![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG_2138-e1548094591881.jpg\")
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Happy New Year!<\/p>\n
It feels refreshing that it\u2019s finally cold and snowy outside \u2013 when it\u2019s balmy and muddy I always have the vague feeling that there\u2019s something I should be doing outside, so the snow settles me in to make the garden plan for next year.<\/p>\n
As some of you know (Fall CSA members) 2019 is going to be a different year here at Orchard Hill \u2013 we are changing directions, and will no longer offer a CSA \u2013 for the first time in 21 years! It\u2019s bittersweet \u2013 a lot of members feel like extended family at this point. We will miss catching up with you each week. But I feel the need to explore other directions, and feel out the market without the commitment to growing lettuce for 100 each week! I\u2019ll still be growing vegetables, and we will have lots of asparagus and rhubarb in the spring at the market \u2013 followed by strawberries! I\u2019m pursuing organic certification this year to make it more viable to do some wholesale vegetable sales in the future.<\/p>\n
This year we are going to be at the Horton Farmers Market in St Thomas (Saturdays 8am-12) and the Covent Garden Farmers Market in London (Saturdays 8am-1pm & Thursday afternoon 4pm-7pm). I\u2019m planning to do a little catering, and some value-add foods to take to market as well. We won\u2019t be taking interns this year – also for the first time in more than 20 years!<\/p>\n
Jess Andrews will be staying on as my right-hand woman, with Ken, Martha and Aaron in supporting roles. Ken and Martha worked hard this fall installing wood posts and electric fence around the majority of the west side of the farm, in preparation for a custom-grazing operation \u2013 we will essentially rent out the pasture for the growing season to another farmers\u2019 herd of cattle. Great for the cattle (excellent, organic, nutrient-rich pasture), and also great for the land \u2013 intensive pasturing where you mob-graze ruminants – moving them every day \u2013 is one of the best ways to encourage biological activity and organic matter in the soil. It also attracts insects and birds to the farm. Martha is planning to pursue organic natural dye production and Ken will continue to produce organic grains, hay as well as breeding and training Suffolk Punch draft horses (we just got a colt this year that he hopes to train into a gentle stallion to run with a small herd of mares). We are expecting another calf from Florence this year, as well as two foals from Sadie and Buttons.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to continue receiving emails about upcoming events, markets and special sales, just add your email to this list \u2013 here\u2019s the link:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/goo.gl\/forms\/5qMkxCLuah9PLCgL2<\/a><\/p>\n And finally \u2013 a big thank you to all of you who have been a part of our extended family \u2013 or just eaten our vegetables! Thanks for supporting our local economy, and keeping our family here growing food for the last 40 years.<\/p>\n Take care and keep in touch – come see us at the market, and find us on Insta<\/a> and FB<\/a><\/p>\n Ellen, Aaron, Ken & Martha (and Della and Frannie)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happy New Year! It feels refreshing that it\u2019s finally cold and snowy outside \u2013 when it\u2019s balmy and muddy I always have the vague feeling that there\u2019s something I should be doing outside, so the snow settles me in to make the garden plan for next year. As some of you know (Fall CSA members) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3037"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3039,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3037\/revisions\/3039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.orchardhillfarm.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}