I’m sure you are all as happy as we’ve been here at the farm to have had some beautifully sunny, dry days lately. The crew has been out working on repairing the high tunnels as well as doing our winter pruning of the pear and apple trees. Our fields are drying up nicely too so we’ve been able to get out to do some much needed weeding and planting.
Mike & Darin are our resident grease monkeys right now focusing much of their time this month doing the yearly tractor maintenance that involves changing of all the fluids and filters, general lubrication, and minor repairs that they don’t have time to fix during the season.
If the weather holds for us you can look forward to artichokes making an appearance in your CSA shares in ~month as well as the spring onions. We planted a trial variety of artichokes this season called ‘Opera’ that produce heads tinged with violet-red to purple shades! Absolutely beautiful! I peered deep into the leaves on my field walk this week and found some precious little purple chokes. The chokes in the pictures look very different in color, showcasing the variant of colors that will be produced but these are indeed the same variety.
Esteban, our Irrigation Manager, has his brother working here again alongside him and the crew. Noe joined Fifth Crow in 2015 and worked here for a year before he moved to another farm. Now he’s back both working and living at Fifth Crow and we are happy to have his smiling face around here once again!
We also have our new Field Production Assistant, Sarah, who started here March 1st. On her first day she got a little taste of a lot of tasks. She helped harvest bunched leeks, weeded in-between the rows of strawberries, helped assist me with the weekday CSA packing, and packed bags of dry beans. On her second day she got a taste of the flower production side of things by helping Emily bunch Ranunculus and assisting with greenhouse sowings.
We had hired a Flower Production Assistant who was to start March. 1st and be Sarah’s roommate in the house Fifth Crow found for them to rent here in Pescadero but she backed out at the last minute so if any of you know someone who has experience with flower farming send them our way! Emily is “drowning” in a sea of flowers… not a bad way to go I suppose 😉
The latest pic of the road washed out at our Westland property where the creek had breached its bank. You can see in the background where the road begins again and yes, those taller structures to the right are where our flower beds begin.