Hi, April! The Latest News from Farm & Larder and Bella Luna Farms

As we greet April here at the farm, spring seems to be in full swing! As we are busy both indoors during the drippy days, and then outdoors during those glorious sun breaks, there are lots of developments to share:

First up, we welcomed two new lambs last week as our ewe Windy gave birth to twins! After a bit of difficulty, Dr. Elizabeth Hardy and her team came to the rescue to help with the delivery and Windy and her twins are thriving! We can’t help but smile when we watch them frolicking, wearing their little coats, hopping and bouncing along—and at only a few days old! (Look for videos via our Lamb Cam…coming soon!)

Back to work, we have been busy dividing last summer’s dahlia tubers, getting them ready for planting next month. We have already planted peony crowns and lilies in the cut flower field by the hoophouse. We are very excited to see last year’s perennials popping up, and are hoping for an exceptional cut flower season ahead!

In the orchard, we have just finished the last of the winter pruning as the orchard is beginning to wake up. Just in time, too, as a new resident is about to move in and join our budding fruit trees—the mason orchard bees! Our friends Dave and Beth Richards of Woodinville’s Johnny Applebees LLC will install their specialized orchard mason bee houses in sunny, south-facing spots here at the farm to help with crop pollination. Mason orchard bees nest in reeds and natural holes, hence the design of their handmade cedar “houses” which are filled with natural reed tubes. These busy, non-stinging native bees are considered nature’s ‘super’ pollinators and as such are a very welcome addition to the farm. They are able to do their pollinating work early in the season in cooler temperatures that honeybees are unable to fly in.

Spring is also starting in the vegetable garden, where we have been both pulling weeds and adding compost, planting onions and leek starts as well as hardy lettuces, kale and peas, with hundreds of seeds going into flats in the hoophouse for starts to be ready for planting later in the month. The herbs continue to grow in the walled garden, kissing the air with the savory scent of thyme, parsley and chives. The team for our landscape design company, Parterre, is also working on our clients’ garden projects, recently installing a living fence of Asian pear espaliers under planted with several varieties of strawberries, promising a delicious harvest from early summer through fall.

As always, we hope you continue to stay well and wish you the best this season. Here’s to a bountiful and beautiful spring!