I have been thinking more about all the little things that spark a surge of happiness inside of me on the day to day, and making sure to really appreciate them. Everything from the green glow of cover crops waking up in our fields, the sweet sound of the yellow warblers singing as they perch from our fence posts, to the recently sown seeds sprouting and pushing up through the soil. Mmmmm. This beautiful place we call home fuels me on so many levels and excitement for the season is growing by the day.
Spring, here we come!
So many wonderful things have happened over the last couple weeks. Here’s the recap:
We organized and hosted our first annual Lady Farmer to Farmer Conference in Ridgway, Colorado. A dear friend, Laura Parker of High Desert Seed + Gardens, and I had been chatting about starting this conference for years after visiting several Oregon farmers in 2015. We gathered with an incredible group of women farmers for two days in February and shared knowledge, discussed challenges, tips/tricks and made wonderful meals with the best ingredients around. Add in a soak at the hot springs and farmer slideshows… what more could you ask for? I came home feeling so inspired by this amazing group of women. Wow! So much strength, wisdom, love, intelligence and passion. Thanks ladies!
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Delegates, Staff and Board Members at NFU Convention
A day after I returned from this Farmer to Farmer Conference, Mike headed to Savannah, Georgia for the National Farmers Union 118th Annual Convention. Mike went as a delegate from Rocky Mountain Farmers Union with 15 other elected delegates, staff and board members. NFU members from close to 40 states and charters attend the annual convention and they spent 3 days networking, debating bylaws and policy, and listening to speakers like USDA Ag Secretary Sonny Purdue and presentations on the 2020 elections, climate smart farming, and farmer mental health. The policy they debated and voted on will be used as the platform for NFU for the rest of 2020 in all policy and advocacy efforts on the federal level.
Mike Nolan and Roger Johnson, former NFU President
At the farm we have been experimenting with winter seeded greens in our tunnels. We are collecting data on various greens this season (salad mix, spinach, arugula, mustards, baby kale and cilantro), seeding/harvest dates, yields, etc. Having this data will help us decide if late winter/early spring greens production makes sense at our farm moving forward.
Our 2020 Summer CSA is filling up quick and we are almost SOLD OUT.
If you have been thinking about joining us this season, do so soon as we only have 5 spots remaining in our Mancos CSA and 4 spots left in our Telluride CSA. We are excited for the growing season and would LOVE to share the harvest with YOU. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like to know more about our farm.
Summer CSA Crops are being sown! We seeded the early season carrots in one of our moveable tunnels with the Planet Jr. Seeder a couple weeks ago. If all goes well, these sweet treats will be ready for our first CSA Harvest. Fingers crossed!
And, we are prepping the High Tunnel for early spring crops - think snow peas, more carrots and the first planting of kale and chard. I’m excited about this house. We transitioned it out of summer tomatoes and peppers last season and into being our shoulder season house. Meaning, we will can fill the beds with crops early in the Spring and late in the Fall, and use the mid-summer months to grow a cover crop. We grew a cover crop of triticale, peas and vetch in here over the winter. It felt so good to walk in this house over the past couple months and see such a vibrant green. Mike flail mowed this cover crop with our neighbor’s tractor on Saturday. Now, all of that material will be incorporated to nourish the soil and have a couple weeks to breakdown before we start seeding.
Thank you for reading and have a beautiful day!