Colvin Family Farm

Winters come as a welcome rest on a farm, but between the long nights, the cold, the snow, ice and mud, we really look forward to Spring. So it is with the usual anticipation and excitement that we are watching the early signs of Spring start appearing. We have Spring Peepers in the pond making a racket nearly around the clock, our jonquil's are about to open up, and our Garlic is starting to peak through the blanket of straw that protected it from the harsh winter storms--plenty of signs that Winter has about run it's course and Spring is rolling in.
I have decided to try a different format for our newsletter this month by letting pictures do some of the talking! I hope that you like it.

These Jonquils will open during the next few days--their ancestors were probably planted in our yard more than 100 years ago! There are many abandoned "homeplaces" back in the woods around our place that  are marked only by the stone chimney, and the patch of jonquils that keep blooming year after year. Jonquils are one of the first signs of Spring on the mountain!

We have had six tandem dump truck loads of compost hauled onto our property in preparation for the season's use.

We have been working certain spots of our fields in preparation for planting our early Spring crops. In this freshly worked patch we will probably plant Collards, Turnips, Radishes, Lettuce, and Beets. (I'm sorry this picture isn't really clear, but we don't live in the "rolling foothils of the Smoky Mountains" for nothing!

We are finally gathering eggs from our young chickens! They are a real treat after having eaten "factory" eggs for months

Here are the chickens themselves on a recent snowy day!

We have built tables in our greenhouse! Please notice the "rustic, adironack style" legs! Over the next couple of weeks, we will be planting thousands of plugs of vegetables--such as: Lettuce, Kale, Cabbage, Broccoli, Peppers, Tomatoes etc....

Our new potting table! We will be able to go into production with this handy dandy potting table which features under-table storage for empty flats.

Planted in mid-October last year, we are excited to see our Garlic finally poking through the straw blanket that has protected it throughout the Winter.

Acting on our friend Eric Gibian's advice, we decided to use 100% Recycled, Unbleached, Kraft Paper as our mulch this year. Right here we are punching a grid of 3/4" holes set six inches apart for planting our Leeks and Onions next week!

I hope that you all have a great month--we look forward to seeing you again soon at the farmers' markets!

Adam Colvin
Colvin Family Farm (CNG)
www.ColvinFamilyFarm.com