Field Notes by Matt Steiman
Spring is finally upon us - maybe even early summer! We really felt the heat at the farm this week. We were also thankful for the rain on Wednesday to catch a break from irrigation duties and knock the dust down on the farm. The storm did come in fast and furious - this can be scary and requires quick attention to avoid damage to our more delicate assets. Will got soaked running to close the greenhouses when the big blow came through, and the wind wiped away some freshly laid straw mulch in the onion patch, but otherwise we made out OK. Strawberries are ripening fast - it has been a good test for our new field crew to break in their picking skills - two days this week they picked more than 400 pints of berries! We hope you are all enjoying the sweet, tart treat of spring.
The livestock crew had an eventful week with some calving ups and downs. Monday morning a 3-day old calf got spooked and bolted from our pasture, through the neighbor's farm and out to the public trail and beyond. You know there's trouble when you are looking for a calf - a black speck in a 40 acre wheat field - and you hear cars and trucks honking at something on the road near Boiling Springs. A neighbor reported that the runaway calf got dinged by a car (luckily no person was hurt) and then returned to the wheat field. We had just called up a friendly drone pilot to request his help when we finally located the calf hunkered down in the grain. The danger with a lost calf is if she can't find her way home in a few hours she will dehydrate or starve. Thankfully her injuries are mild and she is reunited with mom in our cow house for a few days. The vet says Angus cattle are miraculous healers and he hopes for a quick recovery.
We now have two ways for you to purchase our grass-fed beef if you're interested. CSA members can always add convenience cuts (burgers, sausages & hot dogs) to their weekly pickup as "extras" through the Harvie portal. All customers will soon be able to buy from our full meat inventory through a new site we're setting up on the Square online portal: https://dcorganicfarm.square.site/ This will be more straightforward than Harvie for larger orders and enables us to list a wider variety of meat cuts including steaks, brisket and other goodies. The Square page should be up and running this weekend - we appreciate your patience as we work out the initial kinks of the system. If you have any questions about meat ordering please email the following list: moserd@dickinson.edu; steimanm@dickinson.edu; farm@dickinson.edu (Danielle, Matt and Mary).
Thanks for reading - have a great week!
