We’re welcoming the rain this week and getting lots of plants potted up for our spring plant sale in April. Goose love is in the air, so the latest Farm Tips video is about Goose Mating Season on the Farm and what we do to make sure our flock can hatch out healthy goslings. The geese are entertaining creatures—I’m sure you’ll find a few things to chuckle at in this video. And do let us know if you need any geese! They love grass and can keep your orchard or lawn perfectly mowed. They are excellent guard animals, alerting to disturbances. And if you hand raise the goslings, they’ll be your friends for life! We raise Cotton Patch geese, a landrace breed originally raised in the Southeastern U.S. for use as weeders in cotton fields. The Livestock Conservancy rates the Cotton Patch goose conservation status as Threatened, so they are in need of conservation breeding to sustain the line.
The chickens and ducks are laying again too, which means we have eggs for sale through the Online Store now. We’re harvesting a few goose eggs too, so be sure to order one to try! A single goose egg makes the equivalent of a 3-chicken-egg omelette! And it tastes like a chicken egg too. Delicious!
Garden Workshop on Soil Testing & Amending, Saturday, March 4, 10 AM to noon
If you are a gardener, you know that preparing your soil before planting is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a successful harvest. Join us for the Soil Testing and Amending workshop to learn how to take a soil sample and use the laboratory data to create a custom fertilizer mix for your garden. We’ll show you several web-based tools that will help you learn more about your local soil, as well as review the common soil macro- and micro-nutrients and what symptoms to look for if the soil is deficient or if excesses are present. Come prepared to be outside, rain or shine and bring a laptop, tablet, or smartphone if you have one, so you can access the web tool.
Tickets available through the Online Store.
Upcoming Garden Workshops
March 11, 2023, 10 AM to noon:
Setting up and Managing Irrigation
Getting close to planting time now! And the rain is tapering off, so you need to get your garden set up for irrigation! This session will focus on how to set up and maintain an irrigation system that matches your water supply. You’ll learn about pressure and flow and how it relates to how you set up your watering system. We’ll do some hands-on working with irrigation parts, learn how to regulate and measure pressures in your lines, and how to master irrigation timers for optimal watering.
March 25, 2023, 10 AM to noon:
Using Organic Strategies to Manage Weeds and Insects
March is a key month to get control of your weeds and start thinking about managing insect pests. This session will focus on organic methods for managing weeds and insects. We’ll start inside with an overview and move outdoors for some hands-on activities and observation.
March 25, 2023, 1 PM to 3 PM:
Using Organic Strategies to Manage Rodents
It’s mid-spring and the rodents are on the move. Time to get control of the situation! This session will focus on organic methods for managing rodents in and around your garden. You’ll get some hands-on practice with trapping techniques and learn about the habits and behaviors of gophers, rats, mice, voles, and moles that you need to know to effectively manage them.
