of it.
The next few days we had campers. They equally enjoyed the peaceful streamside, but my dear friend who stops by the farm every morning hit the nail on the head, "That little family that camped was so happy watching the animals... That's the type of feeling I would like to be present everywhere :)"
The farm is such a happy place. I brim with emotion to know other people can feel it too.
We've been joking that spring is a time of hope... I hope it doesn't frost. I hope the peas come up. I hope the wind doesn't send a wayward chair through the greenhouse plastic. We joke- but it is a hopeful time. As I begin my greenhouse seeding today, I can already see the end of the season in the seeds I press into the soil. The zinnias you will see photos of in July are in my thumb and forefinger today. The celosia in November's wreaths has pushed cotyledons through the shiny black seed shell. Farmers have a lot of hope this time of year because you only get one chance a year to make the season you want.
A quick story on farm fails. Re: tulips.
Last year at Easter I had more tulips than I had places to store them. A Suessian tower of mini-fridges perched on the clay floor (pre-concrete) of the farm building, stuffed with newspaper-wrapped bundles of tulips with no place to go. This year?
One. Out of two thousand. Oh the calculations I made to estimate how many stems per week I would need to keep my accounts fulfilled throughout the early spring months. The order was placed (late, but still within the planting window) and the tulips arrived. On the coldest day of the year. Right around Christmas when the wind chill was around -17. And the bulbs? They were.. squishy. Tulips are tough, I told myself. Tulips can handle snow, surely the squish-of-it-all was like a tulip defense mechanism or something, right? They would be fine after being cozied up in the mulch for a few months, right? Wrong.
On the other hand- the bulbs I meticulously saved from the harvested tulips last year (when harvesting tulips for cut flowers, you dig the whole thing up, cut the bulb off, and usually compost it) -- they lived! The flowers from a "used bulb" are not as vivacious, but next year they will be gorgeous. Even the bulbs that eventually were composted due to lack of time to replant them- they came up in the compost pile.
So yeah- the best laid plans. Each season presents an opportunity for great wins and crushing losses, but farming is an act of caretaking wild things while working within the chaos of wild conditions.
P.S. Friends who came to the greenhouse seeding class back in February- the trays you seeded are now in the fields. See: first paragraph about the electric green marching band :) If you are ready for your plants, reach out. Many are ready for planting.
Thank you for reading my novella- it feels nice to type for reasons other than advertising sometimes. That being said, read below for upcoming events & where to find flowers!
-----
Upcoming Events
Thank you, Carolyn Wilson, for the lovely article in the BHC last Sunday on our Speed Dating events! It was brought to my attention after the article came out that our event registration can be tricky to use, so I have revamped the website and all event registration is now through EventBrite.
Simply view events on the EVENT page of our website and then click the button to sign up through EventBrite. Feedback welcome. I hope this makes things easier.
4/10- Speed Dating: 20s & 30s
4/12- Speed Dating: 30s & 40s
4/16- Brunch Club (last on in April!)
4/17- Speed Dating 50+
4/19- All Ages Singles Mixer/Bonfire/S'mores
4/22- Field & Forest Excursion with Lori of Appalachian Teas & Botanicals
5/4- Field School Presentation on Agritourism with ASD
5/7- Brunch Club
5/28 Brunch Club
6/3 Vintage Bazaar (looking for vendors!)
6/5 ASD Cookout Picnic
6/10 Brunch Club
6/11 Brunch Club
6/11 Father's Day Fly Tying Class with Dan from Riverfeet Fly Fishing
6/12 Storytelling Night around the Fire
7/15 Flower Arranging Class at the Martha
View all upcoming events & details here.
-----
Places you can see a touch of Stormbrew:
Chef T has a fantastic new restaurant in Bristol, VA. I was fortunate to dine at the old bus station a few weeks ago- absolutely delicious. Make reservations and enjoy this new spot. We will be keeping up the restaurant's patio planters this season. Lush is the look and yesterday I planted the boxes full of rainbow kale, red romaine lettuce, and (my favorite) Mayan Jaguar lettuce. These sweet teeny plants will soon be a spring jungle.
Not only does Foresta use ingredients fresh from the farm, while serving up the best Asian-fusion in the area, their front window is home to a little piece of living art. Stop by for a cocktail and to see the mossy/branchy/ikebana-inspired planter in the front window.
If you have not experienced the tastebud mesmerization of a tasting at Abingdon Olive Oil Company- put. it. on. your. list. I could kick myself thinking how many years I knew this place existed and never went in. My oil & vinegar collection is slowly expanding and I literally drizzle it on everything. Check out our weekly display of flowers in their foyer this season.
SONDER will be our in-town home base for bouqs this season. Delivered on Wednesday of each week, stop in, grab a bouquet, stock up on curated home/bath/travel supplies, gifts, and other beautiful things to create little pockets of joy in your home.
-----
Hang tight, friends. The flowers and veggies are coming. Between these hands, all of the helping hands, the rain, and the soil- they're coming. Until then, we're cooking up all kinds of events to share the farm with you and yours. Spring is hopeful.
Win tickets to our April 16th brunch here. Drawing will be held on April 14.
As always, thanks for reading. Reach out. Enjoy the weather. Hug your family. Pick a violet and eat it. Happy Easter, friends.
Take care,
Daisy