March

There are only a couple of months before the farm stand opens in May for the asparagus harvest! That is said both with enthusiasm for the upcoming harvest and a sense of urgency for projects around the farm. Currently on the top of our list of projects this month: blueberry bush pruning, repairs on our rototiller, the building of a new greenhouse, and the seeding of our early spring crops in the current greenhouse. We just finished hiring our crew for the 2016 and look forward to our two Assistant Growers, Ethan and Wyatt, joining us in mid April. Imagine what we will get done with four of us here at the farm!

To celebrate the beginning of another excellent season, we have plans to get together with our fellow farmers and we hope you will join us! Tuesday, March 29th from 7-9pm at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center the Concord Agriculture Committee is hosting Meet Your Farmers. There will be a panel discussion offering an inside look at growing produce here in town (nutrient management, pests, disease, and more!), as well as a brief presentation on the Town warrant articles related to agriculture.  Following the discussion will be an informal meet and greet. We hope to see you there!

February

Only a week ago, it seemed like we were experiencing an early spring and should be preparing to seed our beets and carrots. The recent wintry weather has been a reminder that we still have a little ways to go before we are munching on fresh local carrots again. However, we can take solace in the fact that in only a few weeks, we will be starting the seedlings in our greenhouse that will later become this season's veggies.

This month we have some exciting news related to our seedling starts. We received a matching grant from the Mass. Department of Agriculture to build a second greenhouse. Furthermore, a generous CSA member has offered to cover the remaining greenhouse costs. Thanks to the support of many of our customers and members of the Historic Districts Commission, we were granted permission to build the greenhouse, and we are set to begin construction as soon as the ground thaws (hopefully in March!). We are so excited and overwhelmed by the generosity of our neighbors and customers in supporting this project. This second greenhouse will make a huge difference for us and our ability to grow more of the vegetables and fruits that you all love. Thank you to everyone who not only supported this project, but to everyone who has supported this business during our first two seasons and made it possible for us to even consider expanding our operations. We are looking forward to another successful season in 2016!

January

Reminders of a more colorful season can be hard to come by in January, but thanks to artist (and Barrett's Bucks Member!) Allie Kussin, we are able to enjoy the bright hues of summer this month! The painting is currently on display at the town building 141 Keyes Rd. as part of the Art and Ag project run by the Umbrella Arts Association and the Concord Agriculture Committee.  Here's what Allie wrote about her experience on the farm this summer:

"At Barrett's Mill Farm this past summer I wandered around with my camera for just the "right shot" to take. I was surprised when this image of coneflowers close up showed an entire landscape. I chose to paint with a pallet knife only, a different technique that gives a lot of energy to a canvas because of the heavy use and generous application of paint."

It's time to think of summer for another reason- membership sign-ups! January 15th is the deadline for the largest discount on CSA and Barrett's Bucks memberships for 2016. It's not too late to send in your forms! We will consider anything postmarked this week in time for the early sign-up discount.

December

December has been a busy month! We attended the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, spoke to the Rotary Club and the Concord Women's Breakfast Club, and met with folks from the MA Department of Agriculture to work on a grant and farm business planning. Between events we were busy typing away in the office!  This month we created our field maps for the 2016 season, planning carefully where each crop will go in the fields. After sketching the layout we took to the computer and started our crop plan - an excel spreadsheet where we outline each variety including a planting date, number of feet to be planted, and spacing within the field. We make our decisions based on previous years experience, chatting with other farmers, and the alluring descriptions offered by the seed companies. Once we've calculated what we need, we submit our orders to several local seed companies and the seeds are sent our way! The first seeds arrived on Christmas Eve, so we will head into the new year with some of 2016's supply in hand.  They will be stored in our office, organized by type so that each variety can easily be found when it's time to start planting in the greenhouse in early March!

November farm updates

The store is now closed for the season, but work on the farm continues!

Farm clean-up is a race against time, and thanks to the warmer temperatures the past couple of weeks I think we can safely say that we are winning! We have covered our strawberry and garlic plantings with straw, taken down all of our irrigation and fencing, and mowed crop debris and field edges. It has also been perfect weather for scrubbing down our wash area and walk-in cooler, cleaning out and organizing the barn, and working on equipment maintenance. There is still more work to be done before we are ready for winter but we are getting there! 

In addition to our remaining outdoor tasks with a deadline, we are also busy in the office catching up on accounting, signing up CSA and Bucks members, scheduling meetings and talks, and writing reports for the town and grant providers. The crop planning for next year will begin in earnest after our list of more time sensitive tasks has been completed and our seed catalogs arrive!