Moving Forward Little By Little
As Minnesotans we're used to the cold. As farmers, we certainly appreciate getting rain. But the last two weeks of rain and cold have been bordering on miserable.
I certainly don’t want to come across as complaining, but we worked hard to move nearly 1,000 5-gal buckets of compost into the field. And it was in the mid-40s. And it was raining hard. We got so soaked that we had to change into dry clothes at lunch – only to carry more buckets in the (wetter) afternoon.
Thankfully we have a faithful team who are willing to endure the fluctuating weather to provide our friends and supporters with the very best organically-grown garden crops (along with delicious pasture-raised chickens, eggs and beef). Click here to see some of the first plants being transplanted from the greenhouse flats into our brand-spankin’-new garden plots! It's exciting!
Now more than ever we need you to come alongside us and – if you haven’t already – sign up to become a CSA member today. This link includes access to our most frequently asked questions, pricing and payment plans, delivery sites throughout Minneapolis (and we are now making home delivery available to members in the south Minneapolis neighborhood who live east of 35W, north of 62, and west of 55/Hiawatha).
Cheep … Cheep … Cheep!
We thought you might like to see a few more pictures and videos (some taken by our 6-year-old daughter Una) of our first shipment of cute yellow chicks as we placed them in the brooder! We are glad it was ready for them, especially when the temperatures dropped to freezing and we actually had snow last week!
Amazingly, they'll grow quickly, and in just a few weeks we'll transfer them to the pasture where they can enjoy gobbling up plenty of bugs, worms and larvae (with a sweet dessert of green sprouts!).
You Say Tomato, We Say Marbonne, Margold and Marnero
Last week’s blog talked about our process of grafting great tomato root plants with some of the best heirloom fruit plants. To see a few pictures and a short video of the grafting process, click here. Our garden manager Daniel is a fast worker, but I want to warn you that the video is not in normal speed!
Need A Little Help With What To Have For Dinner?
Even though we have freezers full of meat, piles of eggs, and a huge garden bursting with produce, we still come up against the same problem. It ain't always easy coming up with a plan. That's why we're slowly building out an awesome resource on our website for all our friends and customers to use. This will be particularly useful for CSA members who will be able to just search the entire database by crop and get a whole list of recipes we have tried and loved based around specific ingredients we grow. Just scroll through this list to see which one tickles your fancy.
Satisfying Work, Good Food, Great Skills -- Unforgettable Summer
We have one position open for a summer intern. If you are interested, contact us to get more details. You can find our email and phone number on the bottom of our blog.
Or, pass along our contact info to anyone you know who might be interested. The timeline is pretty flexible, but the summer season is usually from the end of May through mid-August.
Is Joining A CSA Right For YOU?
Struggling to decide if joining a CSA is right for you? It's a big commitment. We get it. That's why we put together this simple guide. It will help you make the best decision for YOU. Check it out. We know it will help.
All in all, our season is about to bust forward--next week more team members arrive and warm weather should also start in earnest! We can't wait for what's coming!
The ATF Crew