This Week at the Farm: Memorial Day Sale – It’s time to start planting!
The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here – Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer means it’s time to start planting your vegetable and flower gardens.
In honor of this exciting time of year, we’re having a big plant sale this weekend. Vegetable and herb starts and hanging baskets are 10% off, Saturday through Monday (yes, we’re open regular hours on Monday). Fill a wagon with plants, bring them home, and get planting!
New to the mix this year are strawberry plants. Look for them (in 4-inch pots) in Greenhouse 3. These vigorous little plants will produce an abundance of fruits throughout the whole summer, with lovely flowers as well. Keep reading to learn more about strawberry’s best friend, rhubarb!
What’s in Season
If you’ve been in the farmstand recently, you may have noticed we have a steady supply of asparagus. It’s at its peak this week, which means this tasty vegetable is even finding its way into our prepared foods offerings! We’ve named it the veg of the week, and recommend highlighting its wonderful, unique flavor with this shaved asparagus salad.
Side note: any special orders can be emailed to Theo! A special order is anything you want to buy in a larger quantity (more than 4 baked goods, 6 breads, etc.).
Update from the Fields
Now that we’re 99% sure the cold days and nights are behind us, the field crew was able to roll up and put away the reemay that was covering the greens and more fragile vegetable plants out in the fields. Other highlights from this week include planting our first field of corn with the water wheel transplanter, and prepping the hoop houses across the road for the next round of plantings – peppers, eggplants, and cherry tomatoes.
The Many Benefits of Healthy Soil
You may have heard or read about Cedar Circle Farm’s renewed commitment to improving the health of our soils. There are so many reasons for this. Healthy soil that is full of fungal and microbial life has the ability to draw carbon out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis, then store and use it to support the creatures living in the soil. Healthy soil also produces healthier food. Kate wrote a blog post about the many benefits of healthy soil.
Nutrients in Healthy Soil and Healthy Bodies
Our Homeschool Farm Science class explored the concept of nutrients this week. They compared nutrition labels on common foods, and compared them to the soil sample results from one of our farm fields. The group was pretty surprised to see copper, potassium, iron, etc. as minerals that we consume and that also make our soil healthy.
They also listened to a story of the Three Sisters crops (corn, beans, and squash) and then planted the sisters in our Education Garden. Planted together, these three crops will benefit each other mutually. They also make well-rounded vegetarian meal.
Gardening Tips: Rhubarb
We have rhubarb plants for sale! Before planting, find an area where your rhubarb can live for the long term; it’s a perennial in this zone, meaning it will come back every year. Give at least 4 feet of space for your rhubarb plant to thrive.
Wait until the second year to harvest stalks so it has time to get established. And always leave at least 2 stalks per plant, to make sure they continue to come back year after year. It’s also important to note that the leaves of rhubarb are poisonous and only the stalks should be consumed.
Upcoming
May 25 – Norwich Farmers Market, 9-1.
May 26 – Knife sharpening at the farmstand, 10-2.
May 27 – Memorial Day; Farmstand & Hello Cafe open regular hours.
May 28 – Little Farmers drop in class for children ages 2-5, 10-11 am.
May 28 – Cooking for Middle Schoolers, 3:30-5:15 pm.
May 29 – Homeschool Farm Science, 1-3 pm.
May 30 – Lebanon Farmers Market, 4-7pm.
June 1 – Last Day to sign up for a Produce Plus Card!
There’s only one week left for you to sign up for a Produce Plus (P+) CSA Card! While the Basic Card is available throughout the year, June 1 is the deadline for P+ Card signups. These debit-style cards have a built-in 10% discount (this means your starting balance will be 10% higher than what you paid), and the P+ Card comes with several exclusive bonuses. The main one is a 5% discount at the register on all Cedar Circle Farm produce through the end of the calendar year. Sign up →
This weekend, stop by the farmstand to pick up your veggies, greens, prepared foods, baked goods, plants, and flowers, or simply to spend time in a beautiful place. We hope you can get outside, enjoy the weather, and spend time with friends and/or family.
If the parking lot is full, or if you plan on staying a while, we ask that you please park in the overflow parking lot. (You can also park there if you don’t mind walking a minute or two to get to the farmstand.) Turn down the dirt road just behind the greenhouses and follow the signs to park in the first field on your left.
See you at the farm!
–From all of us at Cedar Circle
