It’s a cold one this morning… we’re sitting in the low 20s, snow is falling and the wind is ripping and drifting snow. Snow drifts in the valley are a very real thing this season… friends have been awesome and cleared our driveway a couple of times in the last few weeks. And tractor implements are slowly disappearing under the many layers of snow. Yea WINTER!
The pace at the farm over the last few weeks has really started to pick up. Conferences, meetings, lobby days, food safety workshops, crop planning and even seeding and irrigating the moveable tunnels. The momentum starts to build in February, when the first seedlings pop through the soil, and we find ourselves getting excited for Spring!!
The first carrot seeding of 2019 happened last week! It felt good to prep beds and dust off the old Planet Jr Seeder (and carry it through a couple feet of snow to the tunnel). We have found that February planted carrots are normally ready by our first CSA Harvest in June… fingers crossed that holds true so we can kick off the harvest season with these sweet sweet carrots.
And so it begins… onion seedlings are up! Look at those roots
Mike wears many hats… and last week he had on his NYFC (National Young Farmers Coalition) and RMFU (Rocky Mountain Farmers Union) hats. He organized and facilitated a National Young Farmers Coalition Western Convergence in Albuquerque and spent a couple days meeting with young farmers/leaders from the NYFC chapters in Colorado and New Mexico. They discussed their challenges, successes and ideas for the organization as a whole and their local chapters, over the course of two days.
Mike then headed to Denver with our friends and fellow farmers, Daniel and Hana Fullmer from Tierra Vida Farm in Durango and Erin Kulhman Assistant Director of the Mancos Conservation District and a 2019 RMFU Fellow, for the RMFU Drive-In and NYFC Lobby Day. They spent several days with farmers and ranchers from around the state at the Capitol meeting with legislators and discussing agriculture policy. They got a chance to personally meet with their legislators (Marc Catlin, Don Coram, and Barabara McLachlan), listening to Commissioner of Agriculture Kate Greenberg and Lt. Governor Diane Primavera, and networking with other farmers and ranchers from all over the state.
The work of farmers is not only to care for the land, soil, water, etc… we also need to advocate for ourselves and the future of farming on a local, state and federal level. Organizations like RMFU and NYFC have set up a platform to help us do that, and we are so grateful. Sending out a BIG THANK YOU to all of the farmers and ranchers that took time out of their busy schedules to make it to Denver last week!
In other news… WE ARE HIRING! We are looking to hire 2 seasonal (May-Oct) full-time employees this season! If you, or anybody you know is thinking about a career in agriculture and would like to spend a season working on our diversified vegetable farm, check out the full job description!
Have a beautiful day and stay warm out there!