Wow what a difference a week makes! I noticed yesterday (as I drove out the driveway on the way to yet another meeting) that the wild onions have started growing and this morning, as I wandered around, lots of things are waking up for spring; blueberry buds swelling, the breath of spring and quince are beginning to bloom and more! Betsy is beginning to wonder if I actually farm anymore or just go to meetings about farming. This last five days has been non-stop. The first market was enjoyable even though it always seems like we are learning to walk again, even after 20 years at the Carrboro Market. We always view the first market as both a shakedown cruise to make sure we can find all of the market paraphernalia and to have time to visit with all of you before the season gets rolling so fast that we don’t have much time for conversation at market.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I had a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) board meeting. Fortunately this time it was in Pittsboro so I didn’t have to travel. We worked hard and, as always, I came away mentally tired. This is a great umbrella organization that does important work all across the South with family farms. I encourage you to check out their website for all of the different areas that they work in www.ssawg.org . I would encourage you as a supporter of local food and farms to consider making a donation to help in the important work that SSAWG does. Our farm is the kind of operation that SSAWG is working to create, we have gotten lots of inspiration and ideas for our operation over the years from this group and we think that it is the best of the organizations that we work with.
The board meeting ended at noon and I rushed home to help plant eight more beds of vegetables before the impending rains and then rushed off to the Community College to teach a class on tomato production. Yesterday I was gone again, very early, to drive to Goldsboro to give a workshop to a group of extension agents on crop rotation. This is a bit unusual as I am the one who is usually sitting in the audience learning from them. But this is the last one! Today starts the beginning of the non-stop farm season! Thankfully Joann started regular work Monday so at least something is getting done around here! We are running about a week behind on one of the major projects of the spring season which is moving the “sliding” greenhouses and getting the early tomatoes planted (more on this next week). Today we will begin the process by preparing all of the tomato beds for planting. So I am off to the field…
