It's been a long climb this winter, but with the arrival of March, it feels like we've almost reached the top of the hill and are about to start running down. Once the season gets going, it will be a long sprint, and we will probably be out of breath by the time we can slow down next winter.
Our greenhouse setup has been delayed from where we had hoped to be (starting seeds March 1st) but we are just waiting one more week until full furnace hook up. In the meantime, organizing pots and trays, building moveable tables and filling trays with soil for our first successions have all been comfortable tasks on sunny days when the greenhouse warms up nicely. Our heated seedling greenhouse has been the biggest (and most expensive) infrastructure to go up on our new property. After seedling season, we plan to grow crops in the ground in here (hence the moveable tables) - including a trial of ginger and turmeric. For greenhouse tomatoes, we've started our seeds indoors already, planning on an early crop of cherry tomatoes.
The hardest part of this early season is our lack of income. More than 50% of our expenses this year will occur before April, but we earn less than 10% of our total income in this time. Mainly this is because we are stretching our budget to the last penny with all of the set-up costs of infrastructure and materials that we will use for years to come. Early CSA signups and loyal customers buying Market Memberships mean a lot to us at this time, and make it possible for us to get what we need in order to farm successfully in a new place. We are so lucky to have these ultimate supporters, and our generous and supportive family, who have made our dreams of farming on our own land into a reality. Everything is coming together, and our new home is starting to feel like a real farm.