Spring Planting

Today we finished planting our onion sets. Red and yellow. Last Friday we planted all our potatoes: Yukon Gold, Red Norland, Kennebec, All Blue. Spring planting has arrived, soon we'll put in our peas, hardy greens, and root crops. Let the growing begin!

One of the big tasks we are undertaking is spreading Leaf-Gro compost on all of our beds. It's a really great donation from the county operation. It really helps our plants grow.

In the beautiful weather last week we accomplished many tasks. The farming season is under way!

Lime

Yesterday we spread 820 pounds of lime over a 27,000 sq. ft portion of our garden beds. We also began setting up lights in our office where we will be growing over 3,000 seedlings from seed during the next 3 months.

Shannon Varleys article published on newfarm.org

In 2003 Shannon Varley came to work with Red Wiggler. Reciently she published an article on NewFarm.org

New Farm is published by the Rodale Institute and is an outstanding resource for farmers on the cutting edge of the sustainable agriculture movement. I am delighted that Shannon was able to find the time to tell her story with such passion. Thanks Shan.
Here is the link-
Farming Felt Deeply, and Without Limits
"Growing healthy food with people working at the top of their game provides special education for this young farmer seeking a career that is engaging, dynamic and thrilling."
By Shannon Varley

posted by WW

Excerpts of the day

Over the weekend we held a board meeting to discuss our Mission, Vision, and Core Values. It went well and a lot of thinking went into how to fully express our intentions here at Red Wiggler. In the coming months look for the changes on our website's mission page.

Lately, I've been working to secure some straw for mulching this season. It's been a little difficult with the prices that I've been quoted, but last Friday we got a virtual windfall when another local farmer said she had some used straw that would be perfect for our needs. Now, I just need to get some more stakes for stringing tomato plants.

It seems that Farm Manager duties also include masonry work. I've been filling in and laying brick in what was formally the feed trough of our lower dairy barn. On warm days I'm out fiddling with that. I'll try to insert a picture here.
Hope all is well!
-Adrienne

Exciting Developments

Well, things have begun to gather steam around these parts lately. Last weekend we went to the PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) conference at Penn State. We all (Beth, Woody, and Adrienne) walked away excited for the new season, loaded with lots of new knowledge and ideas.

Shouts of joy were let out this morning around 11am as, Mike, our UPS man delivered the bulk of our Johnny's Selected Seeds order. Now things can really begin! Though we'll wait to the end of the month to turn the office into a thriving greenhouse. Thanks Johnny's for the generous donation!!

On another front, Woody and Shannon have been working hard on a new BIG grant! Go team!!

To top things off, as I was sitting here at my desk, a chubby little groundhog wandered by the window and when I went out to investigate him I noticed the daffodils budding up. Whew, spring is on the way!

Saturday CSA is FULL - still openings for the "extended season"

We opened up the CSA this past Monday to new participants. We had about 20 spaces to fill and they are now ALL GONE for our regular season (June-Oct).
We do still have shares available for our extended season which begins in mid-October and runs for 4 weeks. If you like greens, root vegetables and winter squash you may want to try this out. The fee is $100 for four weeks of late fall harvests. This is also a good way to be first in line for our 2007 CSA season. We will update the web site later with more details about the "extended season" It's been a busy week. whew. I'm off to the movies!
-Woody

Wednesdays are FULL

Hello and Good Afternoon. This is my first entry on our blog, so pardon my excitement.
Well, after fielding many a phone call in the past two days and getting a literal "haul" at the post office today, we are officially full for our Wednesday CSA pickups. We only have about 8 spots left for our Saturday pickups. It's exciting to think that it's mid-January and already people are excited about getting veggies this summer! I'm pumped to start getting into the swing of planting, even though it means long, hot days and lots of hard work. Some how that tiredness has vanished and I'm left with renewed energy (however that could be the mocha I drank to warm up speaking).
I believe this year will be truly exciting and fruitful. Yipee!
Ciao,
Farmer Adrienne