Bluebird CSA

Monday, April 29, 2013

Beautiful Day at the Farm

Well, weather like yesterday's it isn't hard to beat, but it sure was a beautiful day on the farm today.  We jumped right into the week with a big sheep move.  Usually we are just moving the flock daily to their new patch of grass.  But they'd grazed all the available grass at our home farm.  So today was the day that we herded them onto the livestock trailer and took them down the road to our big field.

You may have seen photos of the big field in our market book or on the blog.  It is a piece of bottom land about 3 mile sup Silver Creek from our home farm.   We lease land there from a family friend who has farmed there for about 25 years.  Marie grew up visiting them, and it has been a great relationship with us starting to use land that he had rotated out of production.

At the big field there is grass galore.  And have some minor hoof trimming-like a quick visit to the nail salon-the flock was ready to hit the ground eating.  The flock move was a good project for today because the ground was really too wet to do much of anything in the vegetable field.  Soon enough we will be busy there though, hilling potatoes, weeding, and planting summer crops like cucumbers, tomatoes,  peppers, and much more.

Stay tuned for more photos and news.

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Salad days

Oh my- the salad days are here!  We have arugula and radishes popping up in the garden!

Friday, April 12, 2013


Farm Day at Bluebird Farm
Friday, April 19th, 4-7 pm

Have you been wanting to see the farm?
Come visit your local farm!
Play hooky from work and enjoy spring at the farm!

There is a big chance of thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon... If it is pouring rain from 4-7pm, we'll reschedule...otherwise, wear your shoes that can get a bit muddy on a farm!

We’ll give tours of the farm and tell you about organic methods of our diverse small farm. See the vegetable gardens tucked away on our farm, visit the meat chickens on the fresh spring pasture, and check out the “Chicken Palace,” the hen coop on a hay wagon.
Bring your children! We love sharing the farm with kids, and kids love running around on a farm! 

Tours will start at approximately every 30 minutes.  

See where your farm fresh food comes from.
Buy farm fresh food. We’ll have our market tent set up with great farm food available like our pastured pork,  and fresh eggs.

Directions We look forward to seeing you here at Bluebird Farm Friday 4/19 from 4-7 pm. 
Please see our directions page on our website. Mapquest and vehicle GPS systems get you to the pasture; use our directions to navigate the driveway to the garden and barn.

Visiting FAQ's
Why are you holding the farm day on a Friday? Well, we can't do it all! We attend 2 Farmers' Markets on Saturdays and we don't work on Sundays.  William and I don't think we'll be able to attend 2 Farmers' Markets and a farm day in the same day!
Can't I come to the farm some other day?  Yes. But..We are a working farm and are busy farming sun-up to sunset most of the year.  You can come and visit the farm on Wednesdays from 4:30- 6:00pm starting May 29th- September 25th.  That is the same time that some of our farm CSA members come to the farm every week, so we'll be nearby to answer questions and show you the gardens.
What sort of shoes should I wear? Wear sturdy walking shoes that can get muddy, because you'll be at a farm and the ground is uneven and lumpy.
Is the farm near any restaurants?  Enjoy some dinner after the farm tour!  Bluebird Farm is about 10 minutes from downtown Morganton.  Wisteria  is a great local farm to table restaurant that buys all sorts of produce, meats, and cheeses from Bluebird Farm and other farms within 50 miles.  Check out our smoked pork belly on some tasty dishes at Root and Vine.  Root and Vine features a great atmosphere and a delicious menu.  The Grind Cafe has delicious hot sandwiches, pasta salad, tapas, and a great wine selection.  They even have some great jazz Friday the 19th at 7:30pm with Centerpiece Jazz in the Wine Bar upstairs.

It's time to go to the farmers' markets!
April- end of October

Find us at these local markets-
·       Wednesday, Hickory Farmers’ Market,  10 am- 3pm, Union Square
·       Saturday, Morganton Farmers’ Market, 8 am- noon, 300 Beach St- behind Geppetos and More Lace
·       Saturday, Hickory Farmers’ Market, 8 am- 1pm, Union Square

Glorious Spring




 Baby lettuce planted in the big vegetable field.




Preparing a garden bed and planting onions and herbs.







Baby vegetable transplants on the hardening-off table


 

 The sheep and horse are grazing in front of the chicken hoop-coop so that the meat chickens have a nice short grass to eat. All the meat chickens are resting in the shade of the hoop-coop during the middle of this 85 degree day.







William harvesting arugula




The soil temperature is very warm for the middle of April. The thermometer is reading 70 degrees and the air temp is 85 degrees. Summertime in the spring?

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

First market of the season today.

Veggie alert! Along with our amazing farm meats and eggs, we will sell our veggies this year at the Hickory Market.


  • Today- Downtown Hickory Farmers' Market, Wednesday 4/3, from 10 am til 3 pm.


  • Saturday- Downtown Hickory Farmers' Market. Bluebird Farm will be at the Hickory Market every Saturday this year. (Look for William) Join us this Saturday April 6th from 8 am til 1pm.



The sun should be shining bright, and it won't be too cold, so come and see me at market!

Pastured Pork- We'll have our full offering of delicious pastured pork-  our hogs are fed certified organic grains

thick bone-in pork chops, country sausage, whole tenderloin, boneless ham roast, bone-in shoulder roasts, spare ribs, country backbones, spicy chorizo sausage, bratwurst, Italian sausage, and more!


Eggs- The hens are starting to lay more eggs, so get a dozen or two. 
Raised outdoors in the sunshine! laying hens fed non-medicated, conventional grains, not organic grains (ask me at market about the switch back to conventional grains for the laying hens )

Vegetables- We'll have curly kale and collards from our winter garden.  This may be the only week that we'll have kale and collards, so get a little extra.  The kale keeps well shut up tight in a plastic bag in your refrigerator's produce drawer. Our vegetables are grown with organic methods- no synthetic chemicals (no synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, fungicides)

We've been busy in the veggie fields!





William and the handy Toyota/wheelbarrow truck

William getting ready to lightly till the bed tops in the veg field

William and the tiller



Jody seeding little tiny carrot seeds. Notice the mini sprinklers on the bed.
Marie firming the planted carrot seeds with a  rake.

Marie spreading organic fertilizer on potato beds


Marie and Okra the dog in the spring veg field