We are almost out of the deep cold of winter. As warmer days approach and the sunshine returns, we are planning to start our first seeds of the season in just a few weeks.
We are ready to say goodbye to winter!
What do we do over the winter?
At the end of each season, we review each crop and determine if we can make improvements in our planting dates, harvest schedules, variety selections, and CSA member feedback. When our seed catalogs arrive in the late fall, we begin our plans for the next season. We order 99% of our seeds from High Mowing Seeds. High Mowing Seeds sells only certified organic, non-gmo, and untreated seeds. A few varieties of seeds that are not available there are purchased from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Our farm is Certified Organic. We have been certified organic since the start of our farm in 2005. Each year we must complete our organic re-certification application and submit the paperwork and payment to NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC. Our farm is inspected each year. The inspector visits the farm, reviews our doucmentation, and inspects the fields where our crops are grown.
As part of our certified organic plan, we rotate our crops to reduce disease and pest infestations. We keep a 5 year roation in mind when choosing the beds for planting.
Our seed starting and field planting schedule is complete, our growing supplies are ordered, and the seeds have arrived. We will start our first seeds in early March. These are started trays in our partially heated hoophouse. We will keep you up to date with your newsletters on our progress.
We are excited to get the season started and look forward to seeing all of you again. Hopefully, you plan to attend one of our farm events this season. We will have our annual Garlic Harvest and Potato Harvest on the farm. Our farm events are planned for the 3rd Saturday in July and August.
We have taken quite a few pictures over that past several years. We were reviewing some this winter and thought you might appreciate seeing some of the beautiful nature we get to witness. We do not use pesticides on our farm. We rely heavily on beneficial insects and our soil health to keep pest infestations to a minimum. This is a sample our insect photo collection. Some of our favorite beneficial insects are the praying mantis, lady bug, dragonfly, and assasin bugs.
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