News and Notes | Posts Filtered by Month

All those crops we mentioned in the last newsletter that we had just seeded are now in the ground. We're now seeding and potting up summer staples: cherry and slicing tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, watermelon, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, and okra.

The harvest season runs for 28 weeks this year and should commence the week of May 15th. Depending on the weather over the next few weeks and how the tunnel crops perform, there's a slight chance it could be a different week. We plan to announce in early May.

Staff will be available to help out and answer questions during the first couple weeks of pick up. We'll be present in the barn and in the pick up room.

The first couple of harvests should be: green garlic, lettuce mix, head lettuce, kale, bok choy, chard, radishes, turnips, herbs, and hopefully some of our trial spring crops of arugula and spinach.

Shares and pick up schedule: Full and Medium Shares pick up weekly; Half Shares every other week. Half Shares will be assigned Week A or B. Returning Half Shares will be assigned the same week as prior seasons.

Have u-pick harvest containers from last season? Bring them back to the farm to reuse.

Have your scissors ready! We're unable to supply scissors because they disappear at an incredible rate. You'll need some for cutting herbs and flowers.

Bags, bags, bags! Bring your own bags to collect your share. Feel free to donate plastic grocery bags. There's typically a stash underneath the pick up room tables.

You can log in to the website to view your share selection, pick up day, and balance. Share balance is due by May 1, 2023.

The sun sets over baby brassicas (turnips, radishes, choy, kohlrabi, kale, cabbage, arugula).

April 17, 2023
6 Weeks and 2 Seasons Later...
by Farmer Derek

Transplanting snow peas on a cold morning in late March. I do believe it was the coldest conditions we've endured while transplanting. Ice was forming in the root balls and my gloved hands slowly lost mobility. Fortunately it did warm up eventually and the peas themselves didn't seem to mind the abuse.

When we last wrote, it was still officially winter, feeling like spring, and now, after passing through what felt like midsummer, we're rejoicing in legitimate springlike conditions. So much has happened on the farm since early March and we've barely had a minute to sit down and collect our thoughts - but here we'll go and attempt a brief synopsis!

Ninety percent of field space has now been managed in some way. Fields for summer and fall planting have been mowed because the warm weather instigated cool annual weeds to initiate their quest for seed making. Fields home to late spring crops like watermelon, sweet potatoes, and winter squash have been chisel-plowed and opened up during this exceptionally dry April. Compost was spread on fields that missed out last summer and fall. Preparations are well underway to finalize beds for the first round of frost sensitive crops like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and okra. The entirety of early spring crops has been transplanted in what felt like a record-setting pace. When conditions allow, farm work progresses uninhibited. To quantify the massive amount of seeding and transplanting that has taken place, that's 22,000 feet of beds and 81,000 crop plugs/plants that have gone in. Tunnel crops are thriving and have been cultivated and watered. The mile of carrots has been cultivated and this week we embark on the three miles of wheel hoe passes on the other early plantings.

Residing within the mild, dry, and almost perfect spring farming conditions we've had a few challenges. Weather related, of course. The weekend following the aforementioned cold day of transplanting peas and the first round of brassicas had two fairly cold nights with temperatures bottoming out in the upper 20s with a pretty hard frost. Heavy enough to actually burn some of these cold-tolerant crops. The peas made it through completely unscathed because they spent a couple of weeks prior hardening off in our unheated hoop house. The brassicas, unfortunately, were only hardened off for a few days which is probably why they initially showed some damage (just some frost burned leaves). But don't worry, they've bounced back just fine and were ready for their next battle: water deficit. So far we're on pace for our driest April in 15 years and irrigation had to be installed and run earlier than I can ever remember.

Overall everything is good and we're looking forward to seeing you on the farm soon!

Direct seeding a mile of carrots into the best early spring raised beds we've ever had, thanks to warm and dry conditions during prep. This plot was home to fall broccoli and cauliflower and did not have any overwintering weeds.

April 17, 2023
Membership Is Full - Thank You For Your Support!
by Farmer Derek

Farmers Gabby and Adeline are all smiles, even while raking soil over 8,000 feet of potatoes on an almost 90 degree April day.

For maybe the 20th season in a row, Anchor Run has reached its membership quota. Thank you for being a part of our CSA!

If you registered but haven't paid yet, you can still join, but please submit your payment soon.

Share balance is due by May 1st. Log in here to view your balance.

Farmer Connor transplants head lettuce while farm dog Finch supervises, or sleeps on the job.

April 17, 2023
Workshifts - To Begin or Not To Begin
by Farmer Derek

Primary shaping some raised beds in March, an eventual home to lettuces, herbs, chard, and beets.

Thanks to our current wonderful, hardworking, and diligent farmer crew (Gabby, Connor, Adeline) we're presently keeping up with all farm work, though very soon we may not be able to. Typically around May 1st crops and weeds begin an accelerated growth phase and occupied field space is large enough that we need additional hands. Rest assured, there will be plenty of opportunities to help out and satisfy the work requirement for your share discount (if you signed up for that option). There will be 3-5 workshifts each week from May through October. We'll send out a bulletin e-mail when shifts are posted.