Month: March 2023

First come the nice, warm days getting us all excited about Springs arrival and then get these cold snaps! I “harvested” all of my pretty daffodils on Friday evening and made a huge bouquet. I will miss seeing them when I am transplanting in the greenhouse this week, but I knew the extended cold would wilt them. I wanted to enjoy their beauty just a bit longer. Perhaps our blueberries will survive this cold weather as they were not all bloomed out yet. Time will tell.

The plants in the greenhouse are growing in leaps and bounds. Robert keeps starting new seed beds and I do my best to keep up with transplanting the seedlings. This stage reminds me having baby chicks to watch over . . . windows open, heater off, mist, then mist again, then windows shut, heater on, and mist again! It is important to start the gardens with strong plants. And we do have some beautiful plants which is one of the first steps in growing vegetables to fill up our CSA Boxes!

The winter gardens have been turned over putting nutrients into the soil. It is still too early for us to plant in the gardens, of course, so Robert has been tackling some multi-floral rose bushes along the driveway and in the woods. This pest has an amazing root system and can quickly take over an area. He does not use chemicals. Robert uses a pick axe! He says it is good exercise!!

This might be a good time to thank the two people who help keep our bodies in working order! The Geberin’s moved to our area after 50 years in practice in San Diego, CA. Victor is a Certified Advanced Rolfer which means he is a master practitioner and teacher of the Rolf Technique of Structural Integration. If you have never heard of this type of bodywork before, you are not alone! We had to look it up to see what it entailed, but Robert and I can both testify that his work is AWESOME. If you want to know how we were helped with our various physical “ailments,” give me a call and I will be happy to share our experiences.

We are grateful for those of our CSA Members who have been with us for nearly thirty years! However, we always have room for new veggie lovers! If you decide we are a good “fit” for you and your lifestyle, join our CSA for the 2023 harvest of fresh, local, seasonal vegetables. We do have CSA Farm Shares available at this time! Feel free to call or email me (Glenda) with any questions.

How many times in one’s day (or one’s life) does one think I am in the right place at the right time? This happens to me frequently. A vehicle runs a red light, but I delayed in proceeding through the intersection. That item I have been considering just happens to be on sale the day I go to purchase it. The person you randomly meet in a location you seldom frequent becomes your good friend. Life is all about time and place!

The same is true in the garden. From a microscopic seed to a seedling to a plant to a fruit or vegetable which one can harvest and eat for the nourishment of one’s body the variables of time and place are constantly a factor. Remember the cabbages which we were unable to grow in 2022? Out of the hundreds we planted, truly less than a dozen were harvested and this was all a matter of time and place. The seedlings looked beautiful in the greenhouse; the plants we transplanted to the garden were some of the best we had ever grown. Then the May rains arrived and that particular section of the garden was swamped; the plants were stunted and unable to produce the crops we planned for and expected. But what if those plants had been in a different time and place? Oh, but one was!!

My grandson was growing one special cabbage plant for a school project. In 2022 the plant company Bonnie gave each third-grade student in the Nation a cabbage seedling to plant and attempt to grow with a winner to be selected from each state. My grandson brought his seedling to our greenhouse in his backpack and in a small plastic sleeve. I will admit Robert and I did not hold much hope for its survival. However, the nine-year old lovingly planted it into a pot; and as it grew, into a larger pot, and then yet again! Finally, the day arrived when it went into the garden. A place was selected at the end of the cabbage row so he could identify “his” cabbage plant. Of course, this plant was larger than ours since it had been started at an earlier time. And the place he chose to plant it was slightly higher in the garden. Pictured below is the amazing twelve pound cabbage he was able to harvest! For the life of me, I do not understand why it was not declared a winner. I suppose it all had to do with time and place!

The May 2022 crops which we did plant at the “magic time and place” were our Asian greens! My mouth waters as I recall the delicious salads we had for weeks. 2022 was a good year for green beans, squash, zucchini, eggplant and sweet bell peppers, too! Currently, we are starting the 2023 joi choi, ching chang, tatsoi, romaine, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, etc. seedbeds. Each seedling is moved from its germination seedbed and lovingly transplanting into its individual pot so it can grow to the proper size in our climate controlled greenhouse until it is time to be transplanted to the field gardens. With each seedling, I say a prayer for it to have the time and place and temperature and moisture and lack of pests necessary to flourish. And as we are working with hundreds and hundreds of seedlings each and every day, this is a prayer without ceasing!

With our unique CSA Box pick up schedules, Robert and I attempt to cover the time and place for our CSA Members to obtain their veggies in a manner that is most convenient to each family. We cannot be all things to all people, but we do our best by offering our daily harvest on various days and at various locations throughout Buncombe County. We are grateful that some of our members have been with us for nearly thirty years, but we always have room for new veggie lovers!

We do have CSA Farm Shares available at this time! Please read over our website. If you decide we are a good “fit” for you and your lifestyle, join our CSA for the 2023 harvest of fresh, local, seasonal vegetables.

This is an amazing time to be on Planet Earth.  Participate in the Shift.