Mid March CCF Newsletter

Hi All,


We hope this newsletter finds you well and maybe even brightens your day! We are currently living in some crazy times filled with uncertainty of the unknown. While it is easy to get sucked into constant media reporting on the CoronaVirus, it is important to try to live your normal life and take care of yourself. 


We recently posted a blog post regarding our stance on the Virus, it is titled “Navigating Uncertainty.” In this post we briefly discussed how we are still pushing to start up our shares this spring, but may have to alter our distribution operations a bit. We will keep you all updated with any changes or modifications to our CSA. Additionally, we plan on being more active on our blog with new posts and recipes that will keep everyone occupied during these next few months.


In other news, the spring CCF season has been taking off! We are prepping for the summer, starting new projects, organizing and cleaning. We are trying to go about our everyday lives with purpose, productivity and excitement for the summertime.


Spring Sugaring and Maple Syrup - 
The sugaring season has been very good so far.  We have 112 taps this year. This season to date we have produced and canned over 11 gallons of syrup.  The weather this upcoming week looks favorable for continued sap runs and more maple syrup production. In a good year our average yearly production runs anywhere between 12 - 15 gallons.

March farm projects - 
As the snow melts, the projects on the farm are quickly picking up.  We are currently clearing a section of woods near the barn to provide a larger outdoor space for this year’s pigs.  This added outdoor space will provide more natural habitat for the pigs to graze and root. Late March is also the time to clean and prepare the greenhouses and barn.  


Last season we installed our 4th greenhouse.  We are very excited to put this to use later this spring.  Once the plastic goes on in early April, which is the last touch of the greenhouse set up, we can start planting some early season crops. This new growing space will be home to various types of greens such as lettuce, spinach, and chard.  In May, we will plant the bulk of our tomato plants in this greenhouse. The greenhouses have been a game changer in our ability to produce large quantities of healthy tomatoes over a longer period of time. 


Vegetables and Seedlings - 
Even though there is still snow on the ground in upstate New York, we’ve entered the early springtime growing season! We are already growing 5 varieties of onion seedlings in the basement. Next week we are planning on planting some herbs and tomatoes as well. As we’ve mentioned before, if there is anything you would like to see in the shares this year, please let us know! :)


2020 CSA Vegetable Shares - 
Sign ups are now open for our CSA veggie shares! If all goes according to plan, we will begin distributions in early to mid June. We encourage everyone to sign up for these shares as soon as possible as our sign up list is filling up quite quickly!


Animal Front - 
Last fall we purchased 50 chicks from a hatchery in Pennsylvania.  These young hens (pullets) reached laying age about a month ago, and are now laying in full force.  Out of the 50 pullets we are averaging 45-48 eggs per day. Combined with our smaller force of older hens we are collecting between 55 and 60 eggs total daily!  If you are in need of eggs they are being sold daily from a cooler on the porch at 564 Bird Pond Rd. Swing by and help yourself to purchase!



This upcoming season we will be raising pigs again.  The current plan, once we have sourced piglets, is to pick them up between mid-April and May 1st.  


Well, that's all for now! Keep sleeping, taking Vitamin C and resting. Remember that this is only temporary. 




All the best, 
CCF :)

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