Hello friends of the farm, neighbors, and CSA members! We hope winter is treating you well and you have some time to dream about your garden plans for 2021.

Here on the farm, Andy is working on a brand-new high tunnel. We’ll be using it to start growing cucumbers earlier in the season this year, and growing more cucumbers than ever, we hope! We’re pretty jazzed about extending the growing season. We’ve also begun planting loads of seeds in the greenhouse, getting ready for the spring!

Our CSA is filling up rapidly--we have about sixty returning CSA members so far and our CSA mailing list is snapping up the remaining spots. It looks like it’ll be the biggest summer ever for the River Crest Farm CSA. We’re feeling up to the task! Good thing we have Young Oscar (he just turned three!) on the picking crew now.

And when can you come see us in the greenhouse again? Like we said, we’re planting away! We’re planning to open just before Easter with pansies to start. We may have some special days with open hours for succulents and such in February. (Because succulents or a dangerous cactus are the best way to show your love, and we need to make some space for all the new plants that are growing!) Days and hours to be determined. We’ll let you know when we decide, and you can always keep up with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Molly the newest farmcat is doing great. Baby Auggie has been learning the ropes around the farm. Ralph is up all night tending to the woodstove to keep the greenhouse warm. Fudge and Smoochy and the rest of the animals are fed and thriving thanks to Perry. We’re about to start planting onions at any moment. So many onions. It’s going to be an exciting year.

BONUS FARMER LORE

January is a great time for Wassailing! The traditional day to celebrate this ritual is on “Old Twelvey” or the 17th January. It’s an ancient custom that began in cider-producing regions of England. People would recite incantations and sing to the trees to awaken them and scare away evil spirits and thusly promote a good harvest for the coming year.

If you have some trees you want to encourage to bear fruit, you can find all sorts of traditional wassailing info on the internet, but here is a quick list of elements to include in your wassail!

A Wassail Drink. This may consist of some warmed ale, wine, or cider that’s blended with spices, honey, and perhaps an egg or two. Sounds interesting. Hot chocolate would also probably be good.
Singing/chanting. There are many traditional rhymes, but I think you can sing anything that trees will like.
Toast. Toast that has been soaked in your wassail drink of choice is placed in the tree boughs as a gift to the tree spirits.
Make some more noise. Keep singing and add shouting and banging drums, pots, and pans. Make a final ruckus!

Let us know if you wassail your trees this year. We might try to wassail the Christmas trees to get them to grow faster.

Until next time, wear your mask and wash your hands!

--Andromeda & the River Crest Crew