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Friday, March 7, 2008

March

This is the first post of the Broadside on blogger.com. We hope this format is easy for everyone to view and easy for us to "publish." We will post a new Broadside every month (or so) until we get closer to the harvest season, when we will post every week. Keep checking for the latest!


We calmly await the melting of layers upon layers of snow, even as yet another storm approaches. The winter weather has been great-- a good storm every week, nice cold skiing, bright sun, and the requisite February thaw... but we are ready for a change in season nevertheless. We think the animals are too.

The snow drifts have made all of our fences useless. Access to hay is the only thing keeping Dulcie the Jersey cow, and the others in their area. Stella on the other hand doesn't eat hay and she has been harder to contain. Our last winter pig decided it was too lonely out in the field and so she walked over her buried fence to join the sheep. A new lamb was born to Agatha at the end of February, and we expect another one soon. Come by to see them!

We have started onion seeds, and a handful of flower seeds, all germinating inside next to the wood-stove. Soon the greenhouse will be heated and lots of work will take place in this artificial Spring-time. We have also been at work renovating the largest barn at the farm. So far that means lots of sledgehammer and sawing; but by May we should be getting started on replacing some pieces to the sill and flooring.

Our membership drive is still on-going. We had a number of families leave the CSA, with the driving distance the biggest reason. This is still fall-out from our recent move from Cape Elizabeth and we thank those folks for trying to stick with us for our first season in Scarborough. The silver lining is that we have more room for our new immediate neighbors. We are also increasing the size of the CSA to 100. Open slots are therefore up to 50 members. Still, we do not have enough space to satisfy the demand: our waiting list is over 200 names long! More than anything else, this convinces us of the need for what we provide to the community. It also underscores a need for more farmland, and more farmers providing locally raised food. We now respond to those interested in joining our CSA, "Tell your local land trust to preserve more working farmland; encourage more farmers to work close by; and continue to support existing farmers through direct markets, making this career choice economically desirable!" In other words, create the environment that has made Broadturn Farm viable! Thank you all for already making it possible!

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