Monday, July 30, 2012

The sites of summer

What a fabulous summer it has been. We have made many new friends and shared good times with old ones. July has seemed particularly busy this year. I don't know if it has been the bipolar weather patterns, many of the new projects we have underway, or that we have just been plain ol' busy.

Our CSA program has been rambling on. Every week I am biting at my nails worried that we wont have produce for the coming week's distribution, and somehow it's always there. Folks seem genuinely pleased and so with the season officially half way over I will continue to view this venture as an "ongoing success".

An update on our project list:

We have started to re-work the pasture fencing. The solar powered charger that we had been using was not supplying enough charge to keep our sheepish little friends in the paddocks they belonged in which was confounding our pasture rotation plan. We have purchased and installed one of two larger fence chargers and will begin work on splitting the pasture into two independent circuits in the coming weeks. Not only will better fencing keep the sheep where they ought to be, but it will allow us to pasture the rams throughout the summer with no risk of 'unauthorized pregnancies'!

Both Kevin and Pat (our goat kids) have found new homes. Kevin is with a disabled grandfather and grandson in Maine with Pat has taken up residence in New Hampshire under the watchful eye of his 'grandmother' Amanda K. one of our 2011 interns.
With four remaining goats we have 3/4 of the fence posts up for what will be there summer enclosure. It will offer them 24 hour outdoor exposure during the warm months and allow visitors to see them after regular farm hours.

Our field expansion is underway. We tilled up a new section of field near our educational plot to expand our production potential. There are now 'gardens' on both sides of the compost area, with the hope that in next couple of years the composting operation will be able to move to its new home and we will reclaim that area as well for veggie production. This will bring our square footage back to the same levels we had in '09 and '10.
Currently the new section, which was first cleared and tilled in the spring of this year, is planted with pumpkins to try and help drown out the perennial weeds, etc. In the autumn we will be harvesting, tilling again and planting out winter rye which will be followed in the spring by buckwheat. If everything goes according to plan that section will be ready for regular season planting in early June of 2013.

Lastly, as part of our infrastructure upgrade we have acquired a new laptop computer which allows us to mobile. This is huge, especially in the winter months when my "office" is much too cold to type in. Now I will be able to hide in the cafe and get some of that good ol' paperwork done.
That said, I am still working on transferring pictures from the old box to the new one. I hope to have that project done soon so we can get some updated photos here.
Stay cool. . . August is just about here!

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