Herb Garden Expansion

We recently expanded our u-pick herb garden to accommodate our increase in CSA members this year. We sheet mulched the grass with cardboard and a thick layer of compost, then transplanted the herbs from our greenhouse directly into it. By the time the roots grow down through the compost, the cardboard should be decomposed. The result is an instant (well, several hour) transformation from sod to herb garden, with no tilling necessary.

Heritage Hogs

We are embarking on a pig breeding adventure this year, which has begun with the purchase of some heritage breed piglets. They are Tamworths, one of the oldest recorded pig breeds developed in Ireland and England, brought to the U.S. in the mid 1800s. Tamworth pigs are known for their cold hardiness, vigorous foraging, good mothering traits, and exceptional meat flavor and quality. Their instinctual intelligence has not been bred out of them, so they are alert, curious, energetic, and amazingly smart. It is wonderful to see them at work in the woods, foraging for roots, grubs, acorns, and mushrooms in their natural habitat.

Right now they are 30 pound piglets, but the plan is to raise up and keep a Tamworth boar to breed our Large Black (another heritage breed) females that will arrive on the farm in a few weeks. If all goes well, we will have our first round of Frith Farm piglets next Spring!

Baby Broilers

New meat chicks have arrived! They are 3 days old and correspondingly adorable. The livestock trailer serves nicely as their brooder, and is set up in the courtyard for easy viewing by all visitors to the farm. It's hard to imagine they'll be 5 pounds or more in 10 short weeks!

Groundwork

With warm April weather comes lots of hard work. For us the season begins with feeding the soil. We are expanding this year, so opening up some new plots from pasture. For this we use a Berta plow, after a generous covering of compost, rock powders, and leaf mold.

In beds that were formed last year, we use a no-till approach, simply spreading compost on top and planting into it. Avoiding tillage allows the soil structure to improve and earthworms to thrive, and of course requires less work and fossil fuel use on our part.

So far we have seeded carrots, parsnips, turnips, spinach, lettuce, mesclun, and arugula, with peas, radishes and many more on the way. Our overwintered spinach and kale is a bit battered from winter, but deliciously sweet from the cold, and our garlic is up and looking good!

Porcine Plows

Spring pigs have arrived! They are already hard at work, rooting up the plot where we will plant our winter squash come June. Their job is to mix in a truckload of leaves to increase the soil organic matter. We'll see if they're up to the task!

Rhubarb & Raspberries

We recently planted rhubard and rasberries from cuttings generously donated by the folks at Edgewater Farm in Phippsburg. It may be a year or more before we are able to harvest much, but even the distant hope of rhubarb pie and fresh summer berries was plenty of incentive to get these in the ground!