Dear Mustard Seed friends,

Here's a roundup of spring news from the farm!

1. Save the Date: Saturday, April 1st 5-8 PM
Our annual FUNraiser will be at Harvest Vineyard (320 S 17th St, Ames). The art from our community art show will still be on display. Join us for an evening with food, live music, bingo, dancing, and a craft sale. Everyone is welcome! Invite your friends!! We will be taking a freewill offering and selling art/crafts to raise money for upgrades to our water system. For more info - click here to see our POSTER and website. Also, we need helpers to make our FUN-RAISER a success!
View our volunteer needs and sign up here.

2. Looking For Crop Leaders
The growing season will soon be underway, and just like last year, we are looking for crop leaders to share leadership in food and flower production on the farm. Ideally, these leaders will have a good sense of the "whats" and "whens" of their crop so they can call for extra hands when needed. This is also a great opportunity to be a learner. Alice is happy to teach/train crop leaders on their crops. (The Johnny's Seed Grower's Library is another great resource.) If you would like to be a crop leader or are interested in learning more, please fill out this form!

3. Workshare Sign Ups
As the weather warms up and outdoor activities resume, we will have opportunities to volunteer on the farm. Watch your email in the coming weeks for information about spring workdays, planting, and field prep. In mid May, we'll have two weeks of harvest training, and then we will begin our weekly Tuesday & Friday harvest shifts from 7-10 AM. Come work with us and leave with a box of vegetables! We are looking for regular and occasional volunteers to join both our Tuesday and Friday crews. Please fill out our 2023 volunteer survey / sign up! Questions about volunteering? Check out our Volunteer Handbook (on the Workshares page).

4. Spring Work Days
Do you want to help cut trees, process wood, or help with a prairie burn? Send us an email and we'll contact you about these kinds of work days. Our general work days are scheduled for the following dates and there will be a variety of tasks for all skill levels.

• Saturday, April 8, 1-4 PM
• Friday, April 14, 1-4 PM
• Saturday, April 15, 1-4 PM

5. Farm Team Meetings
Our next farm team meetings are scheduled for Sunday, March 5 from 1:30-3:30 PM and Sunday, April 16 from 1:30-3:30 PM. Interested in learning what the farm team is all about? Sit in on a meeting! Our new location is Collegiate Presbyterian Church (159 Sheldon Ave) on the bottom floor in the Sarah Barlow lounge.

6. Outreach Events

• Green Hills Eco Fair: March 23, 2:30-4:30 PM
• Seed & Plant Sharing Event: May 13