Well we've spent most of the last 2 week slogging through ankle deep mud which can mean only one thing in New England: Spring is here! So, with the warmer weather and longer days finally here we’ve started planning and planting our vegetable garden; one of our favorite spring projects at the farm. We’ve planted a family garden for several years, but this season our staff has asked to join in so we’re expanding our small family garden into a community garden of nearly ½ an acre!
To accommodate the increase in size we decided to relocate the garden to a previously untouched piece of pasture near the turkey house. Inspired by a bucket load of chicken manure for his own garden, our neighbor Joe removed all the sod and turned over the earth with his backhoe. We’re always grateful for what a truck load of chicken manure will get you in our neighborhood.
Gretchen (some of you may know her from behind the booth at the Cambridge Markets) and I had some long hours picking rocks, tilling, and raking everything smooth. Luckily my father is still running the vegetable farm I grew up on, and last month we used his greenhouse to start some seeds that are now seedlings and ready for planting. Access to a top-notch greenhouse: one of the many perks of belonging to a farming family!
Of course, it is great to have fresh produce and we are lucky to have the land to accommodate a garden, but one of our main reasons for starting the garden originally was so our son Emmett could help out and learn firsthand how fruits and vegetables are grown. This year it is especially fun to have our young staff interested and excited to participate as well.
Along with Gretchen, Chris and Matt have thrown their hats into the gardening ring. One of the reasons we made the planting area so big this year is because there is a little competition brewing on the farm. Chris and Matt are concocting plans to plant a rival garden. Chris recently graduated from Norfolk Aggie School and has a lot of ideas he is dying to try out. I suppose we should expect nothing less from two guys in their 20’s, but either way it will lead to more veggies so everyone will win in the end.
Although we are still quite a-ways from being self-sufficient, having the garden does provide many fun and practical benefits for our family and staff. We are fortunate to have more space than many, but the benefits of a garden of any size are numerous and help us instill values important to our family. So if you have a little (or a lot) of space, now is the perfect time to start planning and planting your own garden!
PS: Don't forget to swing by our farm share page to sign up for our discount program for 2017!
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Copicut Staff
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