Friday, May 28, 2010

FirstWatch Farms Open House

Saturday, May 22nd was our farm's open house.
Thank to every one of you who was able to come! It was wonderful meeting you and being able to show you where your produce is being grown, and some of the work that is behind it.
Jonathan has been busy these last couple days trying to get the irrigation system up and running-unfortunately, it is being rather resistant to his efforts. . . hopefully he'll be able to get that going soon!

Jonathan - in his element - loves farming and teaching other about it.

We had approximately 40 people attend our open house.

Really, is that the way you do it?

The next generation of farmers?



Sadie teaches us how to properly plant dirt clods :-)

Giving hoeing a "whack"

All men have an amazing fascination with tools!

The stirrup or scuffle hoe is run just beneath the surface of the dirt to kill the weeds, by severing the roots from the plants. It is a pretty effective, energy-efficient way to kill the weeds. You really aught to buy one for yourself!

Back under the tent, we had some food samples prepared.
- Salad, made with greens, radishes, and scallions picked from the garden that morning.
- Delicious roast beef, which Philip masterfully prepared form one of our own cattle.
- Zucchini muffins and cookies.

In the foreground are some fantastic homemade, goat milk soaps, crafted by Jonathan's sisters.This is their first year to be making and selling soaps, and we'll be making them available to our CSA members.
Monique is trying her hand at making milk baths, salt scrubs, sugar scrubs and the like.
Entrepreneurialism is contagious in our family!

Hay Ride!
This tractor was probably made shortly after World War II, and is still used today.

A scenic ride through prime Lancaster County farm land.



"That was one of the longest and best hay rides I've ever been on." ~ Sherri

Tractor driving is fun!

So, as you leave, we hope you've had as a wonderful and educational experience on our farm as we've enjoyed having you!

Until next time, 
Jonathan and Monique Einwechter

Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Effects of a Late Frost

"By the breath of God the frost is given. . . "
Job 37:10

This past weekend we had two late frosts. The garden took a bit of a beating as you can see by the dead, frost bitten leaves, but the Lord was gracious and sustained the crops.



Even in the midst of the dead foliage signs
of life are evident in the new leaves of this bean plant.



The tomatoes also withstood the frost;
you can see the damage in the leaves.


The potatoes are also recovering, praise the Lord.


One of the challenges of farming is the fact that you cannot control the weather, you can try to plan for it and make what preparations you can but after that, it's in the hands of Providence and truly, there are no better hands for it to be in.

~Monique Einwechter

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Planting Strawberries

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it's been so long since we've posted last. During the last two weeks, the conditions have been right, and it seems as if the garden has just exploded with growth and jobs to be done. We've been starting to put in some pretty full days!

It's only a little over two weeks until the CSA begins!
The first pick-up day for Wayne is Tuesday, May 25th, and the first day for Lititz is Saturday, May 29th.

Also, our open house is only two weeks away, on Saturday, May 22nd!
We're planning a great time for you all and really hope everyone can come. I'll be sending you more info about it soon.

Enjoy the photos!

My dear wife, Monique, wanted to help in the field. So she came over a couple times recently to help, even though she's pregnant with our first baby, due June 15th! I really appreciate her!

 
We decided to plant some of our own strawberries this year.

The normal life of a strawberry plant is as follows:
Year 1 - Plant the "crowns", but don't get any fruit
Year 2 - Plants bare fruit very abundantly
Year 3 - Plants bare fine, but not quite as much as previous year
Year 4 - (Option 1) Plants bare okay, but not as productive as previous year, or (option 2) are tilled under and new ones are planted

 
There's a lot to be put in the ground - 1,000 to be exact.

We use a handy, little tool to make the holes in the plastic, and it's a huge help.

It seems like most of the rows in our garden are so long!

 
The don't look like much now, but they'll grow into nice, producing plants.

Our official farm/delivery van! We just got the graphics put on it. (The two small stickers are for Buy Fresh Buy Local  and IAmNotAshamed.org.)

Hope to see you in to 2-3 weeks from now!
~ Jonathan