Farmers Market at Starr King UU Church

This Sunday we had our first “farmers market”. We set up at the top of the hill where the Unitarian House use to be located. We sold three varieties of kale, two types of chard, collards, Merlin, Chiogga (candy striped), and bull’s blood beets, green onions, artichokes, green star and Cherokee lettuce, radishes, fava beans as well as a variety of herbs. In addition we sold coffee and eggs (for our CSA customers) and gave away free tomato plants. Nathan helped out and we all had a great time.
 

May at Sunnyslope

It has been a busy May at the farm. Renee has been planting almost every day. We have been harvesting artichokes, fava beans, lettuce, arugula, kale, collards and chard as well as beets and radishes.

Here is my farmer girl:
   
Renee is standing in the apple orchard where she has just planted peppers
and eggplant. Our blackberry hedge is in bloom behind her.



Here are the goats, (L to R) Lucy, Apricot and April in the pasture.


A beautiful caterpiller found by Renee in the garden. We need to find out what it is!

Still planting

Renee has been busy getting crops into the ground and Darryl has been installing drip lines into the various gardens. The chicks continue to thrive, and the bees are busy visiting all the flowers. At least one of the heirloom apples (Cox’s Orange Pippen,1830) is producing some fruit this year!


Renee planting peppers in the apple orchard.




Renee’s gloved hand is holding back some apple leaves so that 3 young apples can be seen on our Cox’s Orange Pippin tree. This heirloom apple was developed in England in 1830.



Bee visiting blackberry flower.

The new chicks are growing fast!

On April 20th we picked up 5 white leghorn and 5 Wellsummer chicks from Livermore Hay and Feed. They are now 3 weeks old and can spend all day outside in our “chicken tractor”. Sadly, one of the leghorns didn’t survive her first night, but all the rest have been doing well. We picked these two breeds because they were very different from what we already have. The leghorns are good producers and will provide us with white eggs. The Wellsummers will produce very dark brown eggs.

Here are a few pictures:

White Leghorns and Wellsummer chicks have arrived!




Pretty easy to tell the two breeds apart.




Here they are at about 2 weeks. They are outside in the “chicken tractor” which is like a chicken coop on wheels.