Gildrien Farm

The first "summer" farmers' market is tomorrow - from now on, they'll be weekly, outside at the Marble Works. We'll be in the same spot as we were last year, and we plan to be there every week, so come say hello. We've got radishes this week - and our three successions all matured at once, so it looks like it'll be this week only! They're really tasty, nice and mild. We'll also have pea shoots and spinach again, and if you haven't tried this spinach, you're missing out. I think it's the best we've grown, really nutty and just good tasting. It feels like the perfect thing for spring. And we took Sonora on her first big hike this week to gather ramps, the amazing and delicious wild onion that only appears for a few weeks each spring. They are a real treat, good everywhere that you'd usually put onions or garlic. We especially like to use them in scrambled eggs, added to hamburgers, and in pasta. Come get some while they last!

Martha Stewart may not be everyone's cup of Earl Grey, but she has a great seasonal recipe section on her website. While the "spring" ingredients might not all make their appearance here until summer (green beans?), there are a bunch of recipes for asparagus, rhubarb, ramps, radishes, spring lettuce, and other yummies that will be ready soon if they aren't already. We should have radishes and ramps at the next market, and scallions and lettuce are coming soon. (Did anyone see our spring lettuce last year? We're hoping to get some even bigger, more beautiful heads this time!)

We'll also be adding some more spring-time recipes to our recipe section, so check back there for updates. If you have any favorites, let us know & we'll share!

Thanks to Joanna of Otter Creek Yoga for including information about our CSA in her April newsletter - just another example of why we love the Middlebury community so much. Welcome to anyone here as a result! Please poke around the website and get in touch if you have any questions.

That's ginger being planted down the middle of the solar heated bed, with seedlings on either side.  We're pretty exited about that.

(Yes, the CSA will get ginger. Yes, you can still sign up.)

And thanks to everyone who stopped by the market to visit and meet Sonora today - it was great to see you all! The farmers' market moves outside starting May 7, so if you didn't get a chance to come down today, stop by then for some spinach, pea shoots, and maybe radishes and more.

We'll be at the Middlebury Farmers' Market next Saturday, April 23, with a bunch of fresh spinach! We'll also have eggs from our chickens, who are psyched to be back on grass after the long winter.

Afterwards, we're going to be at the Middlebury College Earth Day celebration with some information about our solar heat set-up. Come down and say hello (and meet the new baby)!

We've been busy with all sorts of projects, but the biggest and most important arrived on the first day of spring. Meet Sonora Rose.

(Also pictured: pea shoots and spinach seedlings. Look for us at the farmers' market in another month or so!)

Oh, March. It's time to start dreaming of warmer weather and green things... and with that in mind, we've posted some new recipes featuring winter salad ideas. Check it out - and let us know if you have some of your own!

The Addison Independent featured our solar-heated germination bed in the 3/14/11 issue! Click here to download a PDF of the article, or you can read it on their website.

Thanks to Andrew Stein and the Addy Indy for a great, thoughtful article.

As spring is fast approaching, it is time to turn the farm switch to "on".  We had a much busier winter than expected, which unfortunately did not involve growing any produce. 

Jeremy spent the fall and winter building a new high tunnel and solar heating system for the greenhouse.  This will enable us to expand our indoor production greatly.  We are both very excited about having 3 times the greenhouse space as last season.  What that translates to is more early spring produce (greens, radishes, and scallions) and more tomatoes in the summer.

Last Fall we received a grant from the State of VT to build a solar heated germination chamber in one of the high tunnel greenhouses as a research project.  We are researching the feasibility of using solar hot water for supplemental heating in the greenhouse.  The idea is to heat a very small portion of the greenhouse rather than heating the entire volume of the building.  While we have not artificially heated our high tunnels until now, we feel that this system fits with our philosophy in that we are still only using the sun and water to grow plants (no fossil fuels).  What we did was create a radiant floor heating system in a raised bed and then covered that with a cloth cover (row cover).  So far the system has been able to keep the soil in the bed between 50F-55F and the air temperature 3F warmer than the rest of the greenhouse.  The next test is to set the soil to 70F and see if we can keep the air temp 20F above ambient.

Finally, the most exciting news is Caitlin's winter growing project... a baby!  We have a new addition to Gildrien Farm arriving soon.  The due date is March 13th, which can mean any day now.  Much of our winter was spent preparing for the baby and now we are waiting for the baby to arrive.

Today was the trial run of the solar heater in the greenhouse!  More to come as the project develops.