Behind Closed Barn Doors, April Newsletter

Driving by the farm at night these days, may make the passer byer wonder what the heck is going on in the red barn.  The cows are mooing at odd hours, chickens are running amuck and there are red lights shining out of its windows.  This time of the year is the behind the scenes work for the season, where everything is done indoors to prep for the great outdoor show.

The cows were locked out of their pen for a few hours last week for a little spring cleaning once the ground dried out.  Their pens were scraped of all the bedding and manure that piled up over the winter and is currently composting for future use in the fields.   While my partner and I were up to our knees in well, shit, the cows proceeded to stand outside the gate mooing in protest of their newly cleaned out home.  My sincerest apologies to any neighbor in a 10-mile radius.

The chickens, on the other hand, have literally been cooped up for the entire winter and are starting to venture outside again daily.  Every afternoon when I let them out it is like the Running of Bulls in the coop.  They rush outside and proceed to make their way over to the cow’s trough to indulge in all the dropped corn.  After a quick snack they spend the remaining hours of daylight pecking at the ground and tormenting the cats.  All is right in the world of a chicken.

But nothing says spring like the first seedlings popping up from the soil.  It is hard to believe that all the year’s salsa and tomato sauce can all be started from 5 square inches of soil.  Or that one tray of cabbage seedling with produce 100 pounds of sauerkraut, I can already hear my partner’s groan when I tell him its fermenting week.  The Brussel sprouts, cabbages, leeks, onions, herbs, heads of lettuce are all lounging under the red grow lights in the barn, working on strengthening their roots system until they can be transplanted into the ground.  The peppers are placed on a heat mat prompting them to germinate and the tomatoes have yet to be started as I wait for warmer conditions. 

So, from the outside, one might think something is going on at that farm, and they would be wrong because a lot of things are going on here.  Like the transformation of manure into nutrient rich fertilizer.  Or the chickens not wasting a single drop of corn and in turn filling cartons with fresh eggs.  Or hundreds of potential pounds of produce growing in a space no bigger than a kitchen table.  With all this excitement happening indoors I cannot wait to take this party outside.

House Keeping Notes

In May I will be sending out information about pick up dates and drop-offs (Drop offs only for qualifying neighborhoods).  If you have not sent your share payment, now would be the perfect time as egg shares will be sold out this year.  As always, I will keep you up to date.

Stay Rebellious,

Rebel Pickle