News and blog
Dear CSA members,
If the weather is wild tomorrow we will have the pick-up Wednesday.
Kerry
Dear CSA members,
With the high temperatures predicted for tomorrow can you let me know what time you will be coming for your CSA share? Or you can choose to get a double share next week if you are going away for the the 4th of July holiday. We are excited to announce that Alexandra, our marketer from last year will be returning. She has a newborn so will not be on site tomorrow.
This will help reduce the amount of time in the hot sun tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks,
Kerry
Good morning,
It looks like it will be very wet at the market today. Do you know when you are coming by the market? Or you can stop by the farm.
Thanks,
Kerry
Dear CSA members,
The DHMC pick up starts this Tuesday. Virginia, our marketer will be on site outside the Norris Cotton entrance. She will be there from 3-5:30PM. If you cannot make it just let us know before Tuesday and you can get you share at the farm. For those who signed up for the ominvore share, there will be lots of beef to choose from each week. If you want to take a double meat share one week you can skip the following week. We stock a bunch of cuts but let us know if you want to request certain cuts.
Kerry
Dear CSA members,
The first week of Summer CSA pick-ups starts in 2 weeks. For DHMC members the day is Tuesday June 12th from 3-5:30 PM. For the Hartland members the day is Wednesday June 13th from 12 to 9PM. Upper Valley Food Coop members the day is Wednesday June 13th from 3 to 8PM. The Lebanon Farmers Market is Thursday June 14th from 4-7PM. If you are away please email the farm by Monday morning. You can choose a different location for that week or get a double share the following week.
Kerry
Dear CSA members and Farm friends,
Here is our newsletter for the first week of the new CSA season. Thank you Tracie Hoying for the farm newsletter template and brochure.
Kerry
Good Morning,
We have had a busy last few weeks on the farm. Winter is still here. two of our big greenhouses were damaged by the high winds last week. We will be giving them complete overhaul this month. Our heated greenhouse with all the baby plants is fine. The whole greenhouse is covered in a single layer of 6mil greenhouse plastic. The ends and sides are secured on an aluminum track with "wiggle" wire. It is always an adventure maneuvering a 48 by 100 sheet of plastic. It generally costs about one thousand dollars to recover a greenhouse just in plastic. Labor and other materials like new wood can bring the price up closer to $1,800. The beauty of these greenhouses is that they do not require any electricity when they are used as "cold frames" for season extension. They can be heated with the installation of a furnace. We have continued our heifer run on the farm with six in a row including the Holstein baby. Stop by the barn to meet Hazel, Willow, Zeetah, Olive, Zakia and Button. The Hartland Cattle Club spent yesterday at Flavors of the Valley educating the public about 4H and cows and gave away lots of our cheese. They will be at the Townline equipment open house (Plainfield,NH) on Wednesday April 18th with a jersey cow, our Gouda and Smoked Gouda cheeses. Stop by and try a piece. Pet a cow and learn more about the cows.
Even though we just got buried in snow, signs of Spring are around the farm. We have a new heifer calf born this morning at 2AM. Odelia gave birth to the calf inside the warm, dry barn. Once the calf is born we give it an oral vaccine and milk the cow. The colostrum provides the calf with a good dose of immune system booster. Every hour after birth the calf's intestinal wall closes more and the calf can absorb less of the colostrum. So getting the calf feed right away is vital. All the antibodies come through the colostrum. The cow get free choice electrolytes to drink, good hay and her dish of grain. We want to see the cow up on her feet, eating and having passed the placenta soon after calving. If these things have not happened, there usually is a problem with the cow. We bring our close to calving cows and heifers inside into individual box stalls. The box is bedded with dry pine shavings. This is our 3rd heifer calf in a row. We have 3 more heifers due to calve next week including our Holstein. In the greenhouse heated with propane and the sun it is spring like. We have seeded onions, leeks, spinach, beets, celeriac, bok choi, lettuce, chard, kale and scallions. Most of these plants are just emerging from the soil. The greens will be transplanted in our unheated high tunnels in early April. We still have a few CSA shares available for this season.
On the cheese side of the farm we have sent our first batch of Gouda to be smoked at Grafton Village Cheese. We will have aged and baby smoked Gouda available at the farm stand and in stores by the end of next week.
Kerry