Nigella and Bluplureum in the bud!

The Metal "Rainbow": the High Tunnel is Framed!

Very exciting news for the Community Farm of Simsbury and First Bloom Farm (by extension!): last Friday, a new high tunnel frame went up at CFS ! To paraphrase Anne, the CFS farmer, "when it went up, I thought it was like a rainbow".... I couldn't agree more, Anne. What does this mean for us farmers? Season Extension! High tunnels are essentially tall unheated greenhouses that allow warmer temperatures in early spring and late fall- perfect for growing at the extremes of our New England seasons. In the high tunnel, farmers have the benefit of planting directly into the ground in an environment higher than outdoor temperatures!

Flower growers use high tunnels for crops such as larkspur, sweet William, lisianthus and spring flowering bulbs. Break out the fall catalogues!

Simsbury: Flower CSA 2011, anyone?

First Bloom Farm is planning for the 2011 summer growing season (next year!) in Simsbury. As such, FBF is toying with the idea of offering a Flower CSA subscription for pickup at the Simsbury site on Wolcott Road. What would this mean for a CSA member? For a set price, you would have weekly beautiful fresh flowers in the summer & be supporting local agriculture!

Interested? Good! Let me know by sending an email to maggie@firstbloomfarm.com. I'll keep you posted on planning, pricing and details!

Thank you for visiting with NOFA!

Thanks to all who visited the Community Farm of Simsbury, and the First Bloom Farm growing field. I enjoyed seeing new faces in the field. Some of you may join us next year- who knows!?! If anyone has flower questions that they didn't have answered (or thought of later!), please don't hestitate to contact me!

The Upside of a Rainstorm....

.....a Rainbow!

Just as I was about to drive off and throw in the towel this evening, something told me to wait out the driving rain, trapped in the truck with freshly harvested basil & sunflowers. When I emerged, I found beautiful sunlight, cooler air and a rainbow spanning the field. What could be better?

Plastic mulch for annual crops!

At the Community Farm of Simsbury (CFS) site First Bloom Farm (FBF) has incubator farmer neighbors! Here are few shots from early this week of plastic laying with my neighbors and the farm director on site. My neighbors are organic veggie growers who have a few crops in the field. Everything is new here- new equipment, new field, new tractor driver- new experiences!

Soon FBF's Dahlias and annual seed crops will be in the field- where they belong!

What's new? More land! at the Community Farm of Simsbury

First Bloom Farm LLC will be taking on additional growing spacing at the Community Farm of Simsbury (CT). The site once the pasture area for a dairy farm, has now the dual purpose of farm-based education center and the incubator farmer project. FBF will be using the site for the production of annual crops (non-winter-hardy). More to come...!