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We feel like proud parents! Chris (in blue), Carol (in white), and Darwin (in maroon) enjoy a sunny spring day with the first round of seedlings. In the top photo you can see the onions with a ladybug friend, in the bottom photo you can see chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and onions. We hope to plant these out in the ground right around the beginning of May. Thanks to Dave for the photos.
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- Compare the onions now to the recent picture of the first sprouts of the year–a big difference!
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- Chris with an uber-long parsnip root. (We left the parsnips in the ground all winter, to let them become more sweet. We just harvested them all.)
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- Darwin plants some seeds next to the Kale, Broccoli, and Cabbage seedlings.
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- the first experiments by our now-expert soil block maker
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- The first seedlings of the year!
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- one week after being planted
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- Grandpa and Grandma show Alyssa the maple taps
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- Chris with niece Alyssa
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- Grandpa sized walking stick and Alyssa sized walking stick!
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- shelf fungi on log near river
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- sun setting behind the trees
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- green moss under snow
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- one week later our sap buckets floating on top of flood water
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- a sap bucket floating away from the tree with the spile and tube still hanging from the trunk
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- Carol on pennisula between river and flooded area
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- Darwin crossing a log over flooded area
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- working member (and friend) Natalie joins us for a hike and finds this twisted beauty
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- two turkeys take flight
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- wild turkeys passing through the yard
It has been so cool at night that we left our tomatoes inside under the lights for longer than usual this year. For the past couple weeks we have been putting them outside during the day, and for the past week or so we’ve been toughening them up by letting them stay outside at night too.
The cool weather seedlings like broccoli, cabbage,
cauliflower, onions, kale, and chard were planted on May 8th. Here, Carol & Darwin
are planting
the “Super Star” Onions.
Carol & Darwin
Chris with the Broccoli
We lit the fire under the maple sap pan on Friday, and after three days of cooking our first 200 gallons of sap have now been reduced to ~4 gallons of syrup. We still have at least one more cooking session ahead of us, but the weather will determine how much more sap we can collect.
We also planted some of the brassica family on Saturday night (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, and Cabbage). The brassicas will grow in flats a few weeks and then be planted in the garden at the same time as the onions.
The rhythm of these annual events provides a deep sense of comfort and meaning. That is not to say, of course, that the whole process is romanticized. There is nothing romantic about splitting wood and stoking the fire when you are cold and tired. Or planting flats of seeds after your dinner guests have said goodbye and your eyes are drooping. The meaning comes not from a romanticized view of these tasks, but in being present with the daily and yearly rhythm of performing them. The comfort comes from seeing both the details of the moment and where it fits in to the overarching flow of things. And also, there is something deeply satisfying about a piece of wood that splits perfectly into what we like to call “chair legs.”
Reimann Family Farm 
