March is past… in like a lion….. snow, rain, snow, rain… The greenhouse filled up with water for hopefully the last time this year. All the humidity seemed to help the leek seeds sprout in their pots. The cabbages and spinach are slowly pushing up from the chill of the soil. The lettuces and tomatoes are still too cold to show their leaves. Each day we keep thinking that the temperature will be above freezing – and then it creeps to 36! Hopefully this is a sign that this year will be a great maple syrup season. We are beginning to be glad to see the snow receding into the woods and the shady nooks. It still coats the upper pastures on the north side of the hills. The great ruts of mud in the dirt road and dirt drives between the barns are drying out and flattening the more we drive on them. You can begin to see the reddening of the trees as the buds begin to swell, whereas all of you in NYC must already be seeing willow leaves and forsythia blooms. Here the ground is still frozen so trying to make the changes to the pig fence around the shed are still tough. It is so much easier to pound in new fence posts when the ground is soft. BUT…in order to escape this weather, we went away for a few days and was able to see some scenery, friends and family in Maine, Massachusetts and winding up our trip at the JustFood Conference and CSA Fair on Saturday, March 29. We were glad to see all you who attended and found us to say hello. We always have a great time at this event and love to see the great exchange among the Farmers, CSAs, and other interested foodies!

The new Barn room for packing all your orders is being painted with antique white wall and trim and either a medium blue or soft green for the old doors we hung on the entrance, closets, the newly built doors to the freezer area and the upstairs storage area. We packed the orders for the April delivery in the new facility and we are hoping that we are mostly moved by the end of April!!

The cows, horses and pigs are starting to wander and look for opportunities to graze; soon we’ll be walking all the fence lines to check for downed trees and branches on the wires. We also spend some time walking and cranking, walking and cranking, walking cranking the winder/spinner of the hand seeder splaying clover seed in swaths back and forth across the pastures. When the ground is still heaving each day with frost at night and warmth in the day, the seeds are more easily pulled into contact with the soil for germinating.

We can finally see to the back of the barn and sheds for the last of the hay bales ready to feed. We always have ads in the papers these days offering to buy hay in case we run out before the grass gets growing well. That gives us a few folks to call for emergency deliveries just in case we need extra feed.

The garden will be warming up (hopefully) while we are away and perhaps the perennial onions will be ready to eat when we get back. A few stray spinach, arugula and kale plants have bravely lived through the winter under the row cover. These will be our early greens if they are happy enough to keep growing (and they are now that it’s mid-April).

I want to thank Chris for all the help she has given us in the last ear. Chris is here Monday to Friday to answer any questions or emails, and help with any websites problems or forgotten passwords. It has been invaluable to have her helping me with all these details. I have been able to accomplish so much more with her help for the myriad of computer tasks we have: keeping our inventory, updating order forms, entering orders, entering weights after packing, coordinating with the farms, setting up the reminder emails and a host of other details. She has made the volume of delivery tasks a much easier routine by getting much of it done sooner than in the past in an organized and logical manner. She is looking forward to her new “office” in the new north barn.

When we all do what we do best, the job gets done well. Once in a while, we make a mistake, forget something or get it wrong but we really do try to get every order correct. Between all the items offered by all the farms and bakers, we pack between 700 and 1000 pieces per delivery these days. Please do not hesitate to let us know when something is amiss, and we’ll do our best to make it right, offer a credit or a replacement. We hope to please and hope you are happy with our products.

Happy Spring, Nancy and Alan

Spring on the Farm

Alan and Nancy Brown At the End of Lewis Hill Lane Town of Jackson Greenwich, NY 12834 phone (518) 692-9208 or 692-3120 | Email

Spring on the Farm