Lovely, Bright, Sunny, Daffodils
This weekend we had the whole mix of Spring weather. I got the stand out late on Saturday because my tractor guys were working hard to prepare a new field across the street for planting. It was so exciting to see my field transformed into neat beds ready to accept seed. I will be planting more arugula, lettuce, beets, and scallions this week as well as the first spring sowing of kale, Spring mesclun mix, and carrots. I like to let folks know not just what I'm growing, but also a little bit about HOW I farm. For example for fertilizer, I do not use chemical fertilizers, rather build good soil health by adding compost and organic sources for plant nutrition. That's why I was thrilled on Friday when I met the Veteran's Compost truck over at the new field for my first 10 yards of dark rich organic compost to apply to the new garden. My soil is very sandy so in order to retain water I need to build up what I have with organic material in the form of off farm compost and in future years "green manure" created by planting my own cover crops. Please always feel free to contact me with any questions about my methods. I believe how the food you eat is raised should be completely transparent. If you ever have a question about how I farm, call me or send me an email, I'd be happy to tell you more.
Sunday the rain kept the cute little stand inside until well afternoon, then the wind knocked the whole thing over, daffodils everywhere on the ground! Luckily, many of the bouquets landed on their feet so I still have several lovely jars of daffodils in the cooler ready to go. I had a blast putting them together with other early Spring stems like Pieris and Forsythia. The first few varieties are blooming right now, but there will be even more fun choices in the weeks to come. I'm experimenting with a delivery route in Davidsonville and the surrounding area. If you are interested in ordering one of these sunny beauties, and you live in Davidsonville, Riva, or Edgewater, please send me an email at kelly@fairytalefarmette.com and I will bring it to your doorstep.
If you followed last weeks post you know I tried to get some social media love going for the humble radish with a #savetheradishes tag. I didn't have too many folks posting ideas for what to do with radishes (shout out to my friends Susan and Marina for posting up their favorite recipes) but the Farmette had tons of followers for the hashtag which makes me think folks just don't know how versatile this little veggie is! I put together a Pinterest board featuring radish recipes and there are some good ones on there. My daughter Ava is a fellow radish lover and she mentioned radish butter that she tried at Metropolitan restaurant in Annapolis. I found a good Pin for radish butter so please tag me on social media if you try it. @fairytalefarmette and https://www.facebook.com/fairytalefarmette/.
Last but not least, if you subscribed to the Weekly Harvest at the Davidsonville Green Expo before this week, you should have received a pdf of Eat Your Greens: Ideas for Not-So-Boring Salads. Let me know if you have any trouble downloading the file from your email. I can't wait to see all of your beautiful salads so please send me photos. I'm working on putting together another guide with customer recipes using the produce that I grow at the Farmette so if you have a good one, send me an email or post it to social media and tag me. Not sure what I grow? Just click over the the Farmette Stand tab on this web site.
Local, Sustainable, Small is Beautiful.