Bloomin'

The word bloom keeps coming to my mind when I think about the season thus far. Not just in the physical sense, but as a whole energy. Last season was tough, and rather a whirlwind that left us feeling more overwhelmed most days that we had hoped, but it was meant to be the year of roots. Rooting down, building the bones of our farm to lead us to succeed. And now here we are in our second season... and oh how those roots have allowed us to bloom. 

Our animals are living in harmony with nature, as intended. They are enjoying the lush pastures that Farmer Kyle worked so hard on last season to bring to life. He spread chicken manure over most of our grazing fields last fall to add rich nutrients to the soil (on top of what we get by rotationally grazing), which improves grass quality thus giving our animals high quality food daily. He also planted cover crops for them to enjoy amongst the varieties of grasses. Not only does all of this create a great quality of life for our animals on pasture, but it also generates beautiful rich hay that we then feed our animals over winter. Haying season has officially begun this week and so far, it's been a kick ass start! We integrated haying into our operation a few years ago as we wanted control of the quality of hay we feed our animals over the winter. We also sell a good amount of it which in return gives folks a supplier for just simply great hay. 

The vegetable fields are bursting with life, as we are almost done wrapping up all our big plantings. Sweet peppers, hot peppers, greens, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, herbs, summer squash, zucchini, leeks, celery, squashes, melons, kale, scallions, lettuce heads, cucumbers, and more are all snuggled in the ground doing their thing. Our tomato tunnel seems to be growing by the day, and we are just so excited to see how great they are turning out. The first week of July is usually when we see some tomatoes ripening! 

So needless to say, we're blooming. Somedays are harder to do so than others, but if it was easy, it wouldn't be worth it. So friendly reminder, keep growing, keep blooming, it's why we're here, just like nature around us. 

Enjoy the video below for a glimpse into our week.