January News: Thinking of Seedlings!

Happy New Year-

  Upon flipping the calendar page to January, all of a sudden the Spring growing season seems a lot closer! Even though it is the middle of winter, we are busy with building projects, Zoom conferences, and even starting some early herb and flower seeds. The sight of sprouting seeds always bring hope and joy this time of year. It is exciting to think of what will be planted once the ground thaws in April. If you are curious about what seedling varieties we’ll offer this season, click here.

  We will once again offer our seedlings from May through early June ONLINE with curbside pickup,via www.catefarm.com. Our website shopping cart will list seedling varieties as we get closer to May. Ordering will start May 1st for curbside pickups May 8 and 9th. Online ordering will continue through early June.

  We hope to offer our traditional in-person plant sales Saturdays May 15th - June 6th. This option will be available depending on whether it is safe from a COVID perspective. We’ll decide that mid April. Our website homepage is the best place to check for this and other news updates.

  Cate Farm seedlings will also be available at Hunger Mt. Co-op in Montpelier late April through early June.

   Some exciting news for this year revolves around our desire to reduce the amount of plastic used in growing seedlings. We are trialing some new fiber pots, and also investing in a soil blocking machine to try containerless growing. This is a work in progress, more info will follow. And as always, we welcome your feedback.

  Lastly, I want to spread the word about an important online conference called the Real Organic Project. Cate Farm is a charter member and strongly supports the work of the organization. Each Sunday afternoon in January is an online conference worth watching. Please check it out, here.

 All the best from Richard, Sally, Flint and the team at Cate Farm.

October News

October on the Farm

Burdock Harvest 2020

Greetings Everyone,
Well, September ended with quite a spectacular display of color! We found ourselves oohing & awing like tourists over all the stunning foliage color(s). Grateful for yet another reason to be living in this wonderful and beautiful State of Vermont.
September also brought some early frigid weather. We had a killing frost four nights in a row which did in the more tender plants, basils, peppers, summer squash etc., even those protected in the unheated greenhouses. Initially, it is always a bit devastating to see everything limp and lifeless, but eventually, it almost feels like a relief to start the cleaning-up process...especially if you'd managed to harvest your crops beforehand!
October 1st was the first day of the burdock harvest here on the farm and it was a stellar day. Warm, sunny weather and an awesome crew made for a very productive day. Day two of the burdock harvest, on the other hand, was wet and cool. At noon, the consensus was unanimous and the soaked and muddy crew headed home until next week. The harvest will continue for the next week or two.
If you are wondering what one does with burdock root, our favorite recipe is KINPIRA,  which you can google and find many variations. It's easy, very tasty and good for you. Personally, I don't add the sugar and sake, so feel free to mix it up and to add other veggies...hmmm, maybe parsnips? Besides a burdock stir fry, we usually have some dried burdock on hand for a healthy tea alternative.
This morning I picked the last cantaloupe and we savored it's wonderful summer sweetness on this cool fall day.  Things always become more precious when they are no longer in abundance.
So, for now, we wish you all a very healthy fall, in every possible way. You'll be hearing from us again in January 2021, when we can give you all the exciting news about what we are growing for the spring!
Now, I'm off to plant tulip and daffodil bulbs for some early spring cheer....one can't have too much of that, right? Talk about a precious commodity!
Sally and the Cate Farm Team