As of the afternoon of Friday, April 29, the Black Cat Farm intends to attend the Boulder Farmers Market. Farm workers Noah and Chip are scheduled to help market goers. Eric and Jill plan to skip this market. If the weather worsens, we may not attend the market.
The Black Cat Farm booth at the Boulder Farmers’ Market will include the following produce on April 30, 2016:
- Carrots
- Collards, Asian
- Frisee
- Kale
- Mache
- Mustard flowers
- Parsley
- Parsnips
- Rapini
- Salad mix
- Scallions
- Sorrel
- Spinach and chard mix
Sheep pelts and pig leather will also be available.
Adios for now to beets and turnips
While we still have overwintered carrots and parsnips, our overwintered beets and turnips are a thing of the past. Look for beets and turnips later in the summer.
The cavalry is here
One of the biggest factors in a farm’s success are its laborers. In a country where most citizens have little or no experience working on a farm, getting enough skilled people who are willing to put in long days of manual labor for less than a princely sum is always challenging.
Last year, Eric and Jill decided to try something new to staff their farm. Working with the U.S. H-2A visa program for farm workers, they hired a crew of Mexican farm workers. The crew made a huge difference in helping making the season a success.
This year, Eric and Jill sponsored a new crew of five Mexican farm workers, which is comprised of both holdovers from last year and newcomers. They were hoping for the crew to arrive a month ago but a minor bureaucratic snafu created a long delay. In the meantime, the farm has been operating with a very tired skeleton crew of Eric, Jill, and Noah.
After a long and anxiety-provoking wait, the crew arrived last Sunday. From 8am to after dark every day , they have been planting, cultivating, and cleaning up the farm under Eric’s supervision to catch up on back logged work. While Eric is still working long hours with little sleep, the crew has been making quick progress, which has brightened Eric’s outlook to one of hopefulness.
