Radishes!

The first vegetable from my garden this year--radishes!

So far, so good. Next up should be the peas.

First ice cream of the season

Kimball Farm

400 Littleton Road (Rte. 110), Westford, MA 01886

kimballfarm.com

Kimball's is open, and ice cream season has officially begun! Like true New Englanders, we braved the cold and went out for our first cone of the season. They had sides up on their big tent and a propane heater going full blast, so we didn't mind the temperature. We certainly didn't have to worry about our cones melting today!

The Good Loaf, Mont Vernon NH

The Good Loaf
75 Mont Vernon Road, Milford, New Hampshire 03055
603.672.1500
thegoodloaf.com

Today I stopped in at The Good Loaf bakery, right on Rte. 13, just north of Milford. Every time I go there, I want to fill up my car with their delicious bread. Luckily, I was able to restrain myself and left with a loaf of bread, a cup of coffee, and a pumpkin cupcake.

As you can see, I couldn't keep from sampling the cupcake before remembering to take a picture of it. Yes, it was that good.

Spring planting

The crocuses are out in our yard! Aside from maple sugaring, of course, that's one of my favorite signs that spring is really here.

Today was the first day of planting seeds for our vegetable garden: sugar snap peas, carrots, and radishes.. Talia gets her own little garden patch, too.  She did a great job planting her peas all by herself.

I say this every year, but this year I mean it--our garden is going to be amazing!

We'll see how it goes. I don't have the greenest thumb, but if I get better every year, I consider that a victory. There is nothing more delicious--or more local--than vegetables from your backyard.

Drumlin Farm, Lincoln MA

Drumlin Farm

208 South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773

http://www.massaudubon.org/drumlin

We got a glimpse of spring in the seedling-filled greenhouse at Drumlin Farm this weekend. For the third year in a row, we (me and twelve of my relatives) went to their annual Farmer's Breakfast. After feasting on pancakes covered in their own maple syrup, as well as potatoes and sausage also from their farm, we walked around to visit the animals and see if anyone had babies yet this spring.

We lucked out and found a bunch of new baby goats. They were so cute! It was naptime for everyone, apparently, while we walked through the barn. Here are a couple of kids curled up and being periodically licked by their momma. There was also a large pig with about a month to go to deliver her litter. We'll have to go back and see them once they're born. Last year there was a barn full of adorable polka-dotted pigs.

On the way out, we visited the sugarhouse and watched them making maple syrup. They had samples of straight maple sap, which for some reason I had expected to be at least slightly sticky, but it was only just the faintest bit sweet. And, they also samples of the in-process batch of maple syrup--about 1/4 of the way done. I had to dive in and intercept my daughter's multiple attempts at extra samples. She is a big maple syrup fan.

All in all, another fun spring pancake breakfast. On deck for later this month is the open house at Dave's Sugarhouse, in Ashby, MA. That's not until the 26th, though, so I'll have to figure something out for this coming weekend.

Maple season is here!

After the winter we've had, it almost seems impossible, but the sap is flowing! Now is the time to check out sugar shacks and plan out your weekend breakfasts and visits for the next six weeks, or so:

http://www.massmaple.org/

Southface Farm, Ashfield MA

Southface Farm

Watson-Spruce Corner Road

Ashfield, MA 01330

413.628.3268

www.southfacefarm.com

In celebration of National Pancake Week, which was February 19-25, we took a field trip out to Southface Farm for breakfast. This is the second time (maybe the third?) that I've been out here for breakfast. They are open for six weekends in the spring (starting this weekend) serving breakfast. I highly recommend getting the the corn fritters.

They aren't boiling yet, but let us wander around and check out their set-up. We took home a quart of last year's syrup, since we were just about out of maple syrup (a tragedy!)

I'm look forward to several more weekends of sugar shack breakfasts. Happy maple-ing, everyone!