BGF NEWS - April 2024 - VOL. 51, NO. 6

What’s up on the farm?

PRECIPITATION IN THE PAST MONTH: RAIN: 3.18"
                                                                            SNOW: 0.6"

Spring greetings from the farm!

Earlier this week we had two beautiful days of rain with a total of 1.55 inches...what a delight! The fields are greening up and we'll need to start mowing the lawn and pathways as soon as it's dry enough. So much has changed in the past month. The earliest seeded crops are planted in the fields and the high tunnel crops are starting to be harvested. The fruit trees are nearly through blooming and the redbuds and lilacs are starting their turns. 

The past couple of weeks have marked the completion of some of the spring "landmark" tasks.

We finally had the right conditions to get the asparagus plot burned and have started picking just the first few spears. We did "roast" a couple of early spears when we burned but very little was up. Our average first sighting of asparagus is April 17 and this year we saw the first spear peeking out of the ground on April 11. This time of the year the growth is pretty slow as the ground begins to warm but likely in the next week or so we should be firmly in the Age of Asparagus again!

We've also been working hard at getting all the beds and fields prepped for the season. With limited farm crew hours right now, it takes a bit longer to work through everything but we finally got the last of the early prep done and even got a few more crops seeded in ahead of the rain.

The final big accomplishment was getting the potatoes in. It's a multi-step process that includes cutting  250+ pounds of seed potatoes (thanks Mom!), prepping and furrowing the beds, putting the seed potatoes in the furrows and then covering the planted furrows. It takes a number of hands to get through all of the steps and are always very thankful to have good help and to get the task done!

The next big push is to start getting transplants into the ground. We have LOTS of baby plants waiting "patiently" in the sunroom nursery and high tunnel to move out into the big world, but with this weekend's low temps, we're happy to still have them tucked up safe and warm. However once we get past this cold snap we will move into high gear with transplanting. We refer to this stage as "whomping them in" meaning, getting as many plants into the ground as fast as we can! 

So that's the quick review of the past month, but what about something exciting to look forward to? We have three big announcements:

First, how about a new bouquet subscription?? Introducing...

Starting in June and running for 12 weeks, subscribers can get a beautiful, sustainably-grown bouquet every two weeks, designed especially for them and available at our VegEmail deliveries. Serious flower fans can sign up for 2 subscriptions and get a bouquet every week! Subscriptions will be limited and sign up will start in early May so keep an eye on your email!

In other exciting news, we do have a couple of openings in this year's CSA/farm share but the cut off date is just 10 days away! Sign up now to lock in a full season of fresh produce for your family! We have availability at our Des Moines, Knoxville and on farm pick up locations. You can read more about the CSA and sign up here: 2024 CSA Info and Sign Up. If you have questions about CSA membership, don't hesitate to message us here.

If you know someone who would love a season full of fresh, local, chemical-free produce, please share the joy and send them our way! Our amazing members and customers are the best ambassadors of the farm!

We are partnering with our friends from Farmyard Fancies for a CSA Bread Share option again this year and in Des Moines, Ebersole Cattle Co hopes to offer a monthly Egg Share in conjunction with the CSA if there is enough demand. If you are a Des Moines CSA member and are interested in getting eggs with your produce share, please email: shanen@ebersolecattleco.com

And our final announcement: This week marks the last Tuesday VegEmail delivery! But never fear, in May, we will change to our summer schedule of weekly Saturday deliveries. The next order form goes out Monday 4/29 for pick up Saturday 5/4, so keep your eye on your inbox. We'll be at the same locations: in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater.   If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - March 2024 - VOL. 51, NO. 5

What’s up on the farm?

PRECIPITATION IN THE PAST MONTH: RAIN: 0.4"
                                                                  SNOW: 0.00

Greetings from the farm!

While the calendar says spring doesn't start for another few days, the weather for the past month would say differently. The plants, not being able to read a calendar are taking their cue from Mother Nature! We are seeing plants and returning birds running 3-4 weeks ahead of average. The grass is greening, the trees are budded and the bush cherries are blooming! The garlic is 6-8" tall, and some of the rhubarb is nearing 12". 

While the early warmth feels good, it continues to make me really nervous. There is still plenty of time for winter weather, in fact it's forecast to be 18° tonight! All that tender new plant growth is really susceptible to damage from temps that low. So we're crossing our fingers and spreading some extra mulch where we can to protect select plants. 

In the past couple of weeks we've cleared the spent high tunnel crops, amended the beds for the new season and sown & transplanted the first of the spring crops. Planted so far: peas, head lettuce, chard, kale, choi, salad mix, arugula and tatsoi. This week we'll add a couple more successions of salad mix and arugula. 

Things in the transplant nursery are starting to get serious too! We're on schedule so far with sowings of our field crops including: head lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, collards, cauliflower, chard, kale, assorted flowers, fennel, eggplant, roselle and peppers. Within the next few days, the alliums and other more cold-hardy crops that were sown last month are going to get kicked out to the small high tunnel to start hardening off, as they are taking up valuable space inside that is needed by the up and coming warm-weather crops. The spring rush is definitely on!

One of our exciting developments this spring includes the start of a new 2,100 square foot insectary strip in our El Sur plot.

Earlier this month we prepped the bed and sowed a seed mix that is formulated to attract and support pollinators and other beneficial insects. While we have a fair amount of native and natural areas throughout the farm, it's important to us to ensure that we provide a habitat for the populations of beneficial insects and invertebrates that call our farm home. We depend on their services much as we do our farm crew, so we are trying to be better stewards of the littlest workers on the farm.

Another new development we've been working on is shooting more videos of activities on the farm. So far we've published reels of field and bed prep, seeding transplant flats, and potting up plants, not to mention a quick clip of one of our least favorite pests! 

If you aren't already following us on social media, we invite you to join us there and get a little "backstage" view of the farm. You can find us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. 

A less exciting development recently was a wildfire here on the farm. We'll start by saying that all the residents (2 & 4-footed), buildings and gardens are fine. The fire started when high winds reignited a neighbor's controlled burn from the previous day. Luckily it was spotted by another neighbor who let us know. We spent the rest of the day, along with our fabulous volunteer fire department fighting the fire. 

By dark, it was largely out, though we spent the next two days continuing to put out hot spots. All told, the fire burned about 8 acres of ground including timber, prairie and hay ground. It could have been so much worse and would have been without our local firefighters. We are SO dry here, as is most of the state that it is a scary time to be burning anything. 

Time is running out to sign up is for the 2024 CSA (farm share) season! We have filled about 2/3 of our memberships already, so secure your spot now and lock in a full season of fresh produce for your family! We have availability at our Des Moines, Knoxville and on farm pick up locations. You can read more about the CSA and sign up here: 2024 CSA Info and Sign Up. If you have questions about CSA membership, don't hesitate to message us here .

We are  partnering with our friends from Farmyard Fancies for a CSA Bread Share option again this year and in Des Moines, Ebersole Cattle Co hopes to offer a monthly Egg Share in conjunction with the CSA if there is enough demand. If you are a Des Moines CSA member and are interested in getting eggs with your produce share, please email: shanen@ebersolecattleco.com

VegEmail deliveries continue on the winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater. The next order form goes out Wed 3/20 for pick up Tuesday 3/26, so keep your eye on your inbox. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May as long as the weather allows. In May, we will change to our summer schedule of weekly Saturday deliveries. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - February 2024 - VOL. 51, NO. 4

What’s up on the farm?

PRECIPITATION IN THE PAST MONTH: RAIN: trace
                                                                  SNOW: 1.00"

Percy sporting 1" of snow

Happy February! 

After what felt like a 90 day long January, in which we had our "2 weeks of winter", it feels like we've sprung into spring! The temperatures are up, the ice is off the ponds, the frost is out of the ground and bird song has changed to territory and mating calls! It sure feels early for all of this. 

While the warm weather and sunshine feels good on our faces (and improves our moods), my farmer's heart is concerned. This kind of weather is hard on our trees and perennial crops. It also makes for an easy winter for crop pests and diseases that are slowed down by deep freezes. The lack of moisture predictions in the extended forecast is also a point of real concern as we have seen only a little improvement in our drought conditions. Despite all of that, as with most farmers, we are optimistic about the season to come!

And regardless of what the weather is doing, the calendar and our nursery shelves say that the seed sowing season has begun.

So far we've sown all of our alliums crops (onions, leeks, scallions and shallots) early flowers and greens to be transplanted into the high tunnels. 

We've also expanded our microgreen experiments this month. We only have a short window to play around with them, as our seedlings will soon take over all our grow space, but it's been fun to have fresh grown crops to tend, eat and to share with our VegEmail customers.

The extra warm weather has pushed many of our high tunnel crops to "bolt" or mature to set flowers earlier than usual, so this week we started clearing those spent crops and preparing the beds for spring greens. This is a much slower process now than it will be later in the season when the farm crew is here. They can turn over both high tunnels to new crops in a day. For now it's just the farmHer and her hoe so it will take me the better part of a week to clear crops, amend the soil and replant. I can't tell you how much I miss the crew at these times!

It's National CSA Week! 

We use the term a lot, so what is CSA? At it's most basic, Community Supported Agriculture is a farm membership program where members purchase a “share” of vegetables, directly supporting a small, local farm. The membership fee is paid up front and members receive a box full of healthy, vibrant, fresh, chemical-free produce for 20 weeks (June-Oct.) 

Sign up is now open to the general public for the CSA season. We have filled about half of our memberships already, so now is the time to secure your spot and lock in a full season of fresh produce for your family! You can read more about the CSA and sign up here: 2024 CSA Info and Sign Up

We are  partnering with our friends from Farmyard Fancies for a CSA Bread Share option again this year and in Des Moines, Ebersole Cattle Co hopes to offer a monthly Egg Share in conjunction with the CSA if there is enough demand. If you are a Des Moines CSA member and are interested in getting eggs with your produce share, please email: shanen@ebersolecattleco.com

VegEmail deliveries continue on the winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater. The next order form goes out Wed 2/21 for pick up 2/27, so keep your eye on your inbox. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May as long as the weather allows. In May, we will change to our summer schedule of weekly Saturday deliveries. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - January 2024 - VOL. 51, NO. 3

What’s up on the farm?

PRECIPITATION IN THE PAST MONTH: RAIN: 0.5"
                                                                  SNOW: 26.00"

Happy New Year from all of us at BGF!

As is common on a farm, the weather has been the big story in the past month. We received a full winter's worth of snow from January 7 through January 18th (annual average snow for our area is about 26" and we got 24"). It seemed a bit overwhelming at the time but we tried not to complain too much. All this snow hasn't made up for the dry conditions in 2023, though, as we are still classified in a severe drought. So I'll probably kick myself (or someone else will kick me) but bring on the snow! We will happily pass on the extremely cold weather though! That is no fun for anyone and definitely makes chores more challenging.

We managed to miss the first big snow, as we made a quick trip to Colorado to visit family and friends there. Due to the weather (and the interstate closing), we had to extend our trip a couple of days and we are VERY thankful for family and farm crew who made it possible for us to be away, not to mention family that hosted us and made us feel welcome even though we were there longer than intended.

We had plenty to catch up with as we arrived home in time for the deep cold and second big snow, followed by yet more snow! Ah well, I did say we need it. That cold was something else though! Even with the insulation of several feet of snow around the high tunnels most of our greens crops were at least damaged, if not killed outright. Disappointing but not entirely unexpected. While it means a decrease in available greens for our winter VegEmail customers, it also means we can likely turn those beds over earlier for our spring crops.

Amid lots of snow chores we've been occupied with a number of indoor activities as well. Mid-winter is conference and meeting season for farmers and we enjoy the opportunity to learn, share and network with other farmers in the state virtually and in person.

The seed orders were all  placed earlier this month and most of the seeds have arrived. The next step is sorting and storing everything so they are easy to find. Seed starting season is close behind! We've been working on some cool new plans for the upcoming season and one of those new projects includes expanding our microgreen offerings for early spring. So now that the seed for those crops has arrived we can start playing around with them. Stay tuned for other exciting announcements coming soon!

And speaking of coming soon...The growing season is just around the corner and that means CSA signup season is in full swing! 

There's just 5 more days for veteran members to reserve their spots. Current CSA members from the 2023 season should have received a reminder email last week with the new sign up information (if you didn't get yours, check your spam folder or be sure to let us know).  All remaining CSA spots will be opened to the public on February 1. If you aren't a CSA member but are interested, shoot us an email and we'll get you on the waiting list! Remember, the sooner you sign up, the easier it is for us to plan for the season.

VegEmail deliveries continue on the winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May as long as the weather allows. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - December 2023 - VOL. 51, NO. 2

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past month: Rain: 0.5"
                                                                  Snow: 0.00"

Happy holidays from all of us at BGF! What a year it has been and how very thankful we are for our amazing family, crew, members, customers and friends! We wish you a season filled with joy, good food and those you love. 

In the meantime, this is the season of seed and supply inventories, of planning and mapping (and scheming)! What changes will we make for next season? What are we keeping, adding, expanding or dropping? So much planning to do! 

The stack of seed catalogs has been perused and the seed order lists begun. That task should be mostly completed before the end of the month. Then we move into conference and farmer meeting season and before we know it, seed starting season will begin (in about 6 weeks).

This is also the time of year that we get the chance to focus on the fiber side of the farm. Much spinning and dyeing of yarn is on the schedule as well as furthering our recent adventures in eco-printing.  If you are interested in any of these products we do "U-Pick Yarn" sales at the first delivery of each month at Peace Tree-DM Branch. We are happy to arrange local "viewings" for our Marion County customers as well as ship items for non-locals. Just shoot us a message if you're interested.

VegEmail deliveries continue on the winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May as long as the weather allows. Our next delivery is Tuesday, 1/2 and the order form will go out on 12/27 at 5pm. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

CSA 2024: 

Signup season has begun!  Current CSA members from the 2023 season should have received an email earlier this month with the new sign up information (if you didn't get yours, be sure to let us know).  Those members have until the end of January to register for the upcoming season. Any remaining spots will be offered to our waiting list in early February. If you aren't a CSA member but are interested, shoot us an email and we'll get you on the waiting list! Remember, the sooner you sign up, the easier it is for us to plan for the season.

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,
Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)

BGF NEWS - November 2023 - VOL. 51, NO. 1

What’s up on the farm?

Precipitation in the past month: Rain: 1.35"

                                                                  Snow: 3.50"

Welcome to our November newsletter. We'll publish these once a month until the start of the CSA season in early June. Our goal is to give our members, customers and friends a quick peek into our world on the "back-side" of the seasonal farm calendar. So grab a hot beverage, sit back and join us for a little tour of the farm this month.

We hope your Thanksgiving was filled with a bounty of delicious foods and time with your favorite people.  We are thankful for a time to slow down a bit. Not that a farm ever really rests, but November is usually the time when the pace on the farm starts to ease. The rush of the main planting and growing season is done, many of the crops are out of the fields and the farm crew is on limited hours.

VegEmail orders continue to be harvested, packed and delivered every 2 weeks, so it's not like the farming season is done for us but besides that, what have we been doing for the past month?

Installing and maintaining row cover (giant pieces of fabric) to protect the producing crops in the field and high tunnels from cold. It means harvesting takes longer, as the covers have to be removed and then replaced, but it does extend the lives of many of our fall crops. Some of our crops don't get covers, especially root crops. We just let them grow to the size we want and them harvest them all at one time. We can do this because these crops store well for an extended time in the cooler. 

This includes carrots, beets, turnips, radishes and daikon. This makes for some very long harvest days as they all have to be washed and topped (greens removed) before going into the cooler. But once that work is done, it is such a delight to have them all ready to be bagged up for orders. Happily, we were able to get this done before the bitter cold temps hit so these crops are all tucked into the walk-in cooler for the winter VegEmail season.

Clearing the beds of spent crops is always a big job in the fall. All the plant matter goes to one of our composting piles. Then all the trellises, support posts and fabric mulch have to be cleared and stored. Irrigation system parts are all rolled up, labeled and stored as well. These tend to be messy and sometimes wet tasks and we were very pleased that this year, those all happened on fairly pleasant days, as often that isn't the case.

Usually the final big fall task is planting the garlic crop for next year. All of the heads are broken into cloves and each clove is hand planted.  Our crew has gotten really efficient at this task but it's still a significant undertaking. This year we planted a bit under 200 pounds of seed garlic, which translates to about 3600 cloves. Then once the cloves are set, they are all covered with soil and the whole plot is mulched with straw. It is a huge project and one that we celebrate once completed!

Amid all the end of season field work, the high tunnel crops were sown or transplanted, cultivated and tucked into their own row covers for harvesting throughout the winter.

This fall we harvested and shelled nearly 900 pounds of popcorn, a big record harvest compared to the previous record of 360 lbs! 

This year we chose to greatly expand our dahlia selection for our bouquet making. It was such a delight to stroll through the amazing variety of blooms all season. It's a good thing we enjoyed them so much because the beast that is dahlia digging and processing in the fall is no joke! Each clump is dug, washed, dried, divided, labeled and stored. We had pretty decent tuber production so if all goes well over the winter we hope to have some tubers available for sale in the spring. 

This is also the time of year when I start focusing more on our fiber products. There's lots of fiber and yarn to dye and much spinning to be done, not to mention our new passion in eco-printing silk scarves and other fabrics!  Just a reminder that we offer our U-Pick Yarn sales on the first VegEmail delivery each month in Des Moines. So locals can stop in a peruse our full fiber inventory. Folks who have yarn interests but aren't in DM can contact us directly for other options and we are happy to ship any of our fiber products.

VegEmail deliveries have now switched over to our winter schedule of every other Tuesday in Des Moines at Peace Tree-Des Moines Branch and in Knoxville at the Grand Theater. We will continue to do these sales every two weeks until the first of May.Our next delivery is Tuesday, 12/5 and the order form will go out on 11/29 at 5pm. If you aren't receiving the VegEmail order form and you would like to, just fill out the form here: VegEmail Sign Up

T-Shirts are here! If you preordered a "Rooting for you!" t-shirt, they are available for pick up at either of the December deliveries.

CSA 2024: 

We have already started getting questions about next year's CSA season. "Current" CSA members from the 2023 season can start signing up in early December. Then we will open any available spots to our waiting list in January. So keep your eyes open for more CSA details to come next month.

All the activities and craziness aside, we are thankful for the privilege of living here on this beautiful farm, raising tasty, healthful produce alongside our fabulous farm crew. We couldn't do it without our amazing family, customers, members and community supporters. So we are thankful for you! 

Is a monthly newsletter not enough for you? Do you want to read more about our life on the farm and see more pictures? Follow us on Facebook at Blue Gate Farm or on Instagram at bluegatefarmfresh. CSA members can also connect with other BGF members to share recipes or ask questions on our FB community page at Blue Gate Farm Community.

That's about it for now. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know.

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and the whole BGF crew)