Beautiful flowers and vegetables

Just a reminder - we have beautiful flowers and Mother's Day is Sunday!  (hint, hint...) Here's a sampling:

Colorful begonias

Guilded grape...my personal favorite

Hanging baskets

Pretty and different

We still have vegetable seedlings ready to plant in your gardens - collards, broccoli, kale and the like. It's a little early to plant, but not too early to pick up, tomato, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, pumpkin and winter and summer squash along with cilantro and basil. These summer crops are in the greenhouse and we encourage you to go in and pick what looks good to you. That also goes for flowers - a few are out but there are lots of others to choose from in the greenhouse.

For members who have paid ahead, your card is here waiting if you haven't picked it up yet.

WE ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC so feel free to tell your friends and neighbors about the farm. Anyone can pay as they go or they also can sign up and get the 10% discount that goes with signing up.

For Senior Farm Share members - you won't get a card, but we have a way to track your purchases and balances and we'll explain that the first time you come.

We look forward to seeing you!
Amy

Asparagus!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

...but I'll still say a few more ;-) We have a limited supply of asparagus (limit of 1 bunch per person) today and should have more next week. It is growing well with the recent rain.

As a reminder, we are open from 2pm-6pm Tuesday through Saturday, so please come today or tomorrow to get asparagus or anything that suits you.

We look forward to seeing you!
Amy

Did you say 700 trees???

Why yes, I did say 700 trees! We planted 200 apple trees last year and over the next week we will plant 700 apple, pear and peach trees. They just arrived at the farm last night (Thank you, John!!) and we are keeping their roots wet until they go in the ground. Here are some pictures of the barn full of trees...

The trees have now been sorted by type and are in their appropriate bundles.

Peach trees

Steven holding trees so you get a sense of their size.

We are growing tall spindle trees on dwarfing root stocks, which means they are smaller than you might expect. We will have apples from the trees we planted last year and, in a few years, pears and peaches!

We hope to see you soon here on the farm! We are open 2pm-6pm Tuesday through Saturday.
Amy

Asparagus update

A quick post about the asparagus...

We are sorry, but due to the dryness, the asparagus is growing very slowly. The shoots Steven saw yesterday should have grown 4-5" overnight, but instead there was almost no growth. So, no asparagus today, but there should be enough to purchase next week.

We have everything else for you to come and see later today though!

Amy

Opening week and asparagus

It has been great to see some of you here our first week! For those who haven't come yet but have pre-paid, your Plowshares cards are ready and loaded with the appropriate balance for you to pick up the first time you shop or just stop by. For people who haven't pre-paid, you are still welcome to come and see what we have and make any purchases you would like.

Now is a great time to plant broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards and brussels sprouts. We have great varieties ready to go into your garden!

In mid-May, we'll have tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and more, just in time for planting those crops.

Also, a special treat - the asparagus we planted our first year is just starting to bear and we will have a small amount of asparagus in the store tomorrow and next week. I ate one raw yesterday and it was wonderful!

We are open 2pm-6pm tomorrow and it supposed to be a lovely day. We look forward to seeing many of you at the farm tomorrow. The pigs, chickens and turkeys are all available for visiting ;-)

Here are some shots of recent happenings:

Steven has tilled a lot of ground lately, hoping to kill as many weeds as possible in this dry spell

Tulips are just starting to poke their way through the soil

I think these hanging baskets are much better than laundry on the line waiting to come in. They are waiting for good homes ;-)

Daffodils...

Piglets!! Opening Wednesday!!!

We got 1 Berkshire/Duroc cross and 14 Berkshire piglets Monday morning at 6:15am...better than the 4am we had been told to expect! They were driven up from Pennsylvania through the night and arrived a little chilly, hungry and thirsty, but overall doing well. They were in a temporary pen behind the barn until this afternoon when we moved them to a field behind the barn, next to the new chicken house. Please enjoy looking at them when you come to the store. They are very curious and seem to like the attention. However, like the chickens, the net around the pigs is electric so please don't touch.

Here are the pictures. I'll see if you can spot the one Berkshire/Duroc cross...I don't think it will be hard!

Napping after their long trip...

"Red" trying to figure out how to get up where the photographer is...

Snuggling in the hay.

We're looking forward to opening day tomorrow!! We hope to see many of you over the course of the week. We spent much of the day today cleaning the barn and setting up the plants that are waiting for a good home. We will be open 2pm-6pm. For those of you who have already purchased farm memberships, thank you very much! Your membership cards are here and ready for you to pick up the first time you come to the farm. Please be patient with us as we figure out the new high tech gadgets together.

Each membership card is preloaded with the total value of your farm stand credit. You will need to bring your card each time you come to shop if you want to use the value on that card. Also, you can see on the back of your card how to check your balance. You can add to the value of your card at any time.

We will also have gift cards available for you to purchase for others.

Amy

New chicken house

Good evening! It's good that my goal is to post 5-6 days per week, that way I at least get in 2-4 per week! ;-)

We are still planning to open May 1st at 2pm. Hooray!! In the beginning, please remember that we will have hanging baskets of flowers, potted herbs and garden plants and potted flowers as well as packets of high quality garden seeds and Gorham's own Surf n' Turf compost from Benson Farm.  More will follow soon after that. We'll keep you posted with each new addition to our lineup.

The chickens moved over the weekend. They are much happier in their mansion-sized (compared to their old pasture pen!) living quarters with netting around them so they can free range in safety. The netting is electric so when you come to see them, please make sure that kids don't touch the net.

Here are some pictures of the new home for the chickens heading out to the field:

It is located behind the greenhouse.

Here are some shots of the chickens enjoying their new digs:

The metal box on the right side is a nest box for the chickens to lay their eggs in. Another one will be installed soon. Here is a close up of the nest box.

Coming soon...an update on 15 very cute little pigs that arrived this morning!

Amy