In the morning, as the sun is just beginning to rise high enough in the sky to cast a soft pink light onto everything, the spring peepers usher in the fresh waves of enthusiasm of a new day here on the farm. As we start, we roll up the sides of the greenhouse, open the fence gates, swallow up the last of our morning coffees and get to work. We take a lot of pride in our curated gardens and hope that all of our neighbors take the chance to enjoy them too. The fields change color and texture with the changing of the seasons so it’s important to take a moment to stop and observe the beauty. We have around us the perfect situation - we’re a large enough farm to have a bit of everything, yet small enough to not get lost in the rows. We celebrate the diversity in produce that living and growing in Virginia allows for us from the bright and bitey greens and brassicas of the spring to the tender and thirst-quenching melons, tomatoes, and berries of the summer and hearty and robust squashes of the fall and winter. We also grow flowers, herbs (both culinary and medicinal), and loofas (yes, the shower sponge)!
The land has the amazing ability to grow and share exactly what we need exactly when we need it and eating seasonally from your local environment helps you adapt to the changing seasons. Eating tomatoes at their peak ripeness provides your body with higher levels of lycopene, a carotenoid that helps protect your skin from the harmful rays of the summer sun. Eating carrots throughout the cold months helps boost your immune system with an increase in vitamin C. Let fresh and natural produce be your preventative medicine.
As the sun begins to stick around longer and the days become warmer we hope to see all of our neighbors climbing out of the winter hibernation period to stop by the farm again. We’ve missed you all during this cold and rainy winter. And keep your calendars marked for the first weekend in April when we’ll be hosting volunteers back on Friday the 2nd and will be having our first Saturday market on the 3rd! See you all then!
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