| Late winter evenings, with blustery winds blowing in rumors of spring, the moon like a Cheshire cat smile amid the chaos of starry sky, encourage us to look forward to things that surely must return: grass greening, buds swelling, birds trilling, all daring to awaken amid the continuing cold, blissfully unconcerned with the continuing coronavirus, confident in the arrival of a welcoming spring and the renewal of the world. One always welcome sign of spring is the return of some of our veteran crew members – Ted, Huey, Jon, Abby and Caleb have been pruning blueberry bushes and seeding the earliest of spring crops in the greenhouse. Huey, after being our beloved Farmers Market Manager for many years, is shifting gears and managing our greenhouse operation. In addition to handling the flow of plants from our greenhouses to fields, Huey is also taking on managing this season’s cut flower operations. Melanie from Field Edge Flowers is (sadly for us) shifting gears and focusing on a career in nursing – something she has long dreamed of. We are sad to see her go, but excited to see what she does next! We are thrilled she is passing on her knowledge to Huey, and we are excited to see flowers in the farmstand continue. Another sure sign of spring’s arrival is the sudden appearance on the Hutchins Farm porch (replacing the recent snow drifts) of ranked pallets of compost and potting soil, raw ingredients of many a glorious summer garden. All omens indicate that this annual miracle will occur in the afternoon on Monday the 22nd, welcome news for those who have been waiting impatiently to begin work on their gardens. Plants to populate those gardens will begin to appear soon after, but likely not until the wild temperature swings have settled into a warmer pattern, hopefully by early April. This season’s plant catalog for those of your who like to dream is available as a PDF on our website. Also appearing soon will be the first harvest of a new season: overwintered parsnips, their rough appearance (hard to avoid, having spent the winter locked in the dirty, icy embrace of the soil) belying their frost-sweetened, tender disposition. We expect to dig what appears to be a good supply during the upcoming window of spring-like weather, before the deer rediscover their forgotten appreciation of these sweet treats. Although these wonders are foretold with full confidence, it is always best to check the Hutchins Farm website to see what has actually come to pass—nothing is certain in this world, many things that are reasonably expected fail to occur. We will continue to act as though the expected arrival of spring, then summer, warm weather, gentle rain, is a sure thing. We will continue to busily plant our crops, till our fields, try to fill our little corner of Concord with a bounty of sights, smells and tastes, a surfeit of sensory experience to carry us through the next cold, grim cycle. All offerings during this early period (until the Farm Stand opens sometime in late May or early June) will be self-serve, honor system on the porch—please bring cash (exact change) or a check (with your phone number) as we won’t be able to accept credit cards . The spring equinox has passed, days are longer than nights, and we look forward to seeing you all return to our little slice of New England. Best, -Brian Cramer, Liza Bemis, and the rest of the Hutchins team  Greenhouse filling up March 20th, 2021 |
Rumors of Spring: March 2021 Newsletter