Winter Share 4

Wintery oat and pea cover crop

Winter Share 4

Our 2016 farm season wraps up this season with our final winter share distribution this Friday (12-4) and Saturday(10-2). Yesterday we had our final harvest of the year. Andrew, volunteer extraordinaire Mark, and I brought in the last of the kale and carrots. It is always bittersweet to reach this point in the season. It's another aspect of farming that we plan for and yet have no control over. This year we have experienced a mild fall and a decent amount of moisture. This has meant bountiful greens and big beautiful heads of cauliflower and broccoli. Carrots, a crop that was hit so hard by the drought, have reached a harvestable size and are sugary sweet. Yesterday as we rushed to pull the last carrots from the ground before it froze solid we witnessed a fox trotting through the fields. This is the time of year when the  farm is turned back over to the wild creatures that call Powisset home. A friend asked me the other day what my favorite season is and my response, somewhat to my own surprise, was winter. I love the quiet it brings and the wild rawness that envelopes the land. One of the questions I get asked most often is "what do you do in the winter". The answer is I keep farming. There are so many facets to farming that keep me busy through the winter; fixing equipment, ordering seeds, planning what to plant and where next season, hiring staff, writing my budget, attending professional development workshops, etc. The winter to do list is a long one.

The bountiful harvest of greens has also softened the impact of the loss of our crops stored in the root cellar. We take food safety very seriously and have zero tolerance when it comes to potential food contamination. The food in the root cellar had the potential of being contaminated by the leak therefore it was not distributed and has been composted. We are fixing the problem so that this issue does not happen again.

As it ends it begins. 2017 potting soil delivery.

We are expecting sever temperature lows tomorrow during distribution time. Because of this, on Friday only, we are moving the operation into the barn kitchen and classroom space. Temperatures are supposed to be more moderate on Saturday and the classroom space is being utilized for other activities.

This weeks share will be comprised of cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, kale, watermelon radishes, daikon radishes, rutabaga, popcorn, and spinach.

Farm Stand:
The farm stand will be open Friday and Saturday with all your favorite Powisset items

Jordan Brothers Seafood will be joining us on Friday from 1-4.

Pop Up Meat Sale and Demo:
This Saturday Livestock Manager Connor Young will be selling beef, pork, and chicken from The Trustees livestock program. He will also be performing a cooking demo with some samples and a q&a in the kitchen at 11am.

This will be last blog post for a few weeks. We will miss you all this winter but look forward to seeing you back on the farm next summer.

Be well,

Zannah, On behalf of the farm staff.