Next year...

Today is very windy (45+mph gusts), very warm (74 degrees), and very spring like (with the threatening thunderstorms) and with spring in the air (although it is October) it makes me think about next season all the more.

This is a fun time of year. We get to make great plans and execute them on paper! I will always find a way to make a spreadsheet or two, which Farmer Hubby will laugh at me for. He spends time looking at equipment deciding what are next seasons big investments (we need a chisel plow, but what about a new tiller? we really do need to get that cooler we have been talking about, if we can swing it but how are we going to upgrade our wash line (technical term for a couple tables with slatted tops and a garden hose)?)

Right now things are still so preliminary our plans are in the sky and there is no need to put numbers to anything. That will come later, the reconciling of reality with our budget.

We are deciding which areas we will just grow cover crops on next year, which places need the most TLC.

It would be nice to cover the whole farm all next year, but at some point we need to actually grow food, I doubt our CSA members want to eat just Buckwheat, Clover, Rye, and Mustards. So we are working on a cover strategy. Right now almost everything (not next years potato field) has a winter cover planted. We will try to rotate cover through a lot of our tilled areas next year, and start a couple new small fields. Eventually, we will build up good soil, but that is a long term project. One of the "Wish list" items is a planter for limited till cover crops ($9,000, but WOW, is it a nice toy!).

(More dreaming as I dream...)

Has it only been 12 days?

When I looked back at my last post I realized it was 12 days ago. Wow, am I a bad blogger.

So much has happened in that week and a half.

Our first farm work day went amazingly well. In the course of 5 hours we had over 20 people come to the farm. They stayed between an hour and 4 hours and with their help we planted thousands of pepper, eggplant, cucumber, and squash plants.

The next day with one of our work share members we planted 400 lettuce plants and almost as many Boc Choi plants. A few days later two more work share members helped put in almost 1000 tomato plants.

Then it started to rain, and our field work has been a little limited for the past few days, as is evidenced by the amount of weeds in some of the rows! But on this past Saturday we did manage to see to our garlic plants and ended up pulling 2 bushels of scapes. (Garlic scapes are the attempt of the garlic plant to flower, and must be cut down in order to promote good bulb development!)

The unseasonable warm weather is causing our broccoli to quickly head. We were fearful it would flower before our first CSA week so we moved our season up one week. First time that has happened!

So our first CSA pickup is this coming Sunday, the 13th (maybe we should have waited on those scapes!) We are very excited and a little scared, but our first week should be OK, and this season is going to be great!

There are a couple big additions coming to the farm, if all goes as plans. Hubby is going to test drive one this morning and the second one is coming to the farm for a visit this evening.

I think that probably brings us up to date, except for all the computer work that has happened the last couple weeks. Getting start weeks straight for half members and then the mass confusion that moving our season start date caused!

We also signed up for Constant Contact, so if you would like occasional emails from us please sign up, there is a button on the left hand bar of this page.

A couple photos and Mid May update.

The season is progressing well. The garlic is growing fast. Hopefully it will wait until our CSA starts in about a month to start the scapes. We can scape people out this year!

The new bees are doing well, and eating lots of sugar water. Hubby took this photo, with not a bee to be seen, but it was only 45 degrees and there were a few Guard Bees popping in and out. The next day they were flying, and the established hives are really strong!

Looks like, thanks to the PD's article, we will fill up our CSA in the next couple days. That will be a good feeling to not have to worry about that anymore.

Radishes, beets, turnips, greens, and carrots are all up. The cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, and kale transplants are doing well under row cover. The onions are all growing and we should have "spring" onions in time for first week with scallions not far behind! The potatoes are starting to pop through the ground and already need to be cultivated in advance of their first hilling in a few weeks. The hoophouse is starting to burst with all the transplants!

It is not the middle of May yet and we already have more in the ground then we had all season two years ago! We still have about $5,000 in equipment, a produce cooler, and a large high tunnel to buy this season, so please remember to get your final CSA payment when you get a chance. I will be sending a reminder email when I get a chance!

I am very excited this is going to be a great season!

Plants, plants, everywhere and not a thing to eat!

This time of year is a time of great hope and greater impatience. Since our CSA does not start until mid June we do not push our early season to hard (this will change in coming years with hoophouses and other improvements.) But with a lot of items in the ground, and thousands waiting in the hoophouse we are just waiting for the first truly edible items (probably radishes, greens, and garlic scapes) in about a month.

So far this season our major completed tasks have included:

• Planting about 2,400 row feet of potatoes
• Planting about 1/4 acre of onions (sets and transplants)
• First spring seeding (about 5,500 row feet of every thing from carrots and beets, to peas and hearty greens.
• Transplanted 200+ broccoli plants, 200+ kale plants, 1000+ cabbage plants, a few hundred feet of lettuce, and 100 feet of scallions.
• First weeding of the year, including getting the garlic cultivated and fertilized.
• Started a couple hundred trays of everthing from peppers and eggplant to lettuce and kohlrabi.
• Of course we also got our hoophouse up and heat in it.
• Made tables for the hoophouse.
• Lots of field work, including plowing and tilling new land, and of course prepping the acre plus which is already in.
• One gardening class.
• Participated in EarthFest.
• Fixed the tractor.
• Built a row marker.
• Built a prehiller.
• Answered a couple thousand emails.
• And a million other small tasks of the type which comes up every day.

The photos are both from the same day. We still have some starts in our basement and are daily moving them to the hoophouse. Problem is we are still starting seeds, so the basement is not getting less crowded, while the hoophouse is getting more crowded! Thankfully, we have started to transplant so we should be OK for a while.

Taking care in all he does...

We picked up this great little book this weekend when we were at Yoder's Produce Supply called "Growing Produce - 2" written by Raymond Yoder. It is a great little book with lots of little gems of wisdom sprinkled throughout.

There is one half page article about growing pumpkins where he talks (amoung other things) about the neccessity of spraying pumpkins for mildews. He has two sketches of pumpkin feilds and at first glance they both look nice. But the first one has pumpkin of many sizes, some without handles, a weedy feild, and in the background a broken windmill. The second one, "without Mildew" has all the pumpkins with nice handels and of similar size, the rows, raised and weed free with a barn in the background. The caption informs the reader that the well kept barn in the background shows that the farmer takes care in all that he does.

How right that is. It is amazing when you drive to Amish areas you can always tell Amish farms by how nice they are kept compared with many of their neighboor's property. The same goes for all farms, although we realize how difficult it is to keep your farm looking nice in the middle of crazy season, it is so important...

Cost of food?

So the question as to why a salad costs more then a Big Mac is a good one. This article addresses it.

Basically, your salad and it's ingredents are not subsidized by the government, while every part of your Big Mac is.

The real cost of your food is not what you are paying, it is what we are all paying, including subsidies supporting agriculture. Or at least commodity agriculture, veggies and fruit are largely ignored, especially that from small producers. The prices you will pay at the farmers market this summer or to your CSA more closely represents the true cost of what we eat then the 99 cent cheeseburger...

Onions, Onions, Onions.

So far we have (of our onions) 2 cases of in the ground. And poor farmer hubby has done all 4,000ish of them himself. I have been working and went to a farm class this weekend. So it has been all him.

It is strange, because he is now on the farm full time. I almost said he "Quit his job" but that implies that he is sitting on the couch and playing the computer, but in the past month he has been a busy boy as he has transitioned to "Full time farmer."

In the same month I have been little help, which makes me a bit sad. But we still need my "real job" income (and 100% of it) to make this work. As the farm pays for itself and finances its own growth my salary pays for all the little things like bills, rent, food, and life. But still it seems like I am missing something on the farm.

Hopefully by early summer I won't feel that way as much.

This weekend the class I took was on farm recordkeeping (among other stuff.) It left me realizing how much better our records need to be. Before my focus was on what the IRS needed, but I need so much more. How many hours did we spend doing X this year. We decided to grow Tinga-Ma-Veggies for market, how much did we make on those, what is the cost to produce 1 Tinga-Ma-Veg, what is the overhead, DON"T FORGET YOUR LABOR... It made me feel that I need to spend more hours in this chair, in front of my computer.

Well, the season never feels real until first market and first CSA pickup anyway. The latter is 6 weeks away and the former we have not set our first week yet. But things are growing and we are getting excited... So much to do, so excuse me, I have 3 cases of onions to help with...

Farm news!

Thursday Farm news:

The fields are wet and getting wetter by the minute, so for the time being the potatoes and onions sit waiting until we can till and make our beds. If anyone is interested in helping with spring planting this year, let us know, with 500 pounds of potatoes and 10,000 onions we could use a little help and will set up a couple times where anyone who would love to help us will be loved in return!

We have thousands of little plants started and they are growing happily under grow lights, we are starting more seeds daily.

CSA-Farmer-Hubby has been busy since being on the farm full time since the end of March. Lots of little projects are getting picked up and this summer will keep him busy for sure!

We are hoping that the farm does well enough this year to allow us to buy one or two LARGE hoophouses (30X96 or so). If we can make that happen we will have veggies for you this time next year! As for now, we must wait until June for our own yummy food. Well except for eggs, we are getting about a dozen a day, so if anyone wants any shoot us an email. They are available for $4.00 a dozen.

I have not had anyone sign up for my last two spring classes, so I am going to go ahead and cancel them, if you are interested I will probably offer them in July if there is interest, so let me know...

Are all CSAs the same?

I thought I would take a minute to comment on all the “CSA”s which are springing up in our region. For those who don’t know CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Starting in Japan in the 1980s it was a way of connecting consumers in a city to farmers. The benefit to the farmer is that they receive 100% of the food dollar (no middleman) and the consumer commits to the farm at the beginning of the season. The benefit to the consumer is that they have a personal relationship with the person who grows their food, and know where & how it is produced. They are guaranteed a share of the harvest throughout the season, sharing both the risk of farming and the bounty in good years. Together the farmer and the CSA members start to form a community, around food, which is traditionally how most communities were organized.

Now however, at least in our region, we are seeing a new phenomena, it started a couple years ago and is beginning to increase. We are seeing “CSA”s start with no farmer directly involved. It seems to me that people see the possible profit margins in selling direct to the consumer but do not want to actually do the work of being a farmer.

More “Subscription” services then CSAs they purchase food from multiple farms or ,as often as not, from food auctions. Often the primary reason they select one supplier over another is cost.
While I understand that our region is woefully short of true CSA spots, with just about every farm based CSA having a waiting list of some size by the first of the year it does frustrate me that these box schemes are selling themselves as CSAs. To me a CSA is a unique and special relationship between farms and their members. I would ask any person who is considering joining a CSA to ask themselves and their CSA some basic questions.

-Is there a farmer directly involved? Do I know him or her, get to meet them, have an opportunity to visit the farm (even if weekly pickup is elsewhere?)
-Is one of my reasons for joining a CSA to directly support the farm and support small scale local agriculture in my region?
If so, would a farmer’s market be better for my needs.

- Is natural or organic important to you? How committed is your grower to those principles?

I would ask my CSA
· Who grows the food?
· If the answer is not “ME!” then ask “Can I have names for all your growers?”
o If they do not know that may mean they will get whatever is least expensive when the time comes.
· What percentage comes directly farms from and what percentage from elsewhere, like produce auctions?
o Sometimes a small percentage comes from farm or gardens and a majority purchased in bulk.
· How is the food produced?
o If it is important to you is it organic or naturally grown?
· If “naturally” how do I know that if I cannot talk to the farmer?
o Note that neither “Amish” or “Small” means natural or sustainable.
· What percentage of my payment pays administrative costs, salaries, and profit compared to what goes to the farmer?

I would also look around and do a “gut check” How much land would it take to support a CSA as large as they have. Could you support hundreds of families off 2 acres? Probably not. The average is somewhere between 20-40 families per acre, an acre is about 210 feet by 210 feet.

There are other equally important questions, but these are a start… I fear that if none farm “CSAs” continue to expand “real” CSAs will begin to disappear. I have heard people say that farmers should be able to grow and not spend time marketing, but of a food dollar less than 20 cents goes to the farmer, the balance to the marketers and distributors, of various kinds. By getting all of the food dollar small farmers have a chance of making a real go at it… Otherwise…

If what you want are veggies, then any “CSA” might be right for you. But if you want more than that, be careful that you know what you are joining. Know your farmer, Know your food.

Canning...

So this past weekend we did a little canning. We made salsa and pizza sauce. I thought I'd take you through the process...

First thing to do is to sterilize your jars. Our dishwasher has a sanitizing cycle, so that really makes it easy. This may look like a lot of jars but we ran two cycles that day...

Then it is time to prep the tomatoes. First, you blanch them by tossing them in boiling water for a minute or so and then in ice water. The skins should come right off...

After that you need to core them.

We ended up cooking a full bushel (actually a bit more) that day, so I was very glad of our new toy... You just throw tomatoes (skins and all) in the top and it skins and seeds them. We did about 75% of the tomatoes this way, doing 25% the old fashioned way so our salsa would have some tomato chunks.Then there is a LOT of seeding and chopping. With hubby and I working together it went quicker, but was still a couple good hours of work. Here is hubby chopping the five cups of diced jalapenos I needed for one of the three recipes we made...

When all that is done comes the easier part of the job, cooking the salsa. But when you are doing 15 pint batches...
That is a lot of salsa, and a lot of stirring. This is where our high BTU gas stove shines, when cooking 15 pints of salsa (which started as 20 some, as we reduced it by about 1/3rd.)

Then all you have to do is stick it in the jars (which we do to quickly to get photos, ensuring hot and clean jars) and put it in the not water bath. Our new one will hold 9 quarts (or nine pints) at a time, so each batch of salsa and the pizza sauce required 2 runs of the bath. To make it quicker, we do it outside on a turkey fryer burner, which will boil the water in 10 minutes, and keep the water roiling even after adding the jars.
In the end we worked from about 2 until about 10 and we ended up with quite a few jars!

Although to be honest, a couple dozen of these were previously canned pepper rings and jam, but over 50 pints of salsa and pizza sauce. Not bad for a day's work... The sad thing is we need not only do we need to do another 36 or so pints of salsa but also need to do 48 or more QUARTS of sauce, a project for another weekend (or two.)

Downy mildew...

Why is it that I have not been able to grow cucumbers this year? We have planted twice this year, early (in June) and late (in late July.) Both times we planted a couple hundred feet in each of our two fields. They all died.

Out of the June plants we got a handful of fruit, maybe 80 total, before the plants succumbed. We did our best to keep them alive, we sprayed them with organic fungicide a couple times (options for these products are limited and expensive) but without success.

I fear the culprit is downy mildew, to which cucumbers are particularly susceptible and which thrive in cooler wet weather, like the weather we had this spring and early summer. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom says once you see the outbreak it is to late. The cure is spraying fungicides on your crops regularly, before an outbreak. But one of the hallmarks of natural production is that you do not treat a problem that does not exist. Scout and treat. Don't use fungicides and pesticides you don't need!

As our CSA members know this has not been a year for either squash or cucumbers. Most of our summer squash was also infected, which has limited our harvest to very small amounts of all but one very hearty heirloom zucchini (which our CSA members know well by now!) And unfortunately, our winter squash is also not doing well and the melons all had to be tilled under (no fruits at all!)

The Ohio State extension confirms that this disease which will not overwinter in our climate and was once considered only a late summer problem in Ohio, when some of the spores made their way up this far born on winds from hurricanes was spotted in Ohio (Medina, Erie, Summit, and other northern counties) as early as June this year. The theory, I gather, is that it is overwintering in Canadian greenhouses, which is why it is seen so much in Northern Ohio and not as much in southern Ohio.

So what can we do? First, we can take a little solace in the knowledge that it cannot overwinter, so future contamination will be from the wind and not our soil, even in areas which have been previously infected. Secondly, next year we will have to start a preventive spraying program on all our cucumbers, melons, winter squash, summer squash, and pumpkins. This will be expensive (as organic options for fungal control are limited.) It also goes a little against what we try to do, however we have had severe losses this year and while risk is part of being a CSA member, it's our responsibility as CSA farmers to do whatever in our power to reduce that risk.

So a sprayer for the tractor is defiantly on the list of purchases for next year.

Posting recipies...

I have felt kind of iffy about posting recipies from other sources on this blog because I really do not know anything about the copyright implications...

Today I ran across this post which I found pretty funny... http://aloshaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/illegal-or-not.html

So the long shot is, if I have time to rewrite the directions, I can post it and be basically safe. The list of ingredents is NOT subject to copyright. Not that I would want to steal anyone's work, but really for basic stuff... How many ways are there to make refridgerator pickles or zucchini bread?

Still, linking is a lazy bloggers way to post recipies... So I may keep doing that...

Carrot tops? Who knew...

I always feel wasteful throwing away (or composting) my beautiful carrot tops. I mean they are so beautiful they must be good for SOMETHING!

Yesterday one of our members mentioned Carrot top soup! I have not tried it, but here are a couple links to recipes...

From Cook Advice

From Chef to Chef

From Angel Valley Farm

This looks interesting to ...

If anyone finds anything else to do with the carrot tops let me know!

Good luck!

Discussions with members...

It is always fun to be able to talk with members at pickups. It is the best part of selling at a farmers market and with a CSA is is so much better! I get to learn a little of their lives and share a bit of ours.

Today one of our members expressed surprise that we do what we do - farm and both work full time jobs. She thought that when we started our family "something would have to give!" Believe me, we know this! But we think that a farm, especially one like ours is probably the best place to raise a family, and we will be able to make it happen. Poor hubby was able to manage on his own last year when I was recuperating from surgery for a month, so I'm sure we'll be able to work it out. Not easy, but we can do it!

Another member shared their family's wonderful news! Congratulations and remember to bring photos next week!

Then there is a family that totally amazes me. I really don't know how they are even contemplating it, but they are actually starting to be car free! Today, dad and 12 year old son (I'm probably guessing wrong and don't tell Victor) showed up for pickup on bikes. They live 7 miles away, much of it hilly! Mom even commutes to work on her bike (15 miles) on days she does not take RTA. They are letting their car sit except for when it is "necessary" and when it dies they will rent when they need one... I am amazed and really have no clue how they do it!


A forth member shared his addiction of heirloom varieties from the catalogs! His wife said he starts in January and I said I understand! I think it was in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where Kinsglover's husband asks her "Why not mark the seeds you don't want instead!" That would be a MUCH shorter list...

One more thing came up today and a member suggested that we provide a way to offer recipes from members to each other. Maybe in a bulletin board setup. I was thinking about managing this on our website or the blog and it just seems like more then I can do right now, but I was thinking maybe a Yahoo Group (email list serv) would be just the ticket! Then I could limit it members, still moderate it, but not have to constantly update it... I will try to get it set up this week. Maybe in the future we could set up a message board on our website, but I have no clue how I would even start that. Maybe there is a web designer out there who would work for food?

Anyway, thanks for all our members for sharing a little bit of your experience with us and letting us share a bit of ours with you...

Week 4 newsletter...

One of our members suggested we post the newletter information so if people wanted they could read it here and not take one. I think that's a great idea! Of course no pressure for anyone who wants to one to take home and read...

Here is the farm newsletter for WEEK 4 - 2008 SEASON

On the Farm this week
This week we have harvested the first of our summer squash. We are sure in no time you will be absolutely sick of these! Although we do have a few different varieties in so you will see a diversity of shape, size, and color. The first this year are the Costata Romanesco zucchini which we describe below. The second type (a “normal” zucchini) are not far behind but the crows seem to like gouging holes in them, so we will have to see how many we actually get, enough I’m sure to satisfy everyone.

This week we realized how BIG our tomato plants were getting! Our belated efforts at staking had mixed results, so some of these may just get mulched and allowed grow as they like!
The Green Beans have been taking their grand old time to grown enough to offer them to everyone, but we expect next week we will have them available. The cherry tomatoes are starting to get the slightest blush of red on them, so in a couple weeks we should start to have those as well. The peppers are starting to finally take off, about time! We have a handful of peppers now, I’d expect 3 or 4 weeks will see peppers in the shares. And once they start they will not stop until after the first frost!

This season is turning out to be our best yet, in spite of getting off to a slightly slow start. There are lots more wonderful varieties you will see in your shares in the next 14 weeks!

In your share this week:
× Green Onions
× Spring Onions
× Red Lettuce
× Beet Bunch
× Zucchini

This week's produce notes:
-Mature beets can be stored without the tops for up to three weeks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper.. When cutting tops from beets, leave at least 1/2 inch of the stems and at least two inches of the tap root on the beets. If you want to use the tops store them separately, and use as soon as possible.

We know everyone has had a LOT of beet greens. You can store them for winter by freezing them. First blanch by boiling (at a rolling boil) for 1 minute – do this in small quantities. Then quickly cool (ice water bath works.) Drain and pack in freezer bags.

Quote of the week:

“My work has also motivated me to put a lot of time into seeking out good food and to spend more money on it.”

-Michael Pollan

Heirloom spotlight - Costata Romanesco

The name means “Ribbed Roman.” This zucchini can reach up to two feet in length and is prized for it’s firm texture and good taste, even as it get larger.

These are HUGE plants, with individual leaves reaching 15x18 and a plant reaching up to 4 feet high, yet they still yield relatively low when compared to modern varieties.

This week's Recipies:

The key to eating locally and seasonally is to cook from your ingredients and not your recipes, but these may help provide a starting place.

Beet Bundt Cake

Zucchinni Bread

Beet Slaw

Finally there is a member only's farm even coming up. Please check your email for details. I hope to get the emails out by Tuesday evening.

Wonder if there is intrest?

We are considering offering a series of gardening courses for people who want to grow more of their own food. It would go something like this the four P's of gardening:

• Fall class - Preparing your garden


• Winter class - Planning your garden


• Spring class - Planting your garden


• Summer class - Protecting your garden

They would then tie into the canning classes (which we still are hoping to offer this year!)

New Victory Gardens?

Did you know that Burpee reported a 40% increase in sales of seeds this year? 40%!

We had a heck of a time ordering our chicks this year. Everyone we called were sold out for over a month! They all reported a huge increase in first time orders.

I suppose the actual (or perceived) increase in the cost of food is driving some of it. Some is being driven by the

In WWI and WWII home gardens were a part of the solution. Huge drives focused on people growing and preserving more of their own food. While many people today think this is impossible for them, it is often not. Most people who own homes have some spot to put a small garden or at least a few plants. Front lawns do not have to be just grass, although you may end up fighting an association. In our region there are more and more community gardens as options for people who live in apartments.

Maybe it is time for a new Victory Garden movement? Maybe it is already happening?

While it is not the whole answer by any means, anything that helps us take a small step away from dependence on oil is a step? Could your garden be part of this, your own small part of a much bigger solution?

Local Sunday!

The rain is good for many things. Yesterday morning when I was catching up on my magi zines and it was raining outside (meaning no Sunday morning field work) and hubby made waffles for me. Using local spelt flour, our own eggs, last years honey, Amish butter, and milk from our herd share. The only thing not local was the powdered sugar he dusted on top (next time maple syrup!)

Around noon the sun had come out so we went out and picked and weeded. We discovered enough carrots to include them in the week's share! Then we washed everything up, bundled and set up. Unfortunately, the first 3 members came right on time (I was late they were not early) and I had neither washed the mud off my arms, changed out of my dirty picking shirt, or brushed my hair. I looked a sight! So after they left I left hubby in the sorting shed while I ran to the house and made myself a little more presentable.

After we talked about next year and late season plans a little hubby then went out to do some more weeding (have I ever mentioned how much we covet a cultivating tractor?) And I waited for the rest of our members. Sunday pickups are nice because they are a little slower paced then Wednesday's. Same number of people but more time for them to come.

Around 4:30 hubby stopped by the sorting shed again and showed me an amazing red onion he had pulled from our garden. Our onions are bulbing up and this one was 3 inches in diameter and beautiful. I am so excited to have nice onions! While I finished up with pickup, the last couple members came, and I cleaned up the shed, hubby went in to make a pizza for supper.

We had made dough with whole wheat flour from our co-op, the cheese I had made from our herd-share milk, the veggies were all from our garden (except for a couple mushrooms from PA), the sausage was from local pork, and we cracked one of our eggs on top. I do have to admit that hubby put a little imported Italian salami on top, but wow did that add something to it... All in all it was one of the best pizza I have eaten in a long time.

We finished off the evening by doing nothing productive. We read a little, surfed the Internet a little, and watched the Tour 'd France and Next Food Network Star (which is a post in itself!)

All and all it was a good day. We got stuff done, our members got good food, we got good food, and had some time to breath... If only there were more days like that.

Rainy day and mixed feelings....

Right now it is still raining lightly out and I have mixed feelings about that.

When it rains on a weekend the amount of stuff we can do is greatly reduced. Which means I have a lazy time. We did 4 hours or so of field work before the rains started yesterday. It rained HARD! which watered in the plants we put in the ground, but means that it is still to mucky to get out there and do much. It is nice to have a little rest, but there is SO MUCH to do!

It has been a VERY rainy year, in case you had not noticed. I am NOT complaining, because the type of relatively steady rain we have had since May is a rarity in most years, but it does mean that field chores get reprioritized and things get put off. This is the kind of year when our "real" jobs really hurt us, because if the weather is nice on Thursday and Friday we are still really limited to what we can get done between 5 and 9... Oh, and you want supper? Take away another hour...

We still need to pick for today's members, so around 12 we will go out and get that done, picking in the mud means washing will be a pain, but other then picking and starting some cabbage seed for the fall that is all there is to do...

So this morning I have some time to get caught up on some reading!

NY Times Article

One of our members sent a link to this article on CSAs that appeared in the New York Times.

"Cutting out the Middleman"

We dream of being 200 members, that is a lot of work and a lot of members. Last year we had 22 members. This year we are at 32. Next year we want to start the season at 50. 2010 we hope to double to 100. With a goal in 2012 (year 5 at our farm) of near 200 members.

But that is a LOT of new equipment and stuff (wash line, walk in cooler, high row cultivating tractor, ect, ect, ect...) and more then the stuff it will be a big change in our current lives. We will need to be on the farm a lot more then we currently can be, so we working through all of that and the possibilities that exist.