Night Owl Farm: 2024 Key Dates

Night Owl Farm Quick Farm/Farmer Update I feel a little bit like I'm climbing out of hiding as I write this email. The 2023 season was an absolute whirlwind. February started off at an intense pace. The renovations on the farm stand stared, thanks to a grant we received through the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, and renovations ALSO started on the home my husband and I purchased in Blackstone at the same time. We bought an 1885 Victorian that needed (needs?) a lot of TLC, but is absolutely stunning. (Please ask to see pictures when you see me next! I would love to show you!) Two major renovation projects at the same time is no joke, and then I had to run our regular farming season on top of that. To say I was tired by the end of the season was an understatement! The house still needs a lot of work (we aren't living in it quite yet), and the greenhouse needs maintenance, so I decided to take the rest of the winter to rest & regroup so we can hit the ground running for the 2024 season! I will miss ALL of you at the winter market, but it will make our re-opening in May even better! We have a lot in store for this year, so take a look at our upcoming key dates for what you can expect this year. Upcoming Key Dates I've put together a schedule of upcoming important dates for the farm. More details on each item can be found on our website! January 1st - CSAs on sale to returning members and our waitlist January 1st - Summer Program Registration open for returning families and our waitlist January 15th - CSAs on sale to the public January 30th - Summer Program Registration open February 15th - 2024 Workshop Series Released May 1st - Seedling Sale Pre-Orders Open May 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26 - Seedling Sale Learn More Night Owl Farm 49 Prospect Street, Franklin, MA, 02038 Square Buyer Features Privacy Policy 2024 Key Dates was sent to you on 2023-12-28 22:30:22 UTC by Night Owl Farm

                                                           

Night Owl Farm: Farm Stand New Hours

Farm Stand Pop-up We will not be in attendance at the Franklin Market today (9/29), so instead, we are offering a self-serve farm stand option! The farm stand will be open 1:00-7:00 with produce, honey, maple syrup, and other fabulous finds! Octob...

Night Owl Farm October Hours Mondays ………………………….…... CLOSED Tuesdays ……………………… 1:00pm-7:00pm Wednesdays …………………………. CLOSED Thursdays …………………………….. CLOSED Fridays ………. Franklin Market (not this week) Saturdays ……………………. 10:00am-4:00pm Sundays ……………………………….. CLOSED Our LAST DAY of the season will be on October 28th. We will be doing our annual Thanksgiving pop up on 11/21, including pies! Pie pre-orders coming soon. What We're Harvesting Beets Celeriac (Celery Root) Eggplant Eggplant, Fairytale Garlic Husk/Ground Cherries Kale Lettuce, Head Onions, Red Onions, Yellow Parsley Peppers, Green Peppers, Hot Peppers, Shishito Rutabaga Scallions Tomatoes. Heirloom Tomatoes, Slicers We will also have some fresh flowers available! Coming Soon… Arugula Broccoli Lettuce Mix Spinach Night Owl Farm 49 Prospect Street, Franklin, MA, 02038 Farm Stand Pop-up! (& New Hours) was sent to you on 2023-09-29 12:45:28 UTC by Night Owl Farm

                                                           

Night Owl Farmstand open today 2 to 6 PM

We will be open today (8/25) 2:00-6:00, 49 Prospect Street, Franklin.

Here’s what we will have available:

Artichoke (Small, but YUMMY!)

Basil (LOTS!!)

Carrots, Orange

Carrots, Purple

Celery

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Eggplant, Fairytale

Garlic

Husk/Ground Cherries

Kale

Kohlrabi

Onions, Pearl

Onions, Red

Onions, Yellow

Parsley

Peppers, Greeb

Peppers, Hot

Peppers, Ripe

Peppers, Shishito

Scallions

Squash, Summer

Squash, Zucchini

Swiss Chard

Tomatoes. Heirloom

Tomatoes, Slicers

Tomatoes, Cherry

Plus lots of GORGEOUS flowers and other farm stand finds!

Night Owl Farmstand open today 2 to 6 PM

Night Owl Farm schedules "Nutrition Myths Workshop" - Aug 11

"New workshop alert!!

Learn about common misconceptions surrounding nutrition and food.

Come join this safe space to ask questions & get support. No judgement! Bring all your burning nutrition questions.

Learn more and sign up here: https://night-owl-farm.square.site/workshops"

Shared from -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CvdCO2wsimX/

Night Owl Farm schedules "Nutrition Myths Workshop" - Aug 11

Night Owl Farm: Gardening Workshop on April 29

Common Gardening Problems Come learn about the most common problems, pests, and diseases that gardeners face, and how to combat them! This workshop is designed for all levels. From tomato horn worms, to chipmunks, to powdery mildew. We will go thr...

Have questions? Reply to this email and we'll respond as soon as possible.

Night Owl Farm Common Gardening Problems Come learn about the most common problems, pests, and diseases that gardeners face, and how to combat them! This workshop is designed for all levels. From tomato horn worms, to chipmunks, to powdery mildew. We will go through the major obstacles that gardeners will likely face. At the end of the lesson, opportunity will also be given to discuss personal gardening hurdles. This will be an open-format discussion to allow not only for Farmer Ali to assist in diagnosis, but also your fellow gardeners. Ali's perspective is only one, and she understands the value of a Socratic workshop. The ability to use each other as a resource is invaluable, and will be encouraged in this workshop! (To those who are new to gardening, you are more than welcome to attend regardless of whether or not you can provide input to other attendees. Ask questions, and listen to others - one day you will be giving advice too!) There are many approaches to combatting pests and diseases, and those using different practices are ABSOLUTELY still welcome to attend, but this workshop will exclusively focus on organic, sustainable, and regenerative practices. Cost: $55 per person Time: April 29th 10:00am-12:00pm Compost pick-up will be right after, so you can kill two birds with one stone! 😊 Common Gardening Problems (April 29th, 10:00am - 12:00pm) $55.00 Night Owl Farm 49 Prospect Street, Franklin, MA, 02038 Square Buyer Features Privacy Policy Gardening Workshop on April 29th! was sent to you on 2023-04-20 11:31:42 UTC by Night Owl Farm

Night Owl Farm: Fun Fact Friday - the visible difference of compost

Night Owl Farm ✨Farm Fact Friday✨ The Power of Compost I took this picture a few days ago when we planted our first field crops (Kohlrabi, Scallions, Lettuce, & Escarole). I was blown away at the stark difference between beds that were right next to each other! The bed on the right received a healthy amount of compost last year, while the bed on the left did not. I don't know why it didn't, I just know that it didn't. Did I just not want to haul another wheelbarrow up the hill? Probably 😂 Both of these were left to their own devices all winter, and when we got started this spring, this is what we had to work with! (In the photo, the bed on the right had already been broadforked, where the one on the left had not.) We couldn't BELIEVE the difference! The bed on the right was softer, smelled good, and was much easier to work with, while the bed on the left was harder, cracked, and dried out really quickly after prepping. The only difference between the two beds is that one received compost, and the other didn't. They received the same amendments, same watering, and were on the same weed schedule. It's important to note that compost and amendments (fertilizer) are both important, and you shouldn't pick one or the other for your growing space. Compost adds organic matter to the soil which helps add life, improves your soil structure, increases the ability to "catch and release" nutrients so that the plants get what they need, and helps with retaining water. Amendments add the minerals and nutrients that your plants need to thrive, compost helps them work better! There is so much useful information out there on the importance of compost in your gardens. I highly recommend doing a deep dive to learn more, as this is just a quick intro to it. Night Owl Farm 49 Prospect Street, Franklin, MA, 02038 Square Buyer Features Privacy Policy Want a Free CSA? was sent to you on 2023-04-14 11:57:50 UTC by Night Owl Farm

                                                           

Night Owl Farm: ✨Farm Fact Friday✨

View this email in your browser ✨Farm Fact Friday✨ This week we're talking chickens diets and clever (misleading) marketing 🐔 I've had some people ask me questions recently about what chickens eat, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to write about it! Chicken's Natural Diet Chickens are naturally omnivores (meaning they eat meat and plants), which may come as a surprise to many! Many egg cartons in the stores proudly promote their hens as being "vegetarian fed." Commercially raised chickens used to be fed animal by-products along with their grains, but around the time of mad-cow disease in the 90s, one farmer took advantage of a marketing opportunity, and it stuck. This is extremely common in the food world where marketing will create a variety of misconceptions. Another example of this is the phrase "cage free." I could go into this one for hours, but in short, instead of being in cages, the hens are packed in a giant warehouse, often leading to hens being trampled. Technically cage-free though! Even "free-range" doesn't mean what it used to. Happy to talk about that one for hours too 😉 In reality, chickens are supposed to be out in the dirt and plant life, digging for worms, eating leaves and seeds, finding bugs, and even eating small mice and snakes. This is what their diet is supposed to look like. If left to their own devices, they would even pick at any dead carcasses they might find. What We Feed Our Hens We don't go around throwing rotting carcasses to our chickens, nor do we feed chicken to our chickens. (Although they *can* eat chicken without the same repercussions as mad cow…. I cringe at the idea) We do, however, support their natural biology. Our hens are not vegetarian fed. They are able to roam outside, dig for worms and eat lots of bugs, even catch a few mice here and there. Our chickens also receive quite a bit of our food waste, which may include bones with scraps of meat on them, tomato sauce with ground meat in it, or similar items. This is good for them to have as it gives them the proper protein they need in order to provide us with stunningly healthy eggs! These lucky ladies also receive LOTS of organic produce right from the farm 😊 The vegetarian feed birds are given often include soy as a protein source. This is not a natural food source for chickens, and they would not seek it out if they were dropped in a field of soy. It's taxing on their digestive systems, and has negative long term effects on the overall health of the chicken. (Think of someone who eats Cheetos as their main food source… not great) However, it's a cheap protein source, so it's often used in feeds to save money. It's the same idea as feeding cows corn. It gives you the desired end result (fatty meat and lots of eggs) but it doesn't provide the quality of life the animals deserve. This is why we feed what we feed - we want our animals to have best, healthiest life they can. Our feed doesn't contain any soy, so our birds need a different source of protein, which is why we allow them to forage and be the way nature intended them to be. Or feed is certified organic from a family farm in Vermont (Green Mountain Feeds) and we are proud to support them. So next time you see "vegetarian fed" on a carton, you'll know the truth behind the marketing! Copyright (C) 2023 Night Owl Farm, LLC. All rights reserved.

Night Owl Farm · 49 Prospect Street · Franklin, MA 02038 · USA

Night Owl Farm: Farm Fact Friday - Tatsoi Flowers

View this email in your browser ✨Farm Fact Friday✨ Tatsoi Flowers! Oh my gosh these are delicious. Tatsoi usually looks like a mini spinach leaf, and cooks just like it! The greens taste like a mix between spinach and Bok Choy. Many of you have tried tatsoi and have come back for more! We have had tatsoi in our greenhouse all winter (also called "overwintering") and we've been able to harvest about every 2-4 weeks. Now that the days are getting longer, the plant's natural response is to bolt (grow flowers) and try to produce offspring. Usually for other crops (lettuce in particular) bolting means it's no longer good as it turns extremely bitter and unappetizing. Lucky for us, however, tatsoi flowers are DELICIOUS. Like a sweet, tender broccoli. We will have a limited supply at the market tomorrow, so you have a chance to try this limited time crop! These are so yummy that cooking is unnecessary, but if you are not a fan of raw veggies, then a *quick* sauté will do it! Think of it kind of like broccolini. The flowers can be open or closed, they are equally tasty. Copyright (C) 2023 Night Owl Farm, LLC. All rights reserved.

Night Owl Farm: Farm Fact Friday - 02/03/23

View this email in your browser ✨Farm Fact Friday✨ (Before I get into this, I want to say that this is a watered down, straight to the point email, even given its length. I could talk about this topic for hours! If you have questions, or want to know more, please don't hesitate to reach out!) This week's highlight is our farming practices! We are a small farm growing our food on about 1/4 acre, looking to expand to just under 1/2 acre this year. All of what we do is by hand - no sprays, no tractors, just delicious food! And no, we haven't just lost our minds and decided to make everything harder for no reason! 😂 It turns out, that this approach is excellent for the soil. This approach is called, "no till," or, "low till," farming. Depending on who you ask (like with everything!) they will have a different opinion on what no till actually is. Some say that you can't grow root crops in a no till system because harvesting them disturbs the soil. That's not our opinion. For us, no till means we disturb the soil as little as possible. And in particular, avoid turning the soil over. This allows for all of the microscopic living things to thrive and support the soil. With conventional tillage, the soil gets mixed around and exposes those organisms to the air/sun which kills them. Life in the soil is essential to a healthy crop. That life is responsible for breaking things down and feeding our crops with their waste. This helps eliminate the need for adding supplemental food for the plants in the form of pelletized fertilizers. We do add amendments to the soil, but it's stuff like kelp meal, alfalfa meal, fish fertilizer… things that you can understand the name of! Once your soil has been restored (we are working on it by adding lots of compost, getting our soil tested, adding nutrients and minerals needed, and disturbing the soil as little as possible) this practice allows you to grow more intensely, creating a larger yield in a smaller space. This is why we were able to support 30 CSAs and 2 farmers markets on 1/4 acre, when many farms running the same number of CSAs need quadruple that space! We are also able to reduce the size of our walking paths and beds since we don't need to leave space for a tractor, which also helps maximize the use of space. We also don't have the overhead, or environmental impact of a tractor. Yes, it's a lot more work to do it by hand, but it's better for our soil, the environment, our wallets, and our time. We waste no time or money on equipment repairs, which has helped our bottom line significantly. We often get funny looks from old school farmers because this isn't "how it's been done." When in reality, agriculture has been around a lot longer than tractors have, and major tillage wasn't used until tractors became popular. So, we are actually getting back to our roots 😉 by going to till. Again, I could talk about this for hours! I feel like I've left so much out haha so if you have an interest in this topic, there are a lot of excellent YouTube videos out there, and I would be happy to answer your questions as well! Stay warm out there ❄️ ❤️ Copyright (C) 2023 Night Owl Farm, LLC. All rights reserved.

Night Owl Farm · 49 Prospect Street · Franklin, MA 02038 · USA

Consider subscribing to the Night Owl Farm series of "Farm Fact Fridays"

Night Owl Farm writes:

"Over the next several weeks, we will be highlighting a common misconception, or an unusual vegetable to help broaden your knowledge about weird farm things!

They will be long posts, but very educational for those who are interested. 

This first week, we will be highlighting our eggs. Our eggs will come to you unwashed (unless otherwise labeled - we wash the eggs that end up extra dirty) and significantly fresher than any eggs you will find at the grocery store.

An unwashed egg has a longer shelf life than a washed egg due to the coating the eggs have on them after a hen lays them. This Bloom is a protective layer to keep the eggs fresh before a hen decides to sit on them to try and hatch them.

If we were to stop collecting eggs each day and leave the chickens to their own devices, the chickens will “collect” the eggs themselves to hatch them (assuming there’s a rooster with them - No rooster means no babies)

The chickens will choose a favorite nesting box or two and consistently lay their eggs in those places. As the eggs collect, sometimes for a couple weeks, 1 or more hens will become Broody. Her temperature rises, she will get extra feisty and protective, and will stop eating and drinking (almost entirely) for the 21 days until the chicks hatch.

In order for the eggs to stay fresh until the hen goes broody, their bodies add a mostly invisible layer to the egg to keep it from rotting while they collect their eggs. This bloom allows fresh eggs to stay unrefrigerated for several weeks without issue.

We made the decision to refrigerate our eggs because it turns “several weeks” into “several months.” Once unwashed eggs are refrigerated, they should stay refrigerated.

So next time you get a dozen of our eggs and there’s a little bit of dirt on them, just know that this means they will be lasting quite a while in your fridge! Store then dirty - all they need is a bit of warm water and soap right before you use them :)

**Something in particular you want us to highlight? Send us a message and we’ll add it to our list!**

Visit Night Owl Farm on the internet (at their location, or one of the farmers markets where they participate). Scroll to the bottom of their home page to sign up for their newsletter -> http://www.nightowlfarm.org/

View this Night Owl text in your browser -> https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=9924a495b2&u=9e517f8ba72777e1fdd23368a&id=9fa68ba154

Consider subscribing to the Night Owl Farm series of "Farm Fact Fridays"