Winter (Spring) Wonderland
The first official day of Spring has arrived- and I still feel like we are stuck in Narnia. The temperatures have been frigid the last couple of weeks, and while the date on the calendar announcing Spring has come and gone, I am beginning to feel that true Spring may just never come this year! For some perspective, last year at this time there had been enough melting in our fields that we were able to hike from our house to our back pastures. This year, that wouldn’t even be remotely possible and I feel we may not have grass until mid-May at the earliest. We feel really lucky that Jack made the decision last Fall to push our lambing dates further towards May. In the past we have begun lambing early to mid-April, and that would be really scary this year with the snow and temperatures we have been experiencing. We feel for all of our ranching friends and neighbors who are calving and lambing right now. It is brutal out here.
Overall, this has been a wild winter for us. In the nearly 6 years we have lived in Steamboat, we have never experienced so much snow. Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful for the moisture this snowpack will bring to the Valley and beyond this season, but I am also SO incredibly eager for the snow to melt, green pastures to fill my vision, and countless hours spent outside with my husband and kids. I think we all have a little bit of cabin fever. We try to get outside as much as possible, but there is just nothing like the ease of throwing on some flip-flops in the summer and laying in the grass outside. I am spending quite a bit of time daydreaming about the warm sunshine on my face, a warm breeze tickling my hair, and the freezing cold water of the irrigation ditches flowing over my bare feet.
In the winter, Jack and I always take a little bit of time to talk about our plans for the coming season and discuss our goals. This property and our growing family has shifted much of our focus to raising our grass-fed and finished lamb and beef and haying our large pastures. In the past, when we were a much smaller operation, we had more time to dabble in gardening, raising pigs, and our poultry, but it seems like every year we make a decision of what we truly can accomplish in a season and what we need to put aside. This ebb and flow makes farming really interesting to me, there is never a year exactly alike another and we are empowered to make decisions not only for what we can do as “Jack and Kinzie” farmers, but for our family as a whole. Everything is very much intertwined at times and we are learning to focus on what works as a business, separately from what we personally enjoy to do for ourselves. While we will continue to raise eggs, meat birds, pork, and spend time in our garden, we are learning these things are really for our family and not something we can do sustainably with just the two of us, the kids, and a couple of seasonal volunteers for the business.
With that being said, I am eagerly awaiting getting my hands in the dirt and starting some seeds in our hoop house to get some veggies growing for my family. Unfortunately, our cat tunnel collapsed under the weight of the snow last year, so this season I will be growing on a much smaller scale. I will be focusing on growing the garden for our family and then distributing veggies at the CAA Market in town when we have extras. I have already started seeds under my grow lights and love seeing all the new seedlings popping up. It makes warmer days feel much closer than they are right now. I also plan to begin seeding in the hoop house in the next few weeks, with the hope that temperatures will begin to warm enough for the seeds to germinate and for the seedlings to thrive. I have had a couple of people reach out asking about our CSA program. While we will not be doing a CSA this year, I hope to have some form of CSA in the future. I really enjoy having people come out to the farm and accessing our veggies and am working through some interesting ideas of how we can offer that in a unique way in the future.
In the meantime, while we await the snowmelt and the true craziness that comes with Spring, here are a few really powerful ways your can support our farm and business!
Purchase meat from us.
This is by far, the BEST way to support the farm and our farm business. We spend countless hours raising our grass-fed and finished lamb and beef and want to share our high quality meats with you, your family, and friends! We feel strongly that if you live in a place where there is access to local food, if you can, please support your local farmer. When you shop with us directly or even purchase our product at the CAA Market downtown, you are doing more than just supporting our family. You are helping to build and strengthen our local food system. Local farms that sell direct to consumer like us, cease to exist without their customers. Your support is truly invaluable. You can purchase directly from us HERE or shop at the CAA Market in downtown Steamboat between 10am-5:30PM Mon-Friday and 10am-2PM Saturdays. If you have a special request for meat purchases- let us know!
Take a Farmstead Kitchen class.
I am teaching an Introduction to Sourdough Class on Saturday, April 22nd from 3:00-4:30PM. This is going to be such a fun experience! You can find out more info. and sign-up HERE.
I plan to teach more classes and collaborate with some amazing people in the future, so stay tuned for more classes later this year.
Come to a Farm Tour.
We will be hosting a Farm Tour this Summer. Date is TBD until we can see how things are melting out so we can show you our operation. Keep an eye on these emails and our website for that info. as it becomes available!
Spread the Word!
Farms like us rely upon YOU, our customers, to help us spread the word about what we are doing, products we have for sale, classes, and so much more! Your voice matters, please share with your family and friends and follow us on Instagram- @mystichillsfarmstead if you don’t already do so.
Thank you all for your continued support and cheers to a great season ahead!
Farmer Kinzie