It’s finally starting to feel like spring! We kicked off our spring season last week and we are hoping to leave this very wet winter behind. Although I don’t think we are free from the rains just yet, it’s at least nice to feel some sunshine and heat. It has been quite a winter with all the heavy rains and strong wind. We’ve been cooped up inside and eager to work outside. As we start breaking ground and enter the long season ahead, I reflect on the months that have passed while we let the earth rest.
In the week leading up to the beginning of winter and continuous rain, we had a group of third graders visiting from Monterey Bay Charter School help lay straw over our cover crop that we urgently scattered by hand before the first rain. Now, the fields are now blanketed with fava beans, oat grass and weeds, resting and restoring before the summer planting.
We also were able to get our strawberries in the ground before the winter weather picked up. They have been maturing over the winter from little crowns to plants with fruit that are blushing red. Strawberry harvests are on the horizon!
And while we couldn’t do much in the fields, we have focusing our energy on planning, reorganizing, fixing and stocking up for the season ahead.
In the past month, we received a new addition to Farm Discovery thanks to one of our Wavecrest students. We now are the proud new owners of Kaia, the pygmy goat. When she arrived at the farm, she was very pregnant and we expected her to give birth any day. We waited and waited, until the following week when she couldn’t have timed it better. She gave birth to triplets while Wavecrest was here for their farm day, and the student who helped us find Kaia was able to participate in the birthing process!
So, with babies born and blossoms budding, it seems that we have entered spring. We are looking forward to another great season and hope to see you all at the farm!