Hurry up spring! Here in the mist of “Dogwood” winter, things have been quite busy here at Green Door Gourmet!  The rain has kept us from being in the fields as much as we would like, but we’ve started about 5,000 seeds so far in preparation for the season, with many more to follow.  We have a fantastic new layout for our herb garden, which will be a lovely place to come to walk through and have a true sensory experience.  This new area is one of the many funthings to be unveiled on our farm opening day, May 14^th.  Also, we’re extremely excited to be hosting royalty on the farm this coming year; our three queen bees will arrive next week!  The bees will not only produce delicious high quality honey for us, but also pollinate our plants. We will have ORGANIC single estate honey by next year if all goes well!

I am really ready to get plants in the ground, but the nightly temperatures are not good for tender young plants. Farming truly teaches you patience!

Getting the farm ready for market days is an amazing amount of work.  Fortunately, we’ve been able to enlist the help of some friends of the farm and welcome a new farm helper, Harry, to get Green Door growing this year. Harry will be helping me with the blog on occasion so watch for his fun posts and pictures.  Our “farm work days” help kick start us for the season in many ways. For example, in one day we managed to plant about 3,000 seeds, get the fields clear for plowing, pick baby greens, and more! Check out of Green Door Gourmet CSA page on Facebook for posts on farm work days if you are interested in coming out to help! It is a great way to meet new friends, learn a little something about farming, and get your hands in the dirt!

Our goal this year is to bring you the very best products of the area, all of which you can order to pick up on the farm during our Saturday co-ops (first co-op is May 14^th).  We’ve been networking, trying to meet as many local artisan producers as possible, and we think we have come up with a stellar spread including Sequatchie Cove Farm and Kenny’s Farmhouse cheese! You can check under the” E market place” part of the website closer to opening date to see all the great farmers peddling their wares! We also will have our own line of jams jellies, pickles and such for sale this year.

We are also really excited about Farm Opening Day, which is Saturday May 14^th.   John England and the Western Swingers will provide entertainment; we will have complimentary food, and a chance to see the new layout of the farm! Green Door will have flowers, plants veggies and lots more for sale on that day!

Sylvia