| Hedlin Family Farm |
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1/14/12
As I write this, the sun and the rains are engaged in an epic struggle for control of the heavens. ·While the sun may be holding its own up above, here on earth the rains still have control of the board.
Despite the persistent precip, we have taken good advantage of every planting window that’s presented itself in the last month, and here at the cusp of June we find ourselves nearly caught up with our plantings.
It’s been a good spring to be growing in a greenhouse. ·The lettuce we planted in the crop tunnels back in March can be found on our shelves in sweet, crisp abundance. ·Our tomatoes and peppers went into the crop tunnel right on schedule and are taking every advantage of their fortunate circumstances.
While my Cinco de Mayo forecast for ripe tomatoes turned out to be a touch optimistic (though not without precedent), if you chance in to the stand this weekend, you may be lucky enough to find a pint or two of the first cherry tomatoes of the season, and even the occasional heirloom. ·Expect a merciful return to tomato abundance by mid-June.
Even outside there are signs of life. ·We have a fine little stand of spinach from our first succession that will be ready in the next week or so. ·The bloom on the strawberries is as thick as I’ve ever seen it, and the first of those blooms have ?transformed? themselves, under the bees’ vigorous ministrations, into tart, close lipped promises of a sweet, lush, June.
Our Farmers Markets are ramping up for the season, and in addition to our La Conner farmstand, you’ll be able to find us at the following markets weekly through most of October.
Mount Vernon [www.mountvernonfarmersmarket.org] – Saturday, 9-1
Downtown Mount Vernon at Gates & Main
Sammamish [www.sammamishfarmersmarket.org] – Wednesday, 4-8
801 228th Ave SE (Between City Hall & the Library)
Bellevue [www.bellevuefarmersmarket.org] — Thursday 3-7, Saturday 10-3
Thursday – Saturday (Runs until Thanksgiving)
First Presbyterian Church Washington Square
1717 Bellevue Way NE 10610 NE 8th St.
Mercer Island [www.mifarmersmarket.org] – Sunday 10-3
Mercerdale Park (Between 77th & 78th on SE 32nd)
There are still shares available for our 2011 CSA Program at all locations. ·Sign up today and check vegetable shopping off your list for the next five months
Your chardmonger (in about three weeks),
Kai Ottese
Happy New Year, everyone. It is a tranquil time of year here on Hedlin Farms. Much like the hearty cabbage, we have tucked ourselves in during these coldest months, drawing on our taproots, doing the quiet, necessary winter work from which the coming season’s harvest will grow. Tranquil, but quickening.
What does all that allegory look like on the ground? We’re laying fresh chips in the greenhouse, dropping seed for tomatoes, to be followed shortly by peppers and eggplant. We’re eyeing the towering stack of 2012 seed catalogs with equal parts anticipation for the season ahead and exasperation at the perennial holes to be filled in our crop lineup. (What? They don’t carry that variety of beautiful yellow storage onions anymore?)
You can still find our winter cauliflower at the Co-ops in Mount Vernon and Bellingham, as well as our Brussels sprouts, beets, and winter squash. If you keep your eyes out, you even can find some of those same humble, but dignified vegetables done up for a night out, just over the hill from us at Nell Thorn in La Conner and Adrift in downtown Anacortes.
It is also none too soon to sign up for our 2012 Farmshare CSA Program. You can sign up anytime online by clicking on the ‘Sign Up’ icon immediately to your right if you are a new member. If you have had a CSA with us in the past please access your account and enroll from there. You can also do things the old fashioned way if you prefer by printing out an enrollment form and mailing it in.
All of us at Hedlin Farms wish you the best for the new year – We hope to hear from you soon and we’ll see you in the spring!
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