Everyday is a new beginning at the farm

The start of a new year. 

Whether you are someone who makes big resolutions 

or reviews the past year with deep reflection, it is hard 

to escape the feeling of new beginnings that permeates everything around us. 

And certainly following the revelry of the holidays, the pendulum 

seems to naturally swing back to a time of rest and re-setting. 

After the festive feasting, you crave simpler fare. 

And knowing we are on the "other side" of the shorter days, 

we linger just a bit longer outside each afternoon as dusk comes later. 

With this and any bit of sunrise peeking out a moment sooner, 

it's a bit easier to think about those resolutions to exercise and be outside more. 

So, here's to launching new projects, starting a diet or 

just "eating better" and getting more exercise.

 If a new page on the calendar helps propel us forward, 

then that may be reason enough to assign some significance to a new year. 

We are always ready for you, with fresh vegetables 

either grown at our biodynamic farm or procured from a local purveyor. 

Whether it is radishes from seed to table as a regular item 

on the menu at the girl & the fig, or a seasonal entree such as our 

pan-seared sea bass with brown butter spaetzle, winter squash, organic apples, sage, 

our simple mantra of an "ingredient driven" focus 

starts at the farm on our way to your table.

For us at the farm of course, January does not represent a new moment, 

but is rather a part of an ongoing cycle. 

And as we have noted before, while the winter seems like a slower time at the farm, 

there is always something going on, there is always work to do. 

Mixed in with other vegetables in our the winter garden, we are growing garlic. 

Although we do think of garlic as something to grow in early spring, 

there is a long history and tradition of planting garlic on the shortest day of the year 

for harvesting on the longest day of the year. 

So including garlic in our December work at the farm made sense. 

There are two types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. 

Each has its own strengths and each is more suited to certain situations than others. "Hardneck garlic varieties are generally hardier than softneck varieties. 

 They are the best option for northern gardeners. They are also the best option 

if you want to enjoy garlic scapes in early summer, since hardnecks 

are the only type that send up a strong central stalk in spring (this is the scape.) 

Softneck garlic varieties are the best ones to grow if you live in a milder climate. 

They don't form scapes, and generally form several small cloves per head. 

They mature quicker than hardneck variety."

For a great step by step on planting garlic, 

watch this video by Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International. 

It may be a bit too late for you to do this now, but there are some good tips here. 

And remember, hard as it may be to do, don't use all the garlic 

you harvest—that way you will have some to plant! 

The spot at the farm we chose to plant garlic this winter 

is the same area we had success this spring, so we are hoping for the same luck. 

We won't know for awhile, so we continue our slow incremental labors 

checking the farm daily and paying attention to what it tells us. 

garlic beds just planted in December 

abundant garlic at the farm in March

It may not be as big a fanfare as the "marking a new year," 

but then again one day there may be nothing to see in the bed where seeds are planted, 

and the next day we will be rewarded with a true "start" of something that is sprouting. 

Which is why the farm is really about new beginnings every day. 

tags from the starts we planted 

and soon the plants are thriving

How do you celebrate the new year? 

Is a fresh start that includes growing your own food part of your plan?