January 10th

Baby, it's Cold Outside!!

The weather may be iffy this weekend - we may actually get some snow! But the Leesburg Winter Farmers Market goes on. Now, if conditions truly are dangerous, we don't recommend that anyone take unnecessary chances, but we'll have the fire pit going to keep you warm as you quickly pick up your farm fresh eggs, meat, apples, honey, bread and wine - all the necessities of a cold winter day! A hot mug of cider will do wonders for warming you up--don't forget to grab a bottle from Bigg Riggs or Glascock's Produce to have as soon as you reach home.

This is perfect weather for a hot, satisfying bowl of soup. Pick up some soup bones from Chicama Run or Mill Road Farm, add sausage of your choice from Baker Pork, Haskins Family Farm or Milcreek Farm and give your slow cooker a workout with this week's recipe for Portuguese Kale Soup.

This Week on the Farms

Chester Hess has finished cleaning up his fields in Martinsburg, WV, by taking up the plastic mulch and irrigation drip tapes that were used on his vegetable growing areas. The plastic mulch keeps the weeds down around the vegetables, helping them grow strong without competition for nutrients. The drip tapes help supplement rain water and are filled from the farm's well and water tanks in the fields.

Apple tree pruning is underway and Chester is about to plant several hundred new apple trees in an experimental high density planting in a refurbished peach orchard. He's picking up the trees from a specialty wholesaler in Pennsylvania who custom grafts your choice of varieties onto rootstocks specifically designed to grow under your particular conditions. Combine these apple trees with the 350 peach and nectarine trees Chester put in last year, and we should all see some great fruit at the Market in a couple of years!

Chicama Run celebrated New Year a little bit early as one of their goats started giving birth at 8pm New Year's Eve. Dana Sacco tells us that they had a set of triplets born that night to their daughter's commercial doe "Shelly". Unfortunately due to the freezing temperatures one baby did not make it, but currently one is out in the barn with his mom and the other baby goat is in the house as a bottle baby (and happily keeping everyone up at night)! On Sunday the 4th, one more baby goat (called a kid) was born and more are expected to appear soon. January 10th begins the start of the first part of our lambing season - keeping Dana and the family busy checking on everyone in the barn. The freezing weather means that extra care must be given to babies born this time of year, but Dana and Joe plan these births so that their children have animals to show at the 4-H fair in late July. These show animals need to be born by February in order to make the weight requirements for the market lamb and goats.

Bill Hatch of Zephaniah Farm Vineyard is continuing the finger numbing job of dormant pruning. At this point, about 20% of this cold winter task on the farm's 1000 vines has been completed. Last week, before Bill's son, Tremain left for New Zealand, he and Bill pulled out 190 old Chardonell vines which never performed as hoped. They have ordered 200 Petit Verdot cone# 4 vines grafted to rootstock 3309c from Vintage Grape Vine Nursery in California to replace the Chardonell. This new planting will be done in May, when Tremain returns from his research project in Blenheim, New Zealand.

Check back next week for more News from the Farms!

Products in season for the month of January

Arugula Beef Breads Celery Root Cheese Chicken Cider * Eggs Flowers Goat Jams & Jellies Kale Lamb Lettuce Pastries Pies Plants Pork Salsa Soaps Soups Spinach Turkey Wine Winter Squash * Wool & Products Yogurt