I feel like the farm has suddenly come alive in the past week! The grass is lush and green, the daffodils are in bloom, the lilacs have buds coming in, and the fruit trees are all branching. It is so welcome after the winters we get up this way.
Our fruit tree supplier had some delays this spring, so we were only able to get one plum and one peach in the orchard. The other two peaches will be here in September and the other plum and all the pears will be here next March or April.
The hens are doing great so far now that they've moved to their permanent coop and run. This summer, when they're bigger, we will build a mobile run for them to use around the garden and orchard. We're expecting their first eggs some time in October. We will typically get close to 3 dozen a week when they're at their peak, so we will certainly have some surplus next season!
I can't believe that it's that time again but we will have some goodies ready for harvest very soon. Things seem to be blooming about a week later than last year, so this means we can probably expect early rhubarb to be behind last year's, which means in two or three weeks. We will continue weekly rhubarb harvests through June. Around the same time as the early rhubarb we should have some baby greens and radishes. We are also expecting our first full-sized strawberry crop this year (hooray - get ready for jam!!) which we think will be here starting mid-June. Beets and carrots and peas will likely be available at the stand in between.
This year we will be doing bigger, more frequent successions of salad greens, radishes, beets, carrots, kohlrabi, and snap beans. Besides radishes, which started to go to seed in early June last season, these crops will be staples that we should have available through fall. Sometimes Mother Nature has different plans but we are crossing our fingers!
The tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and eggplants are continuing to grow really well indoors and will be transplanted in mid-May. Around the same time we will get all of the cukes, melons, and squash sown in the field. We started lots of heirloom tomatoes of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, so be sure to stay tuned (especially on our Instagram - they're gonna be photo-worthy for sure).
We are getting so excited for the season. See you soon at the farm stand!