This has been a busy week for us here on the farm. Today is the deadline for submitting our organic paperwork to the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture, who administers the USDA organic certification in Colorado. Last year the department implemented a streamlined approach to recertification, and this year it really made things a lot easier, as rather than filling out from scratch the 30+ documents required for recertification, we were sent the forms we filled out last year and told to confirm their contents, making changes where necessary. Needless to say this saved hours of labor filling out all the forms from scratch. So kudos to the department (and USDA) for implementing this time-saving feature.
Ben harvesting nettle leaf
We were also made aware of the fickleness of the weather this week. Less than two weeks ago we did our first harvest of Nettle leaf, and the sweetgrass was growing rapidly, along with tons of blossoms on our fruit trees.
Unseasonable hailstorm
This week brought a not untypical spring snow, preceded by an intense pea-sized hailstorm (hailstorms are the leading cause of property damage in Colorado). We got 8” of snow over a 24 hour period, with overnight lows of 22°F (-5°C). Needless to say this did not make our tulips or blossoms very happy… but such is the fate of gardening in the foothills -- we’re at 6,700 ft. (2,000 meters) elevation and the last frost is typically around mid-May (global warming notwithstanding).
Snowy beds two weeks later
We are still actively interviewing potential internees to help us this season and learn the ins and outs of certified organic herb production. Feel free to contact us if you feel drawn to help out. In the meantime, we hope your spring is filled with new growth and beauty, and may your gardens be life-, soil-, and soul-enriching.