Working Members

As we start to get our members for this years farm season together I wanted to remind everyone of the working member option.  We have three working member slots this year.  Traditionally, a working member comes out to the farm and works a few hours for 12 weeks out of the season, and gets a discount on the farm share.  It is ideal for those interested in getting a bit closer look at the farm and how it works, and being part of that.  There is a less dirty way of being a working member though: we have in the past had "recipe members" who have dedicated themselves to finding one good recipe a week to match up with what we are giving out in the share.  Look back in the archive for some great recipes (and an idea of what we had available each week).

We also have working members with special talents like photography.  Last year Monica Donovan took these wonderful photos.  Those tomatoes look like they are glowing, I can practically taste them.  Monica specializes in photos of people working, especially rural work, so the working membership made perfect sense.

In Farm News:  I know its early, and I hate to break it to everyone, but, winter is over, so I went down to the field for the first time just to check-in.  There is still ice in spots, but the winter rye cover crop is definitely up, and the peach and pear trees are starting to look alive again.  (These fruit trees are all just a few year old but I think we might get a few pieces of fruit this year.)  Rhubarb and asparagus and garlic all dormant still, but my guess is three weeks before things start looking green.

No matter what the temp it is just a week and a half until we start seeding onions.  I hope to mulch some or all of them this year, but that will be dependent on how much mulch the perenials and garlic take up.  Mulching once sounds so much better than hoeing 5 times, and leaf mulch is so good at keeping them moist.  It would be our first time doing that at the Intervale, though it was standard practice at our previous farm.

A link to our brochure for the coming year, enjoy the weather.

broken up garlic that will be planted for next crop

 

O Bread

Wanted to share this article on O Bread.  I found there bread first at the Shelburne farmers market where OHF goes on Saturdays, and have been eating it ever since.  This is the second year they are working with us to supply a bread share, which is, not to overstate the obvious, one loaf of bread delivered to you each week, at the same time as you get your veggies from us.  Delicious bread at a reasonable price, kinda like what we are going for with the vegetables.

Here is a link to the article in the Shelburne News:
http://www.shelburnenews.com/news/article/current/2012/02/01/102929/vermonts-artisan-bread-pioneers-o-bread

 As always this time of year, remember the link to our brochure is on the sidebar to your right!

Yeah! our new Brochure is up!

Hi everyone, if you are interested in a share for 2012 click on the permanent link on the sidebar to download or print our brochure.

This front cover painting is by local artist Jesse Azarian.  It was part of an show at Rose Street Artist Co-op where I live, and as soon as I saw it, I thought, "this would be awesome for the brochure."

We are so excited to start the season.  I feel like we have already hit the ground running and that the season has too.  Even though it's cold the gears feel like they are already turning.  I know all farmers are taking this time to make sure all their ducks are in a row, and this year's OHF mantra might just be "ducks in a row" - in the world of farming that means put on row cover right after sowing the seed, pick off potato beetles once a week, etc., just a little extra attention to detail.  Easy to say, right.  I think we at Open Heart are going to try to make it happen by hiring a few more hours of help.  Part of the desire to emphasize this this year is just about the learning curve of farming.  This is my eleventh year, each year picking up bits here and bits there, and alot of those bits are starting to fit together to make one whole puzzle. A delicious puzzle.

Anyway, check out our brochure, and if you have any questions feel free to call that number on the side as well.