The orchard is waking up. Fig trees are pushing fresh green leaves, and the peach trees are beginning to bloom, following the plum and apricot trees from last week. We acquired six bare-root Anna apple trees that we will add to the orchard soon. Bare-root trees look a little unimpressive when they first arrive, but they establish quickly once they’re in the ground and the soil warms up.
The lettuce heads and mixed greens are looking beautiful right now, while the arugula has started to bolt and flower, and though it’s not a commonly appreciated flavor, the arugula flowers are like adding a bit of fresh pepper as garnish. I’ll be sneaking in to harvest the unwanted flowers until the row is pulled out.
Our garlic is taking a little longer to reach maturity. We recently treated the beds for rust after the heavy rains, and the plants seem to have responded well. Harvest is still likely a couple of months away, but you can already smell the garlic in the field as you walk past. When it’s ready, the bulbs will be pulled and hung to cure for several weeks before being cleaned and stored.
With the garlic taking longer than expected from the rain, and the weather indicating we won’t see any more hard frosts this season, we’re now looking at where we can put our warm weather crops in the ground. The strawberry and asparagus patch haven’t produced as well as we would have liked, possibly needing more acidic soil or specific nutrient boosts, leaving a possibility they’ll be wiped out for crops that produce more reliably.
This week also brought a meaningful collaboration. We sent 125 of our overcrowded, feather-pecked hens to a new home at Coastal Roots Farm in Encinitas. Normally, we have a hard time supplying enough birds to backyard chicken keepers once the days begin to lengthen, but this year we had the opposite problem. Amid broader economic uncertainty and global events, fewer people were ready to take on new animals, leaving us with a very full barn and irritable chickens.
As the hens waited longer than expected, they began to show signs of stress from crowding and started pecking each other. Coastal Roots Farm stepped in and offered to take a large group, knowing they’ll need some time to regrow feathers and settle in. Coastal Roots leverages regenerative agriculture to create a connected and healthy community around outdoor education and equitable access to fresh food.
We sent them off with feather booster supplements and Blu-Kote to help them heal and recover. Knowing they’re headed to another regenerative, humane farm gives us real peace of mind. They’ll have space, care, and time to recover—and a good life ahead of them, nourishing the community of Encinitas!
All in all, a good week, and a state of profound contentment even in the face of profound weeding.
2026-03-012 CSA Newsletter by d2dfarm