With the weather wildly careening from warm to wintery, the calendar tells us it’s time to think about the growing season. Already, we’ve taken advantage of the dry, temperate weather to get some fields worked up, and our greenhouses are starting to fill with eager little plants. Last year’s persistent lack of precipitation means that our parsnip crop will a bit meager compared to the last several springs, but they will be nonetheless delicious for their scarcity—look for them to appear on late this week on the porch (probably Friday, weather permitting—they’re still in the ground).
Although nature seems to have put the gardening season on hold temporarily, we also have McEnroe bagged potting soil and compost available on the porch for the hopeful and impatient. Vegetable and herb plants will slowly begin to appear on the porch as well, and before you know it, the dramatic reappearance of asparagus, lettuce, strawberries, the harbingers of a new season. Gardeners can expect to see an updated issue of our plant listing on our website starting today.
Hutchins Farm will be participating in a public forum sponsored by the Concord Ag Committee at the Harvey Wheeler Center in West Concord on Tuesday, March 29th entitled ‘Meet Your Farmers’. Farmers from a number of Concord farms will give presentations about the perennial challenges they face growing and marketing food in Concord: irrigation, pest and disease control, soil and fertility building, weed management, and the challenges of extending the growing season on a farm scale. Also included will be information on two Town Warrant articles (no. 40 and 48) that have implications for farms and farmers (and others).
Despite the unusual weather, we’re betting on another productive season. We’re still in the process of putting together a crew, but are grateful to have a fair number of folks returning who have worked at Hutchins before. We’re also pleased to welcome a new member of our management team, our perennial fruit manager-in-training, Adam Hommeyer, who has begun his initiation into the mysteries of pomology.
Although the ‘season’ is still months away, spring’s stirrings have begun, and we hope all our customers, long-time and brand new, find their way back to Hutchins as the weather warms, the leaves unfurl, and the soil begins its annual alchemy. Looking forward to seeing you all this season,
-Brian Cramer and the Hutchins Farm Crew
From left to right: Onions germinating, Snow on March 21st, Turning up some earth.