The Winter Garden becomes a Spring Garden

While March 20 was officially the first day of Spring,

we were aware of it before then. 

These photos were taken a bit earlier in March,

and you could just feel everything at the farm about to burst!

blossoms on a peach tree (photo by Cece Hugo)

rows of garlic going crazy (photo by Cece Hugo)

Quail egg photos by Matthew Ruff

quail eggs found in one of the rows

and our steadfast egret standing guard at the farm

Our companion planting project has been successful.

Not only are we harvesting more vegetables in the space we have, 

but with the careful work done by Local Landscapers, 

who know what to plant with what, everything is growing more healthy and robust. 

The radish plants interspersed with onions have done especially well.

just picked radish photos by Matthew Ruff

You can decide for yourself how they taste when you enjoy 

 the heirloom radish starter at the girl & the fig: 

mixed seasonal radishes, anchovy butter & grey sea salt 

Another sign of spring is the raspberry bare roots beginning to bud

At this rate, it won't be too long before we are 

repeating last summer's berry picking ritual

Sometimes you just have to sit down on the job!

we have a way to go till before we have a bowl of berries

Our tomato starts growing from seeds in the Greenhouse 

mean this summer's tomatoes will truly be "seed to table." 

greenhouse photos by Matthew Ruff 

Thanks to Garden Keepers CSA for the use of the Greenhouse 

and the loving care from Local Landscapers which will take us from here

to here 

(Last season John and the farm team 

harvested almost 2,000 pounds of tomatoes). 

and finally to here!
Did you know that we can go through

70 pounds of tomatoes a day at the girl & the fig alone?

We are getting excited about all that is growing 

now at the farm and will be sharing 

more updates and photos with you soon.

The winter garden is indeed becoming the spring garden 

and the menus at the restaurants are reflecting that.

And we love sharing what we grow with you, here in the news of the blog,

but of course especially from our kitchen to our tables when you visit us.

We also encourage you to grow as much 

of your own food as you can.

And we hope we inspire you. 

Share your thoughts and successes, ask us questions.

A great resource for your home gardens is Smart Gardner Fresh, 

whose motto is "simply grow great food." 

We aspire to do that every day.

Simply grow great food.

Simply cook great food.

January at the farm

It may be a new year but it is a continuation of our cycle at the farm.

We are in the midst of our winter garden with garlic as the first planting.

Needless to say, with our French and Italian cuisine, 

garlic is an important ingredient for all 3 of the restaurants.

Garlic was planted just a few weeks ago 

but with this unusually warm weather, the bulbs 

are already beginning to show "their feet".

The ground seems to think we are closer to Spring than the calendar does.

Part of our January labors involve working the 

raspberry and strawberry beds.

The raspberries were bountiful but some of the strawberries 

did not fare as well this summer, so we will transplant raspberries there.

But we are keeping one strawberry bed that was abundant. 

While Matt was consolidating the strawberry plants, 

he discovered frogs in the bed he was clearing.

This is actually a good sign since amphibians 

are the most fragile members of the ecosystem 

and not all that surprising in our biodynamic farm. 

We expect (and respect) the contributions 

of the "good" insects and animals that 

contribute to the health of the farm. 

The frogs are sensitive to UV light and need shelter 

in a semi-moist place but they don't harm the fruit. 

Their job is to eat the "bad guys"—insects like slugs 

that do harm the strawberries. 

And even now in January, the strawberries are looking healthy. 

Did you know that only the white blossoms produce the tasty fruit?

If you see a yellow blossom, that's a 

"false strawberry"—it may be edible but does not have much flavor.

Still a few months to go before we are back picking 

raspberries this Fall after bountiful summer crop

We are now working with the raspberries in their bare root state.

It often takes years for raspberries to be established 

enough to divide and transplant this way, so once again we are very lucky

These bare roots will soon bring us luscious berries.

This Western Blue Bird is supervising our work 

with the raspberry bare roots.

We value his contribution and know that he may be back to steal a taste

but we are willing to share.

Thanks so much for reading this blog and 

following our endeavors at the farm.

We hope to see you at the restaurants and 

have you share the fruits or our labors here.

And please do post a comment if you are enjoying these chronicles, 

have a story of your own gardening to share or ask us a question.