April 2022 Newsletter

Hello!

Mid-April is here and so is the snow! The farm received a wet 13 inches Monday into Tuesday, rapidly stalling most of our spring projects for the last two days. With almost 45 hours with no power, most of the past two days were spent shoveling, cutting up downed trees, restringing electric fences, and fetching water for the plants and animals.  Fortunately, as of Thursday power was restored and a lot of the snow has melted, giving a greater sense of seasonal normalcy!

Monday Morning after the storm 

CSA & Vegetables

With May around the corner, we are a month and a half from the beginning of our CSA vegetable distribution season. 

It's hard for us to believe we are entering the 7th season of our CSA vegetable share program.  While it feels like a long time, it has also moved fast.  We've been fortunate to stay busy, and have been blessed to have lots of shareholders over seven years, which has made it possible for us to grow.  We're excited for another busy season ahead!

April showers bring mud (and more snow!), which always coincide with lots of indoor seeding and planting here on the farm.  The first succession of greens have already germinated (kale, Pac choy, lettuce varieties, and kohlrabi) in their starter cells and are developing nicely in our high tunnel.  Quick to mature, all of these greens will be ready to transplant in our high tunnel beds by early/mid May, and will be ready to harvest for the start of our CSA early June.  In addition to greens we also have tomatoes, peppers, herbs, broccoli, and onions getting a head start in the heated garage and high tunnel.

Hybrid Tomatoes

Starters in High Tunnel

We are very close to the maximum number of CSA subscriptions we can take for the 2022 season, but we still have a few share slots left! If you would like to sign up for a share, please print out the sign up sheet (link below), fill out, and mail to our farm @ 407 Hardscrabble Rd., Olmstedville, NY. Both half and full CSA shares are available, however, we have sold out of eggs to accommodate the vegetable shares. For more information on our CSA options with full sign up instructions, please visit our website at Vegetable Shares

Current Shareholders  - We will be sending out information very soon pertaining to a starting date for CSA distributions!  

Animals

Meat Bird Chickens - Early May we will have our spring batch of day old meat bird chicks delivered to CCF by mail from the hatchery.  A Cornish Cross meat bird, this variety is specifically bred for meat raising purposes.  We will raise these birds for approximately 9 weeks until they are ready for processing. This will be our 6th year of raising meat birds. 

Turkeys from 2021

Turkeys and Ducks - Early May we will be getting our usual spring mail delivery of turkeys and ducks.  New to CCF, this will be our first time raising ducks! We have ordered White Pekin ducks, a quick growing breed used mostly for meat purposes, although they will lay eggs.  Our plan is to raise the White Pekins for meat, similar to how we raise the Cornish Cross meat bird chickens.  To nobody's surprise, ducks love water.  Although they can live alongside chickens, they prefer their own environment with access to water.  We have already constructed a mobile duck coop which will be parked in the front field near a wet water stream, so they will be raised in their preferred natural habitat.  

Hens - We have been busy harvesting between 70 - 80 eggs daily!  If you need them, please reach out.   

Pigs - We just picked up 7 piglets to raise throughout the summer and early fall here at CCF.  The pigs play an important role in providing nitrogen for our organic soil fertilizer program.  All of their manure is composted and eventually worked into the soil in any one of our growing spaces.  Sourcing good piglets has become increasingly difficult, as more people are raising their own meat, creating a market that is very competitive for springtime piglets.  Our piglets (below) are a Tamworth X Old-Spot (Tamworth Old-Spot Cross), heritage breed piglets.

Tamworth-Old Spot X piglets 

Farm Hand

We're in search of a a summer/early fall farm hand.  A full job posting and description can be found on our blog @ http://www.cobblecreekfarmadk.com/2022/04/help-wanted-farm-hand.html?m=1 

Maple Syrup

What started as a very slow season for sap flow, ended strong.  With 154 taps, we canned just over 20 gallons on syrup. This was several gallons more than last year.  If you would like to purchase syrup, we sell in 8 oz., 12 oz., 16 oz., and 1 quart quantities. 

The last boil

Finished product! 

Cheers for now!

CCF