Vermont is in deep winter, and the snow is great for practicing some free heel ski turns in our woods and fields. Richard and Flint sometimes leave a few faceplant images at the bottom of some hills:) Despite the snowy environment, green plants are sprouting in our heated shop. Tasty tomato cultivars will soon be grafted onto vigorous tomato rootstocks, ala Flint’s skillful hands. By late March, those plants will be transplanted into the soil in one of our greenhouses, and then produce red tomatoes in late June! Yum!
Gardening season is getting closer, and the days are noticeably longer. We just posted our 2022 seedling varieties on our website, click HERE to start planning your garden. Our Spring Plant Sales will be Fridays and Saturdays beginning May 6th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer our seedlings for online sales with curbside pickup. Sorry for any inconvenience, but we hope to see you here at Cate Farm for our in-person Plant Sales. Our plants will also be available at Hunger Mt. Co-op from late April to mid June.
Winter is a perfect time for research and education. Besides pouring over seed catalogs and planning this year’s crops, we check out various videos online. Richard just watched two powerful and moving videos from the Real Organic Project, Milk and Money and Protecting Organic. The two hour sessions feature speakers like Leah Penniman, Michael Pollan, ME Congresswoman Pingree, MN Senator Tester, Paul Hawken and many articulate farmers from around the country. Watch a 3 minute video introducing the symposium HERE. The Real Organic Project was created 3 years ago in response to the USDA Organic standards being weakened by Big Ag. Please check out the Real Organic Project and help strengthen the USDA Organic label to what it should and used to be.
All the best from Richard, Flint, Sally and the Team at Cate Farm.