Honeymoon Farm March Newsletter

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Hi there!

I saw a wonderful little poem from an unknown author about spring last week, and I think it applies to much more than just the weather this spring:

Springtime plays her little game
of peek-a-boo each year,
Now you see her, now you don’t
When will she next appear?

She’s warm - she’s cold - she’s in between,
she’s never what you guessed.
You start your day with coats n such,
by noon you’re overdressed.

When pleasant days arrive at last
You grab your gardening hoe
“Gotcha!” says elusive spring,
Next week there’s coming snow!

There’s so much uncertainty in the world right now, it’s almost like these springtime principles are overflowing into the other realms of our lives!

We started the month of March off slow on the farm - I was away for two weeks visiting family in Spain while Gary diligently took care of our small egg laying flock and running the mushroom farm. By the time my trip to Spain came to an end, the world was a different place than it had been when I departed the United States. Following my return, I self-isolated and quarantined for two weeks to ensure that I was not sick. Thankfully, I'm healthy, and so is my family in Spain.

The quarantine didn’t stop farm planning - but it sure did change it! We are masters of thinking on our feet, rolling with the punches, pivoting, partnering… If there’s a silver lining to this global crisis, it’s the awareness of the importance of our local food systems. We have seen an unprecedented amount of support from our community - some of it unfortunately out of necessity due to closed restaurants and empty grocery store shelves.

Though we cancelled the remaining CSA pick ups at the coffee shops, we were determined to continue to provide you with farm fresh ingredients. We put in a lot of hours to build our website for pre-orders and deliveries, and the partnerships with other farms, like Flying Plow Farm, Bowman’s Butcher Shop, and Brewer’s Hideaway Farm, that make it possible.

Shop online

Springtime for our farm means the arrival of chicks! All 105 of them hatched on 3/16, and arrived to us on 3/18. Gary built a large brooder box in our dining room for them to spend the first 3 weeks of their lives before we put them outside on pasture. Learn more about the arrival of our chicks in the video we made by clicking on the image below. Once they go out on pasture, I’ll be writing a whole blog post about their journey from hatch to pasture.

We’re also busy starting seeds - although we’re behind schedule for building our raised bed garden outside and getting those seeds in the ground, we have started many seeds inside in anticipation for warmer weather to transplant. Among those seeds we have chives, onions, and three different kinds of basil. Once the raised beds are in, we will be planting some seeds directly in the garden, like cilantro and dill.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, I’ve been busy trying to make things from scratch that we would normally get from the grocery store, or getting creative with what we have on hand. Some of my favorites have been homemade tortillas, a stewing hen, mushroom soup, and a mushroom italian casserole. I’ll be adding photos and info about all of these to our private facebook group for mushroom lovers - get access by clicking below!

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April has much in store for us - putting the chickens on pasture, receiving our second batch of chicks, building the raised beds, and more planting!

Since life has changed very drastically for us, I want to ask for a favor - so that I can better understand what you're going through right now. Simply hit reply and let us know what you’re up to and how we can help!

• Are you home with your kids, looking for an activity or educational resource for them?
• Are you getting busy in the kitchen, looking for new recipes to try?
• Are you an essential worker, working longer hours, or working from home, looking for something easy for dinner?
• Are you working in the garden, looking for more plants?
• Or something else?

You've got this! And we're here to help. We’re all in this together.

Talk to you soon,

- Liz

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Ps. Did you know that you can order farm fresh vegetables, meats, cheeses, and baked goods for delivery to Havre de Grace, southern Chester County, and Newark? We have partnered with our friends at Flying Plow Farm to deliver weekly to these areas. Click the link below to visit their site and explore all that they have to offer:

Shop Flying Plow

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Tammy's Recipe Corner

We'll have another installment of Tammy's Recipe Corner next month - if you missed it last month, check out her delicious flourless chocolate torte, and how to make pizza from scratch:

Make a delicious dinner

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Where to find us next:
All options via order online

Delivery

• Southern Chester County - Fridays
• Havre de Grace - Saturays
• Newark - Sundays

Pre-Order Pick Up (linked below)

• Bowman's Butcher Shop
• Flying Plow Farm (Rising Sun & Kennett Square)
• Broken Spoke Winery - The Hub Farmers Market (Charlestown)
• Little Goat Coffee (Newark)

Farmers Markets

• Havre de Grace: Opening day 5/5
• Newark: Tentative opening day 5/17

As always, please reach out to us with any questions! You can always reach us by email at liz@medinamushrooms.com