Hi everyone,

We're back! (Well, we never really went anywhere, but there hasn't been too much to report, farm-wise, over the past few months.) That's changing quickly - the greenhouse is filling up with tender seedlings, the fields are being cultivated in preparation for seeds, cover crops, and transplants, and we were even able to do the earliest spring seeding last Friday, consisting of peas, carrots, spinach, Swiss chard, mesclun, dandelion, faba beans, turnips, radishes, and parsnips. (With the return of colder weather this week, though, there's still not much sign of life out there, but a little warm rain this weekend should give everything a nice boost!

For the latest news from the farm, "like" Songberry Organic Farm on Facebook or follow @songberryfarm on Twitter (I'll try to post regular updates here, too, but it's hard to compete with the convenience of tweeting or posting right from the field or greenhouse!)

Now on to the really big news. After much reflection and debate, we are doing things a little differently this year when it comes to selling our vegetables. Saturdays at the Main Street Farmers' Market have been the highlight of our weeks for the past two years: we love the chance to get to know the people who eat what we grow face-to face. But as a family with two young children, family and friends spread far and wide, and a diversity of personal interests, acheiving the right balance in our lives is an ongoing challenge. In light of this, we are going to be scaling back our market presence this season. Instead of attending every week, we plan on selling at the Main Market once a month, hopefully in conjunction with the harvest of some of our most popular items.

Our first market, for example, will be on Saturday, May 19th and we'll have all of our transplants ready for sale, including a wide variety of the heirloom tomatoes that were so popular last year. We'll also be "opening" our on-line store in a couple of weeks in order to give you a chance to order items in advance, and we may explore other ways to use this on-line store to get vegetables to our fans as the seaon progresses.

The bulk of our vegetable production will be marketed through our loyal friends at the various stores, restaurants, meal services, and box programs that we've been working with - some for almost 10 years now! These include Life Organic, the Herb & Spice on Bank St., Red Apron, Bridgehead, Zen Kitchen, and Rainbow Natural Foods.

We hope that you continue to support us in whatever way you can, and other local organic farmers, too! Feel free to get in touch by leaving your comments here, on our Facebook page, or by emailing me at rob@songberry.ca

Until next time! 

P.S. Julie has written more (and more eloquently!) about our market decisions on her blog. Check it out!