Now that we’re on Daylight Savings Time and the days are warming up a bit, it seems that working takes up a lot more of our daily lives!  No more sleeping in!  Welcome, sunshine, birdsong and warmer weather!

Although many of our neighbors have been busy starting seedlings in their homes and greenhouses for the last couple of months, we’re just getting started with that here on Old Loon Farm.  Part of the reason is that we are still elbow-deep in remodeling the farm kitchen.  The other part is that we try to rein in our enthusiasm and start our plants in March and April rather than January or February.  We’ve experienced too many seasons of leggy  plants that are ready for transplanting long before the garden and weather are ready for them.  That can mean a lot of long hours down the drain, so we hold back a bit. We won’t have the earliest vegetables, but hopefully we’ll have some of the best!

Chuck has been diligently working in the farm kitchen and store, installing new lights and outlets, counter tops, sinks, dishwasher, and completing other construction tasks.  Our brother Gary Hierholzer, from Celina, Ohio, built our beautiful hickory cabinets to our specs and delivered them last week.  We feel like we’ve gained a whole lot of work space, and now have a dedicated area for sales as well.

Construction always takes longer than anticipated, so our store opening scheduled for March is being pushed back a bit.  Once we get rolling, though, we plan to be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays for on-farm sales. Beginning May 6 we will be at the Farmers Market in downtown Columbia City every Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:30.

Meanwhile, we have fresh eggs and hearty granola on hand, some honey and jams.  We’re here most days, but email ahead if you want to be sure: oldloonfarm@gmail.com. We’ll be adding breads and fresh baked goods to the lineup once we’re on a regular schedule.  Hope to see you soon!