RBR News | February 28, 2017

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Around the Ranch
Mother Nature teased us with some sunshine and warm weather last week and just as we were getting into the “swing of spring,” she abruptly reminded us that it is still winter. Even though we are seeing some overnight temps in the single digits this week, spring is just around the corner and the team at Rock Bottom Ranch is busy preparing for the upcoming season.   

We spend a few weeks over the winter (historically the last two weeks of December) brainstorming, discussing and finalizing plans for the upcoming growing season. It’s a complex orchestration to ensure that the diverse vegetable and livestock production stays on schedule, all while balancing education, site maintenance goals, and an ongoing list of special projects. But this diversity ensures that something is always happening at the ranch and the agriculture team is never bored.  

We started some spring-cleaning with the warmer weather last week. The over-wintered hoophouse salad mix, kale, and arugula are really starting to produce as the days get longer. Seeds for new successions of carrots, arugula, sugar snap peas, head lettuce, and spinach have been sown and are germinated in the Rolling Thunder hoophouse. Seeds for kale, onions, Swiss chard, head lettuce, and even the first round of tomatoes and peppers have been sown and germinated in our new Passive Solar Seed Start House.  

And the animals are just as busy – a new litter of rabbits was born late last week and the first lambs of the season were born over the weekend. 200 additional laying hen chicks are scheduled for hatch on Tuesday. The Minorca pullets (young laying hens) hatched last October were moved to their new mobile Chicken Tractor a few weeks ago and should start laying eggs in the next 6-8 weeks. We should see new piglets in a few weeks followed by the first group of broiler chickens.  

We are excited to announce another development at the Ranch, the launch of an ACES at Rock Bottom Ranch Instagram page. Follow @ACESrbr for the latest updates from around the property, from food education to animal birth announcements to planting and harvest info to event announcements and market notifications.  

Available Products:

• Limited supply of our locally famous, pasture-raised, non-GMO, Animal Welfare Approved, chicken eggs. 
• Salad mix and kale are available in limited quantities.

Products can be purchased at Ranch during open hours.
Please call at least one business day in advance to confirm availability or to place an order for pick-up. 

Salad can also be purchased at Meat & Cheese Farm Shop in Aspen while supplies last. Our friends at Free Range Kitchen and Wine Bar in downtown Basalt have several items on their menu including kale, arugula, pea shoots and select pork cuts.

Rock Bottom Ranch is open Monday – Friday 9AM – 5PM with Farm Tours Wednesdays and Fridays at 11AM. For questions about Rock Bottom Ranch please email Jason at jsmith@aspennature.org.

 

~ Jason Smith, Rock Bottom Ranch Director