Welcome to the Against the Grain Farm Stand where you can pre-order for pick up at either Watauga Country Farmer's Market or at the farm for Saturday, June 6th. If you're reading this in an email, you'll see the items that we have to offer this week below. You can simply click on the yellow button "purchase from the farmstand" to reserve a box, make swaps and add extras to the base box that Harvie will put together for you. If you're reading this in the Harvie platform, navigate over to the "farm stand" to reserve your box.
The ordering period for Saturday pick-up closes at 8pm on Thursday, June 4th.
If you have any questions about your box or the farm stand process, please reach out to Holly directly by email at atgfarm@gmail.com or by phone at 828-406-4439. If you are having any difficulties placing your order or would like to confirm the contents of your box, please reach out to Holly. Her job on the farm is to help trouble shoot and double check orders for Farm Stand Customers. It is part of our mission that the food produced on the farm be easily accessible to members of our community. The Harvie system has proved challenging for many, so please don't feel embarrassed if it's not working well for you. Holly is here to help as best as she can!
In other news, the farm applied a sequential Biodynamic spray this week. (The photo above is taken early in the morning as the horn silica preparation (one of the preps in the sequence) is being applied.) The purpose behind a sequential spray is to apply all of the Biodyanmic preparations in a short period of time. This particular occasion presented the opportunity for the farm to participate in a spray of unison with other Biodynamic farmers and gardeners around the world, who might also choose to spray at this particular time. This act of solidarity connects Against the Grain to other farmers and gardeners who have similar perspectives and farming practices.
This time also presented a perfect opportunity, according to the Biodynamic calendar, to spray the Biodynamic preparations in order to moderate and balance the patterns of moisture in which we seem to be caught. We don't anticipate that this spray will change weather patterns, but we do anticipate that it will discourage the negative impacts of all this bulk moisture on the crops. Finally, this sequential spray presented the perfect opportunity to apply the horn silica preparation on the ripening hay fields. Horn silica encourages more articulation of the flowering grasses, which encourages ripening and increases hay quality.
We'll be watching the weather soon enough for a stretch of three warm, sunny days so that we can cut, rake and bale the hay that will sustain our livestock for the coming winter. Even as we quickly approach the high summer solstice, we are already planning and preparing for next winter!
Much love and happy eating,
Holly, Andy and the ATG Crew
