Winter Wonderland

Hello out there! It’s been a long time since our last newsletter – did you think we left the country? No, we’re here, although its hard to see us behind the massive hills of snow that hide the farm from the road!

Hopefully winter is going well for you. We’ve been enjoying this wonderful snow and having kids old enough now to do even more sledding, x-country skiing, and snowshoeing without having to leave the farm.  What else do we do here over the winter?  Lots of things.  The day to day chores of course include the animal care.  Along with feeding the sheep and chickens, we have to monitor their water buckets frequently to make sure they haven’t turned into frozen blocks.  We also take a lot of care daily keeping the many doorways and gates free and clear of snow and ice allowing animals and people to move in and out.  Like many of you, we’ve clocked some good hours moving snow off the driveways and walkways.  We have produced however, fabulous “mountains” of snow right outside the front door – endless activity-making for the kids, and we all sleep better as a result.

Enough snow talk.  The majority of the daytime hours are spent indoors working hard planning for the coming season. Thanks again for all of your thoughtful surveys which help us in this process.  Our seed orders are all in and we are looking forward to another great year.  This month we’ve been working on hiring apprentices, reworking the website, tweaking the budget for 2011, finishing the bookkeeping for 2010, and advertising the CSA for 2011, among other projects. Next month Seth will start to be outside a bit more, fixing a roof, changing oil in machinery, welding a multitude of new and broken things and splitting wood. While we don’t ever stop working, the pace of winter slows down as compared to summer; Seth can sleep in until 6:30 a.m.!

We’ve been lucky to have Bethany with us for another winter helping manage the animal care before she moves on to her next farming challenge this Spring.  Jacinda spent December with us, then headed south for the month of January to Brazil.  She has been working with children and helping to create a community garden in a small rural town.  She’ll be back just in time to catch a few lambs (more on this below.)  Adrien has been helping us with some data management this winter, putting his MBA and accounting background to good use, while he is also trying to secure a home and land of his own to farm. We’ve been in touch with emily who is mastering the art of heating with a woodstove while working at Wolf Pine Farm in Alfred.

Things to look for in the coming months are a lamb open house; a redesigned website with more recipes and a local businesses page; a “greens handbook” with info on all the different greens we grow and cooking ideas; summer dates for cooking & preserving classes at the farm; and enjoying early Spring Greens!

Spring Greens! We will be starting our greens mixes early this year in the new high tunnel (greenhouse) along the Upic field. Our plan is to offer 2 CSA pick-ups during the month of May for all of you featuring tender succulent greens. More on the details as we get closer.

CSA Payments. February 1st is approaching and a payment of $138.33 is due for all of you on the winter payment plan. If you have yet to sign up for a share just drop us a deposit and we’ll make sure to reserve one for you.

Lamb time is coming! By the end of this week we expect to be welcoming in our first lambs in the barn.  We are hoping to have around 130 lambs this year and will be hosting an open house just for CSA members on Sunday February 27th from 1-3 p.m. Bundle up the family and come on out and spend some time with some very cute lambs.

Farm Camp. Maura is planning an even better farm camp this summer. Session dates and sign up will get underway in mid-February. Rates and discounts for CSA members will be on the website soon!

Farm Camp Junior Counselors. We will be looking for junior counselors to help with farm camp. If you know any 12-15 year old kids who would like to spend a week at the farm while gaining great work experience contact Maura: maura@crystalspringcsa.com or 729.1112

Share the love. Tell your friends and neighbors about what it’s like to be a member of a CSA – if they sign up based on your referral we’ll thank you with $20 towards your CSA share or in credit for eggs, milk, lamb or whatever you like from the summer CSA store.

Sledding, snow shoeing and cross-country skiing at the farm. What a year for dry snow! The farm has a great sledding hill and miles of trails for shoeing/skiing. Just park where you do in the summer for CSA pickup and walk up the trailhead.