Taking a breath...and then another sip of coffee

These days are so busy and hectic and full of work and scheming and fun. All that we plan for in the winter culminates in these few short months we call a growing season. This week marks one of our milestones for the season, our first CSA harvest. Our to-do list grows longer each week even as we continually cross things off each day. It is these days when I can never imagine how it all gets done but every year, we seem to make it happen. More and more I think it is about the breaths we take and definitely, the stove top espresso maker.

The farm is hopping with projects. Every direction I look I see another bit of unfinished. Luckily, someone stops by occasionally and reminds me how much progress we have made here in the last 5 seasons. This is enough to keep me sane and continuing to plug along.



Meeting with brides and mother's of the bride and potential brides has my brain spinning with ideas and inspiration....mostly at 3AM as I wake up with some vision. I am a big fan of repurposing the old and found and treasured. Always, I am trying to sell an idea to a bride that allows me an opportunity to collect and salvage and explore my favorite places.....flea markets, antique stores, yard sales and yes....the transfer station (otherwise known as the town dump's swap shop).



 I am so excited to show you all the photos of this season's weddings as we move forward.


In addition, thinking about the aesthetics of our soon-to-open dooryard farmstore, Flora*Bliss, has sent me into the land of flea markets.



A holiday of the best kind for a lover of the old, a trip to Brimfield, had me arriving home with a trailer full of fun stuff to use for displays. I also scored the most beautiful Benjamin lamp shades for the exterior of our barns at Brimfield.



 Our fantastic electrician, Cory, from Energize ME and his crew of able dudes have re-wired my lights and I can hardly wait to flip the switch!

There is a little bit of loveliness happening to our English Barn. This barn is unusual as it has two large doors on the side ends rather than the gable ends, where most New England barn doors are located. We have, with the help of Scott and Trevor from Eider Construction, revamped the space, inside and out, to accommodate both our summer camp and some beautiful barn weddings to be.



 We needed to make improvements to meet the requirements of the State Fire Marshall's office and the Town of Scarborough. The inspection will be within the next week. Keep your fingers crossed! The only thing left to do is find the perfect globe string lights to illuminate the space in the evenings.

To top it off, the peonies have found their peace and are sharing it with us. A little slice of heaven for this week's inaugural CSA bouquets.







In addition to peonies in the flower bouquets, the produce CSA harvest looks like this:
Tomato seedlings
Lettuce
Rhubarb
Chives
Sorrel
Spinach
Kale
Bok Choi
Broccoli Raab

The following is from an email sent to CSA members earlier today....in case you didn't receive it.

This week will be our first harvest week for the CSA. We are open for on-farm CSA share pick up between 2-7PM on Tuesday and Friday afternoons.
If you are collecting your share at Maple's Organics or Aurora Provisions, the shares will be there at 2PM on Tuesdays. You can pick up your share anytime after 2PM. Aurora closes at 6:30PM and Maple's is open until 8PM.

If you want to be kept up to date on what's in the harvest, announcements about the CSA and farm happenings, please read the blog newsletter each week. You can subscribe to it and receive the news each week in your email inbox. The link to subscribe is along the left hand sidebar of the website. The other options is to check it out on the web each week.

In addition, we post announcements on Facebook, which you can see if you are a fan of Broadturn Farm.

I have tried to organize all 150 shares and hopefully there won't be too many glitches. But please be patient as we iron out the details. It usually takes a week or two before everything falls into place.

A few key notes about CSA pick-up:

1. Please bring your own bags/boxes/baskets to collect your share at the farm as we do not provide these for on-farm pick-up.

2. Please park in the lot off of Hanson Rd. Our driveway and dooryard are occupied by construction crews currently and pulling in and out onto Broadturn Rd in traffic can be challenging.

3. If you are planning to be away on a pick up day and want to change from one day to another, please let us know before the Tuesday harvest. You can also send someone else to pick up your share if you are on vacation. If there are leftovers from shares unclaimed, we make them available as extras to the CSA and we donate them to Project Grace in Scarborough.

4. John or Stacy will be in the barn on pick up days to help with identifying produce, answering questions and general chit-chat.

5. Please feel free to help yourself to culinary herbs and edible flowers in the herb garden adjacent to the CSA pick-up area. There is oregano, sage, thyme, tarragon, and mint. Soon there will also be rosemary, nasturtium flowers, borage flowers and calendula flowers. Take as much or as little as you can use each week.

6. If you have a flower share, please take your flowers in the jar provided and then return it the following week. Flowers do best when kept in water, out of the wind, and in a cool spot. Don't forget to untie your bouquet when you arrive home and arrange it for the container you choose to put it in. The stems will enjoy a trim to allow them to absorb more water. Change the water regularly to ensure minimal bacteria build-up that is known to decrease the vase life of the arrangement.

And, finally, please share with us the delicious recipes you are using so we might make them available to other members. When in doubt, everything tastes great with olive oil, a little salt and a sprinkle of cheese!

Blessings on the meal-

Stacy

The first 5AM start...I promise there are more smiles after coffee. This year's crew, from L to R: Andie, Emily, Stacy, John, Croix and Stella the dog sporting a new hair cut.