CSA Harvest - Week #4

Sunrise

Hello Hello, 

Sunshine and heat have been the day to day here at the farm... with such glorious mornings and incredible sunsets. Summertime! 

Most of the crops we have planted LOVE the heat and long days but a few are not as enthusiastic... those being the spinach and peas. The spinach is starting to bolt and the peas have pretty much stopped blooming and producing. SO, enjoy these crops in the shares this week. Spinach will return in the Fall, when it's at it's sweetest! Peas... we will see you again next Spring! 

So far most of the lettuces are handling the heat well but we have had a few crops bolt (this is when they reach for the sky to produce seed) earlier than anticipated. I'm not sure if it's from the drastic temperature change we had last week, going from a frost up to 90 degrees in less that 6 days or if it has to do with the thick smoke that covered the valley for a couple days last week. 

Onions! I'm obsessed with the onion block, they're all looking so good and we started their second weeding yesterday. 

Mike hilled the potatoes on Friday evening! They're looking good, minus a few gaps here and there as voles have turned out to be quite the nuisance in the new field. We are trouble shooting this at the moment and are happy we planted a little more than last season. 

Mike hilling the potatoes with the Farmall 

Our friend, neighbor and fellow farmer purchased a tractor and flail mower recently and let us borrow it on Saturday to mow down the triticale/vetch field!!! This mower chops the cover crop up into small bits and leaves a thick layer of mulch on top of the soil for protection. The plan is to rent the No-Till Drill from the High Desert Conservation District in early July and seed a Summer cover crop of oats and peas. Yes! Sometimes I wish we could just grow cover crops... it would be so beautiful, but I'm not sure how that would pay the bills?

Flail mowing the cover crop with our neighbor's equipment! 

We are feeling pretty good about the current state of the farm for the end of June. Most of the farm is planted, Mike seeded the second succession of roots today. We're fairly on top of the weeds, everything has seen a weeding pass and we're already on to the second round. I'm hopeful we can keep the weeds in check this season and looking at comparison photos from last year, I feel like we're doing a pretty good job. And we need to give some serious credit here to our employee, Sadie, she's saving us this season and without her the weeds would definitely be out of control. Thank you!  

CSA Week #3 - Carrots, Head Lettuce, Snow Peas, Hakurei Turnips, Baby Kale, Garlic Scapes, Salad Greens, Arugula, Basil, Radishes and Dill. 

We spent Monday morning setting up the last two lines of tomato trellis for the late planting of heirlooms and cherry tomatoes. They're looking lovely and will appreciate being pruned later in the week so they have more breathing room and some direction. Oh tomatoes, I can hardly wait! 

Harvest for this week's share is complete and we'll be heading your way tomorrow. We look forward to seeing everyone then! Here are the CSA Harvest details for Week # 4:

Lettuce, Kale, Bok Choy, Spinach, Carrots, Beets, French Breakfast Radishes, Garlic Scapes, Peas (last of the season!), Cilantro. Enjoy folks! 

Summer Solstice and CSA Harvest - Week #3

Tomatoes, freshly pruned and trellised!

Summer Solstice is today folks! We were having a conversation in the field yesterday around anxiety about Summer flying by too fast. Summer here is incredible, short and always zips by, so lets remind each other to try to slow down and savor every moment of the next few months. Deal? Ok!

Wild week here. We frosted at the farm on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning and then by Saturday we were sweating in the high 80s. Wow, Spring has been an interesting one this year and has kept us guessing! We had a few things get burned with the frost last week but on the whole everything pulled through just fine. My Mom and little brother were in town visiting on Monday and thankfully helped me repair a broken sidewall on the greenhouse (I went to close up in the evening and it wouldn't roll up, eek!) and pull all the row cover out of storage so we could hoop and cover the tomatoes. I'm so happy we did, because I woke up on Tuesday morning early to temps in the low 30s and we had to wait to harvest for a couple hours because the greens were frozen and needed to thaw out. Oh my! 

Ooooo Collards! 

Mike helped me set up the tomato trellis in the high tunnel and the first moveable tunnel and I spent Sunday pruning and trellising tomatoes, which felt amazing! I have been walking past the tomatoes for a week now, anxious to get them trellised so having this task complete is very satisfying. Ok tomatoes, do your thang! Some have set fruit and they're all blooming like crazy. I'm hoping we'll be able to start harvesting tomatoes in late July... 

Potatoes, weeded and ready for water

We are tackling weeds around here, one section at a time. The potatoes are weeded and should be ready for a hilling next week. We worked our way through most of the cabbage beds yesterday afternoon, 8 left to go! And once the cabbages are finished we'll move into the roots later this week. Oh the root block... you're constantly on my mind and need to be weeded ASAP. If not... the weeds can and will get big fast and turn this project into an obnoxious task that will take 10 time as long. 

Onions shining in the early morning light

Mike shaped the remaining beds in the field in preparation for seeding the second round of carrots and beets. I think we're going to wait for these high temps to pass and plan to seed on Sunday or Monday, when we're back in the low 80s. 

We transplanted a third succession of broccoli and cauliflower yesterday morning and a hopeful round of peppers outside after lunch. Padrons, jalapenos, poblanos, hot wax and some extra sweets red bells. Here's to hoping we have a long and warm season! The outside peppers did great last season but they went in the ground two weeks earlier as the temperatures were more inviting of hot crops last Spring. So... we'll see what happens!

All the beans, zucchini and winter squash are up! They made it through the frost unscathed, whew! We made a last minute seed order of these crops incase we lost them during those cold mornings and hard to reseed, but thankfully everything looks good. Grow lovelies, grow!  

Zucchini with mycorrhizal sheath! Mike was pretty excited when we dug this up on Saturday. These guys were seeded on 6/4 and just got their second watering last night. 

Mountain Roots Produce CSA Members: This Wednesday, June 21st, marks the third CSA Harvest and pickup for the 2017 Season! Telluride CSA pickup will be held every Wednesday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Spruce Park (right next to The Butcher and The Baker). Your CSA Shares will be packed in harvest crates, please remember to bring bags with you to collect your bounty as we need to bring the harvest crates back to the farm for packing up the following week.

Check your email for this week's CSA Newsletter with additional CSA Pickup details, Recipes, etc.

CSA Harvest - Week #2

CSA Harvest - Week #3: Salad Greens, Head Lettuce, Baby Kale, Arugula, Garlic Scapes, Snow Peas, Carrots, Hakurei Turnips, and Herbs.

Mountain Roots Produce CSA - Harvest Week #2

Little Gem Lettuces

Hello Everyone, 

It's been a great week filled with sunshine, harvests and weeding. So. Much. Weeding. Yes! 

It felt great to complete the first harvest of the season and make the first of many trips to Telluride this season. Wahoo! CSA Members, it was so wonderful to see all of your faces, catch up and see your excitement about the first harvest! And, the hugs!! Ya'll are awesome. I hope you cooked some amazing meals and are ready for the next round of veggies. Time to use up any loose ends hanging around in the fridge.

CSA Harvest - Week #1

This heat has things growing like wild! But, there's a quick dip in temperatures coming over the next couple days. The forecast says we could drop down to 33 degrees (eek!) right before sunrise on Tuesday morning... which is a little cooler than I would like and has me worried it could freeze. So we'll be pulling the row cover back out and covering up a few things just incase. The tomatoes are all a little out of control and read to be pruned and trellised but we're going to hold off a few more days so we can row cover them one last time. Better safe than sorry? We haven't had a cold dip this low in June for quite some time, at least 4 or 5 years. But, there's a reason I have June 15th programmed in my head as the safe frost free date!

The next round of lettuces are ready to be transplanted.

We're tackling weeds, one crop block at a time. The onions got their first weeding of the season and they're looking amazing! Mike and I finished the brassicas yesterday afternoon and now it's time to focus energy on the cabbage and potatoes. We all started out a little rusty on the hula hoes but it didn't take long to get reacquainted and start moving at a good a pace. We are zipping through beds, which is good because there are a lot of them.

The greenhouses were getting a little over run with weeds as well, so I spent a couple hours in the morning getting them cleaned up and looking tidy. The basil is close folks... and the tomatoes are blooming like crazy!

Tomatoes are blooming!

The garlic and fava beans are looking lovely, and the peas outside are beginning to bloom and are in need of a trellis. Put it on the list! 

All the roots we seeded last weekend are up! Mike has been diligent about keeping things watered so they have the ideal conditions for germination. Thank goodness he handles most of the irrigation... it's a full time job. The hot crops (zucchini, beans, winter squash) are all very close, another reason we're hoping it doesn't get too cold the next couple nights. Fingers crossed! 

Mountain Roots Produce CSA Members: This Wednesday, June 14th, marks the second CSA Harvest and pickup for the 2017 Season! Telluride CSA pickup will be held every Wednesday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Spruce Park (right next to The Butcher and The Baker). Your CSA Shares will be packed in harvest crates, please remember to bring bags with you to collect your bounty as we need to bring the harvest crates back to the farm for packing up the following week. 

Veggies looking lovely on display at our Market Booth in Spruce Park, Telluride. Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-2p.m., now through October!

Check your email for this week's CSA Newsletter with additional CSA Pickup details, Recipes, etc.

CSA Harvest Week #2:

Salad Greens, Little Gems, Arugula, Spinach, Kale, Mustard Greens, Turnips, Carrots, Beets, Snow Peas, Cilantro, Green Garlic. Yum! 

Mountain Roots Produce CSA - Harvest Week #1

Basil basil! 

Good morning! 

It's June and feeling like Summer! I love it, the morning and evenings are so perfect and dreamy. Our bodies are slowly adjusting to temps in the 80's and the plants are loving this weather and couldn't be happier! Everything has really started to grow this week, I feel like I blink and the plants (and weeds) are noticeably bigger. Perfect timing for our first CSA Harvest, scheduled for Wednesday! 

Plant plant plant... that has been the motto around here. We seeded and transplanted all the things this week! Zucchini, green beans, pickling cucumbers, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, radishes, dahlias, hot peppers, a second round of broccoli and cauliflower as well as the next succession of greens! We are planting the winter squash this afternoon and then the farm is mostly planted for the season! I still have a few trays of tomatillos, peppers and eggplant to sneak in somewhere... 

Head Lettuce starting to size up

The game fence is up! Mike and Sadie hung the gates on Thursday evening, wahoo! I am already sleeping better. I'm not sure I can express just how much time and energy I spent worrying about deer getting into the field... and I am oh so excited and relieved to remove that worry from my mind. We still have a lot of finish work to do on the fence and we'll slowly tackle that over the next couple weeks. 

Blooming Vetch!! So gorgeous

Mike used our neighbor's grain drill this week and planted about an acre of sorghum sudangrass! This cover crop should grow quickly and very tall and help us control the canada thistle... wish it luck!  We'll be posting updates on this throughout the season. 

Seed crop updates! We are growing a couple seed crops in collaboration with Laura Parker of High Desert Seed and Gardens this season. The Joan Rutabagas are blooming and the Bronze D'amposta Onions are close! Such beauties. 

CSA Harvests start this Week! This Wednesday, June 7th, marks the first CSA Harvest and pickup for the 2017 Season! Telluride CSA pickup will be held every Wednesday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Spruce Park (right next to The Butcher and The Baker). Your CSA Shares will be packed in harvest crates this season, please remember to bring your bags with you to collect your bounty as we need to bring the harvest crates back to the farm for packing up the following week. 

Check your email for this week's CSA Newsletter for additional CSA Pickup details, Recipes, etc.

CSA Harvest - Week #1:

• Little Gem Lettuce
• Salad Greens
• Arugula
• Baby Kale
• Mustards
• Carrots
• Radishes
• Hakurei Turnips
• Green Garlic

We are excited to see you all on Wednesday! Please contact us if you have any questions.

Have a great day!  

CSA Harvests start Next Week!

Cabbage field being irrigated with the side roll

Good morning! Oh my goodness, what a difference 10 days makes. It suddenly feels like Summer, the mornings are warm, the afternoons are hot and the sunsets are long and incredible. May is wrapping up gently and we're excited to welcome June. 

It's been a week of transplanting and completing tasks here. So many plants have found their way into the fields and the greenhouses and it feels GOOD. We're shooting to have the farm mostly planted by Saturday... fingers crossed!

Cucumbers were seeded earlier this week in the high tunnel and have already germinated. Won't be long now!

Cucumbers! They were soaked and seeded early last week in the last open high tunnel bed and by yesterday they were all up and looking good. I'm excited for cucumbers as we haven't focused energy on them in a couple years and we're overdue. I tried a bed of them outside here last season but by the time they were finally starting to fruit in late August we got a hail storm that damaged the majority of them. These beauties will be protected in the high tunnel and trellised which should make harvest a breeze. I'm hoping we have many cucumber salads in the near future! 

Lining up the basil transplants

We transplanted the first round of basil in one of the moveable tunnels last week... mmm, hands down on of my favorites to transplant (and harvest), as the smell is so intoxicating I could almost taste pesto while planting these. 

It's official, we are done building greenhouses for the 2017 season!!!! Woooooohooo! We had a few awesome friends come over Sunday morning and we attached the plastic on a perfectly calm morning, followed by a long breakfast and catching up. Thanks guys!! I am so excited to have this complete... and I'm equally excited to put away the drills, hammers, saws, tool belts, etc. for a little while. We spent Sunday finishing up the endwalls and building the doors and had her all prepped for planting on Monday. 

This house is now filled with tomatoes, shishitos and sweets peppers. Yes! 

Shishitos! Get your cast irons ready folks

Today we're planning to stretch the last couple lines of fence, do a serious farm clean up, make some adjustments to the side roll and prep for seeding a block or sorghum sudan grass, which we're hoping will help us get the Canada Thistle under control. More details on this to come!

Later this week we'll be seeding the hot crops (winter squash, zucchini, pickling cucumbers and beans) as well as the root block (parsnips, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas, winter radishes) and transplanting another round of greens.

CSA Harvests start next week!!! The first Telluride CSA Harvest and delivery is set for next Wednesdsay, June 7th. CSA Members, please open and read your Mountain Roots Produce emails as we're sending out a Newsletter each week that is filled with farm updates, recipes ideas, details on our pickup works, etc. CSA Pickup will be held in Spruce Park (right next to The Butcher and The Baker) from 11-2 pm every Wednesday. 

Also, if you haven't already, check out and join the Mountain Roots CSA Facebook group. We created this group for our CSA Community to connect, share recipe ideas, ask questions, etc. We will be posting some of our favorite recipe ideas to this group and hope the CSA Community will get involved and share their favorites as well. Click here to Join the Mountain Roots CSA Facebook group.

Have a beautiful week and we look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday!! 

It's time... lets get these fields planted!

Last week brought snow and cold temps

Wowza. Last week was an eventful one around here... we had heavy, slushy snow and quite cold weather for late May. There was a little stress involved prepping the farm for a couple nights in the low 20s... I spent hours cutting and setting up row cover in the greenhouses and the field. It took a few layers of row cover in the greenhouses but I'm happy to report the tomatoes are all OK. When we are expecting a 8-10 hour freeze this time of the year it's a bit nerve wracking and hard to imagine the tomatoes will survive. But they did are now they are really starting to put on some growth! Some of the greenhouse outside did get a light burn here and there, but nothing major. Whew! Lets hope we're past the cold until Fall?

The Planting Frezny has arrived and we will be switching gears and moving away from building/fencing projects to transplanting for several days. The brassicas and lettuces are hardening off and will all find their way into the fields in the coming days. Mike has been setting up irrigation and we'll finish planting the tunnels with tomatoes, peppers, basil and a few dahlias for good measure! It's going to be a full week, hopefully our planting legs are ready. 

We spent the days following the storm stretching lines of fence and getting it tight and stapled onto the posts. We're so close to completing this project I can hardly stand it! 

The second moveable tunnel frame is up and we are prepping it for plastic this morning. I think it was a blessing we didn't complete these moveable tunnels earlier in the Spring like we had initially planned as I would have planted them during the warm spell and crops like peppers and basil would not have appreciated the cold nights last week. 

Telluride CSA Members: Harvests start in 2 weeks! We will have our market booth and the CSA pickup set up in Spruce Park from 11-2pm on Wednesdays starting June 7th!

We're sending out weekly CSA Newsletters (please check your email to make sure you're receiving these) with updates on the farm, recipe ideas, info on the produce provided in that week's CSA Share, etc. 

Also, we have set up a Mountain Roots Produce CSA facebook group! We're hoping this becomes a great place for our CSA Community to connect, share recipe ideas, ask questions, etc. Please click here to join the group if you haven't done so already!

Ok, I'm keeping this post short and sweet as I need to tackle some things early this morning. Have a great day and be on the look out for many transplanting photos and updates next week! 

Cold Snap's Coming

Mmmmmm sunset

Good morning! 

Last week was just as they predicted, rain (and some hail) fell at the farm for two days straight and it was incredible. Mike and I took a couple days off and our bodies were so rested when Thursday rolled around. 

I was anxious to get the plastic on the moveable tunnel last Monday before the storm and made a caffeinated decision that we should go for it in the morning, as the sky was calm. It was touch and go for a little while as we had to pound in T-posts and make a couple last might adjustments and we were waffling if the wind was going to stay calm long enough to make it happen. Luckily, we're surrounded by amazing friends (also farmers) who showed up and within 30 minutes the plastic was on. Thanks guys! We couldn't do this without you! I spent the next couple days finishing the end walls and doors and we planted two beds of tomatoes on Friday! Once this upcoming cold snap passes we'll plant the other beds with peppers and basil. Mmmmm hmmm. 

Carrots are starting to size up in the high tunnel

Speaking of this cold snap, it's supposed to be FREEZING on Thursday night. A few days ago they upped the rainfall for this coming Wednesday and the temps were supposed to drop to 30 degrees or so for a few nights. Big deal. Even with those temps we decided to push back our big brassica planting until next week, why push it? BUT NOW they saying 25 degrees. Goodness gracious. Most things in the field will be fine (as long as that number doesn't continue to drop) but the tomatoes will have me worried. I'm going to be blanketing as much as I can with extra layers of row cover during the cold nights in hopes that things don't get too cold or freeze. Lets be honest, I shouldn't be surprised. What's May in Colorado without some winter like weather?

Snow peas blooming! 

In other news, the snow peas just started blooming in the high tunnel! Woohoo! They're so gorgeous and it's exciting to see blooms at the farm. The carrots, beets and turnips are sizing up in the high tunnel, and the tomatoes are adjusting to their new space and beginning to grow. 

Little Gems looking lovely... get ready CSA Members! 

The early crop block is looking good! I caught up on weeding over the weekend and am excited about the diversity we should have for our CSA Members in 3 weeks! That's right, CSA Harvests are only 3 weeks away and we are excited to start harvesting and seeing you all on a weekly basis! 

CSA Members, please remember to check the farm emails. We're sending out weekly emails with info and links for you. And, remember to join the Mountain Roots Produce CSA facebook group, where our CSA Community will be sharing recipe ideas, asking questions, etc. 

Fresh greens taste so good! 

We've started stretching fence! We have one line up and a lot of staples to hammer in but it looks great! I'm so excited for the fence, it's going to make the farm feel secure and my stress levels will be much lower this season without having to worry about deer. We started building the second moveable tunnel yesterday, now that the first one is up and feels solid I think the second one should go up rather quickly?! We may have to throw a party in a couple weeks to celebrate once these building projects are complete! 

The cover crop is growing quickly now and is hypnotizing to watch as the wind blows 

Mike has been busy setting up irrigation and doing tractor work. He shaped the cabbage beds and space in front of the high tunnel for me yesterday and he's shaping the rest of the field later today. Yes! I will be seeding a few crops this morning, ahead of the coming rain. Arugula, mustards, radishes, beets, colorful carrots, herbs, etc. We were going to transplant the next succession of lettuces and bok choy, but we may hold off until the cold weather passes. 

Mike shaping beds in front of the high tunnel last night

OK! I need to get moving. Have a wonderful day and enjoy our seasonal weather this week! 

Planting Push

Mike covering the last potato bed... check it off the list! 

Good morning! It's been a very full week here and our bodies are feeling it.

We were checking the weather forecast last week and they were predicting rain, alot of rain, for this coming Tuesday and Wednesday. We reorganized the priority list to prep and plant as much as possible so we wouldn't get locked out of the field and be unable to plant for a few days. Our short 'before the rain comes list' included plant potatoes and onions, and finish the first moveable tunnel and cover with plastic. 

So... with our priorities rearranged, Mike spent the first half of the week on field prep. He turned in the cover crop, spread fertilizer, disced the fields, shaped beds, marked trenches for the potatoes, etc. 

Field prep step one - terminate the cover crop

Sadie tackled some serious weeding projects on the early greens and roots outside and seeded the next succession of broccoli, cauliflower, basil and the tomatillos. More lettuces and spinach were transplanted and carrots were seeded.

Mike and Sadie pulling onion starts out of the high tunnel

We pulled the onion starts out of the high tunnel earlier in the week and transplanted into the field on Saturday and Sunday. I think we planted roughly 20,000 onions. I love onions... from the sweet yellows to the spicy reds, and especially the storage varieties that hold through the winter and are still feeding us into May! They're such a staple, I'm not sure I even know how to start making dinner without slicing or dicing an onion.  We had great success with a few varieties last year, so we planted a lot of those and are trialling a couple varieties as well. We are growing two varieties, Sweet Spanish and Valencia, from Dan Hobbs with Farm Direct Organic Seed as well as Gold Princess and Karmen from Adaptive Seeds. I'm excited to see and compare how the alliums do this year, how they size up, how they taste and how they store throughout the winter. 

Onions are so GORGEOUS! 

Potatoes! They're in the ground. Mike and I motivated on Friday and planted around 2100 pounds. It was a sunny full day but they were in and covered before dark. Woohoo! Grow taters grow.

We planted the first round of tomatoes in the high tunnel yesterday! Planting tomatoes always feels good... it's a sign that Summer is getting close. The plants normally take a couple days to adjust but then grow like weeds the rest of the season. If all goes as planned we should be harvesting tomatoes by the end of July! Wish them luck! 

The first moveable tunnel is so close! We just need to finish building the doors and set up the anchor system to hold her down, then it's time for plastic. I'm hoping we get the plastic attached this afternoon or tomorrow morning before the rain comes... but it all depends on the wind. We really need a calm 30 minutes to attach the plastic and lately the afternoons here have been very windy so we'll just see. If we're lucky and do attach the plastic in the next 24 hours... I will be able to prep beds during the rainy days and fill this house up with tomatoes and peppers in no time. Fingers crossed! 

Moveable Tunnel #1... almost ready for plastic

We have to focus and get as much done as we can in the next 24 hours, thank goodness for coffee. We'll be prepping beds in front of the high tunnel, transplanting the leeks, scallions, shallots, seeding a couple things, hopefully plastic the moveable tunnel and then... enjoy the sweet sound and smell of rain and a couple days to rest.

Have a beautiful day!  

Stormy Week!

Brassicas doing their thing in the prop house

Wiiiiiind. It's cold and howling outside. Maybe it's blowing out the unsettled weather that has been testing us the last few days? We have had sunshine, wind, hail, snow, gentle overnight rain, cold temps, lightning, thunder, fog, you name it. Colorado Spring, thanks for keeping us on our toes, per usual! 

The brassicas are happy and protected from this weather in the prop house... little do they know they'll be moving outside soon! 

The cover crop is loving this weather! The field was in need of some moisture and thankfully it came in the form of rain on Wednesday evening. Is there anything more soothing than the sound of a gentle rain falling in the middle of the night? I think we received over 1/2 inch of moisture that night and woke up to low foggy clouds and a muddy world on Thursday. Rain delay! We spent the morning drinking too much coffee, checking the weather every 30 minutes, making a planting schedule for the next couple weeks and waiting for the rain to let up. It was too wet to do anything in the field so Mike and Sadie (our rockstar employee!) finished building H-Braces and we are now ready for t-posts and then we can start stretching fence. This fence feels like the Never Ending Project. I spent the afternoon bending pipe and assembling hoops for the second moveable tunnel.

Mike and I watching it hail earlier in the week. 

Sadie and I weeded the fava beans, peas and garlic on Monday. The weeds were getting a little crazy and it felt wonderful to knock them back and give the plants room to grow without competition. We'll see how quickly the weeds come back... I love these hardy crops, mostly because they handle our Spring weather and cause little worry even with the temps dropping into the low 20s.

Fava Beans! 

CSA Members! We created a facebook group this week, Mountain Roots Produce CSA, that we would love you all to join and participate in. This is a private group, so only CSA Members and the farmers will see the content posted. We're creating this space for our CSA Community to share recipe ideas, ask questions, talk about food preservation techniques, etc. Check this week's email for a link to join the Mountain Roots Produce CSA facebook group! 

Telluride CSA Shares are still available, join today! You can read all about the Summer CSA and Fall CSA details and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We are seeding and planting for a diverse and bountiful harvest and would love to have you join us and become a part of our CSA Community! 

Onion starts are ready to move outside... 

The  high tunnel is looking good and about to transform! This weather gave us a chance to catch up on the weeds and set up the pea trellis. We mowed and incorporated the cover crop beds to prepare for transplanting the first tomatoes later this week. And the onion starts are ready for their move outside, we plan to dig them up on Wednesday and they'll be transplanted in the field shortly thereafter.  Excitement is building! 

The high tunnel freshly weeded and two beds of cover cropped turned in preparation for tomatoes! 

I hope you're all cozy inside enjoying this day! Have a great week

Season Prep

Tomato starts looking beautiful in the propagation house

Hello!

A warm breeze is pushing through the valley this morning and the sun is glistening off the fields, which are becoming greener by the day. Birds are singing outside. It's still a little cool at this hour, so the honeybees are not flying about just yet, but soon. 

The calm and peacefulness during the early morning hours is my favorite time of the day. Watching the sky light up and the sun slowly rise, the light creeping across the fields in the distance until it reaches our place. It is SO beautiful. I feel the most present in the morning... before the list of tasks for the day consumes my thoughts. 

Mike running the post pounder at sunset

This week was wonderful, and exhausting. The wooden fence posts for our game fence are all pounded. We rented the machine pictured above, which I find rather terrifying but it got the job done. A hydraulic line blew on day one but Mike was great, he made a few phone calls and after a quick trip to cortez for a new hose and fluids it was back up and running. Now it's time to build H-braces, followed by stretching and stapling fence. Luckily, our new (to us!) Ford 5900 arrived safe and sound last Monday. This tractor, which is a lovely blue and has custom shoulders/fenders that my Dad built years back, has a bucket and a new set of forks for moving heavy things around! Woohoo! We'll be using this girl to help stretch the fence tight. I'll report back with photos and hopefully success soon!

The crops we seeded last week have germinated and are ready for a weeding, the carrots are bit slower and just starting to pop through the soil surface. These crops (early greens, beets, carrots and herbs) are mostly still hiding under row cover, to help conserve moisture and to keep them warmer in the evenings. Saturday morning I think we were sitting around 24 degrees. Brr! 

Today we're seeding radishes, turnips, and the next round of greens and carrots. Mmm hmmm. We excited and ready for our kitchen to be overflowing with fresh produce again... cabbage I love you and appreciate how well you store (we're still eating cabbages, carrots, beets, and potatoes from storage) but I'm ready for sweet lettuces, spicy mustards, tender arugula and fragrant herbs. It must be Spring, our bodies are craving greens, and so many calories! The first CSA Harvest is only 6 weeks away, which will be here before we know it. 

We still have 2017 Telluride CSA Shares available! If you haven't signed up yet, do so today! You can ready all about our Summer CSA and Fall CSA programs and contact us if you have any questions. We're prepping, building, seeding and planning for a diverse and bountiful harvest and would love to have you join us! 

A big THANK YOU to our many returning and new CSA Members who have already signed up this season! You're support and excitement helps us stay motivated during the busy Spring months. We're looking forward to the first CSA Harvest and seeing all of your sweet faces in June! 

Cover crop mix growing in the high tunnel

The propagation house is bursting at the seams and our tomato starts are looking better than ever! I'm so excited, and ready to start transplanting these beauties in a week or so. We have reserved 4 of the 7 beds in the high tunnel for summer crops, and we seeded 3 beds with carrots, beets, peas and turnips for early CSA Harvests. So, two of the future tomato beds in the high tunnel are currently cover cropped (pictured above) and we will be mowing and incorporating the cover crop this week so we can plant tomatoes the first week of May! The other two beds are filled with our onion starts which need to be dug up and prepped for their move outside soon.

We have a second round of tomatoes that we're potting up now. These will find their way into one of the moveable tunnels before mid-May, fingers crossed! The moveable tunnels are coming together, we have one half way built as of yesterday! We still need to attach the u-channel, build the end walls, set up the anchors and attach the plastic. I wanted to complete one and figure out any hiccups before starting the second... but now I'm thinking we should just finish them both so we can ask our friends come over once and cover them with plastic at the same time. Hmm... 

Moveable Tunnel #1 is halfway built! 

It's time to head outside to open the propagation house and high tunnel and water starts. Then a walk in a few circles making a mental list of the many random things that need added to our to-do list. Followed by french toast and more coffee before we start seeding!

Have a beautiful day!

Mindy & Mike