Posters!

Posters are up and brochures are out for Sundora's 2011 CSA!

To pick up a brochure go to Bud & Bella's Bookshop or Three Bean Cafe right in downtown Randolph. You can also email SundoraFarm@gmail.com to get a brochure!

Henrietta

So far we've had 4 CSA pickups this season, and things are off to a bit of a rocky start... two plantings of head lettuce bolted before I could get to them, I didn't plant enough broccoli raab at first so not enough of it budded at the same time to make it worth it to give out. Most of my cilantro has bolted too, my snap peas got too heavy and collapsed by trellis... never a dull moment!!Shareholders have been getting a good amount of kale, collard greens, and salad mix though, among whatever other goodies we find ready out in the fields each week.

I am hoping that very soon their baskets will be filling up with more than just greens and snap peas!

And now the tale of Henrietta:

Henrietta was just another nameless chicken among the ranks, a number if you will. And then one day about 3 weeks ago as I went out to her chicken tractor to feed her and her friends, I noticed that something was wrong. All the chickens were crowded in the sun away from the back of the coup making lots of noise. When I crawled into the coup I found little Hen Hen( her new nickname) hanging upside down by her foot from the nesting boxes, who knows how long the poor girl had been like that! I went over to her immediately and eased her little body back up into the nesting boxes... her foot came immediately free. I knew that cocky little Gus Gus would never allow me to crawl out of there with one of his ladies in hand without giving me a good beating, so I quickly exited the coup and snuck around back to pull down the back flap behind the nesting boxes that I usually collect eggs through. She was still sitting there in the nesting boxes, so I grabbed her and secured the flap once more without the slightest retaliation from Gus Gus. Mission accomplished.

Once in the house little Miss Hen, Dad and I washed her little leg that was already swelling, and got her some water and food. After a little bit of relaxation time in the porcelain sink in the house, Hen Hen and I made our way out to the barn where I promptly made her a little hospital hay nest in the front stall with her food and water right next to it so she could eat and drink without having to move...

Since that day Hen Hen has been healing really well. Since she is all by her lonesome in that stall, I open up the doors and let her free range with me during the day while I'm out there. She's still limping, but she moves pretty quickly regardless, getting stronger and stronger everyday. The other day I was out in front of the barn watering the piggies, and here comes Hen Hen down the front steps of the barn, hobbling over to stand next to me as I did my chores. Then she followed me inside to get grain for them, and back out to feed the piggies. She takes her farm tasks very seriously... I'm thinking about making her full time staff... we'll see how her references pan out...

In other news, things are getting really big in the field! We've got baby broccoli coming soon, basil, green beans, cherry tomatoes, the flower garden, and summer squash are also on the way. This heat is causing everything to kick into high gear, and while it's making it harder to keep up with the weeds, the veggies are really taking off... I'm a proud veggie mama.

Brochures for 2010 Growing Season Now Available!

It's official, Sundora Farm is now taking on shareholders for the 2010 growing season. Below is a small version of our brochure for this year, just to give you an idea of what it looks like. If you'd like a digital copy just shoot me an email and I'll get you one right away! SundoraFarm@gmail.com Spread the word!

Community Supported Baking on the Rise

Lately I have been spending a great deal of time in the kitchen every week baking. As we move out of the regular growing season and into the colder months, I find myself wanting to bake almost constantly. I think this is because last winter I worked at Great Harvest up in Burlington as an early morning sweets baker and absolutely loved it. It's the best job I've ever had outside of farming. So I have been continuing to use the skills I picked up there to feed my family and make a little money on the side.

I've been making both whole wheat and wheat/white hybrid sandwich loaves, all kinds of dinner rolls, and even some french bread in addition to almond white chocolate chip brownies, almond vanilla cakes, apple crisp, cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip pecan cookies. I've been selling bread, rolls, and cookies every Monday during our retail time here at the farm and I'm also providing Three Bean Cafe with bread for their paninis.

So, with all the fun I am having baking, I've decided to do a winter bread share from my home, I'm calling it Community Supported Baking (CSB). It will work just like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in that people will pay up front for so many weeks of bread, rolls, or sweets, and then come pick up their goods on a designated day each week during the baking term. The first round will start in November. I'm still getting prices together, and a few other logistical things, but once I do I will have order forms available via email and also at a few locations in downtown Randolph. In the meantime, if you're interested in ordering bread, rolls or sweets from me, please don't hesitate to send me an email or stop by on a Monday between 1:00 and 6:00pm to check out my baked goods.

Finally, an update!

Sorry for the long absence! CSA season has been a crazy time for Ben and I, and the blog has had to take a backseat. However, I will attempt to catch you up as best I can!

The piglets aren't piglets anymore! Flo Jo, Herkimer, and Crysta have grown so much in the past month! They love their outdoor pen so much better than being in the chicken coup.

We were able to transport them out into their new pen a few weeks ago by throwing some cracked corn in the back of Dora's dog crate, and shutting them in. We then loaded the crate onto our garden cart and wheeled them right into their new pen. It was the smoothest transition we could have imagined... when they emerged from their crate they immediately put their noses to the soil, rooting around in pig heaven. Before we knew it they were covered in mud and running around playing tag in their yard. They are the happiest pigs I have ever seen.

One of my favorite things to do is to come up to the side of their pen (which is 20x50), yell "Come on guys!" and start running for the other end of their pen. When they hear that they all come bursting out of their little tarped in shelter and chase me down to the other end.

It took a little bit for the pigs to figure out that they could trust me, but now we have really comfortable interactions.... this is my sister Andrea rubbing Flo Jo's tummy!

In other news, Ben has baby chicks! We don't have any good pictures of them since they are under a red heat lamp, but once they get a little bigger I promise to post some.

They are black australorps. There are 25 of them.

We're still removing rocks daily... many of them are too heavy for us to move ourselves...

So the tractor does a good amount of the work for us. Thank goodness.

Our CSA has been going for three weeks now. Honestly I have to admit that we have far less produce than I had planned. From the rain and cold in May to a lack of experience in planning the season out, the first shares we've put out have been smaller than I had hoped.

But our shareholders have been tremendously supportive and are looking forward, as are we, to the green beans, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, etc. For now though, we are enjoying plentiful amounts of salad turnips and greens! These turnips can be pink or white and they can be eaten raw. The white ones are a little spicier than the pink ones, and both have delicious greens. I'm trying to get the town of Randolph addicted to them because they are an early, quick root vegetable that's as easy to grow as it is tasty. So far our CSA seems to like them and the Randolph Farm Stand even bought a few bunches from us last week! Such excitement!

This picture is one that Ben took of me a couple weekends ago. He thought the world needed to see what farmer Claire wears for Sunday chores... Sometimes it just feels better to be out in the field in my pajamas...

Now I'll leave you with some more pictures from the farm and a promise to do a better job of keeping you posted! Enjoy!