The season is in full swing at Verdant Hare. We are in the fourth week of our CSA (community supported agriculture) shares and have been getting great feedback from our customers. Boxes have included mustard greens, kale, lime balm, pink celery, and Napa cabbage among other leafy things. It feels so good to be eating such nutrient dense foods straight from the field again. Greens have a wonderful way of cooling the body that feels good as the season heats up. I recently prepared a dinner with sautéed green garlic, radish, broccoli side shoots, and a roasted chicken from the farm and it was simple and delicious. The best foods are those that are fresh from the field, prepared with minimal fuss, and grown mindfully.
We have added a cow to the farm! Her name is Agnes and she is a Jersey cow that we purchased from a local dairy. She is about to have her third calf any minute and then we can start milking her every morning. It has been good practice getting to know her while she is in her dry period. I have no experience with cows and needed the time to get into a routine with her that didn't involve invading her personal space. We've been getting along well so far, though she did accidentally step on my foot and possibly broke one of my toes. Steel toed boots have become a must in the pasture, and frankly they should have been anyway. Agnes is on rotation in the pasture with the ewes in electronet from Premier 1. She tends to eat the taller grass and leave the shorter stuff to the sheep. The only issue that I've had so far with co-grazing is that the cow can walk through the fence if she's motivated enough and liberates her sheep friends in the process. Moving them more frequently has been helping with this issue.
