News from the Farm

First Day of Spring

On such an auspicious agricultural day, it seems appropriate to send out a report of doings on the farm. First the bottom line -- shares are selling fast! We have never seen anything like it. It is conceivable that we will sell out for the first time in our history.

We found two local high school girls, Morgan and Shaye to help us manage the river of paper moving though the farm office. Both of them made a commitment to "go organic" before they came here. It's nice to know they really appreciate what we are doing.

Mike, an Oley Valley High School Junior, is helping us tidy up the yard, the field borders and the lowlands by the creek. His efforts will result in a prettier farm that we will be anxious to show off later this year. By trimming brush on the south margins of our fields, he is giving our future plantings more sun and higher productivity.

We are awaiting the arrival of our first two interns at the beginning of April. Yesterday we hired Nora, an intern last season, as our 2006 Field Manager. By the time her position becomes really demanding, she will have graduated from Temple University with a degree in horticulure.

The seedling nursery is slowly filling up with flats, the onion and leek transplants are thriving in the hoophouse and we have started rototilling and spading the fields. Meanwhile, the cultivating tractor needs some clutch work and our main workhorse, the Aantonio Carrara tractor, nees a new muffler. There is still lots to do and less and less time to do it. Of course, it is always this way. In the next week or so, the pace will pick up more and all of us will look back fondly to the cold but restful winter.