Harvest This Week

Week 13: Appreciation

Sat, 4 Sep 2010 23:15:33 -0400

I’m sure many of you have noticed that the pick-your-own garden seems to be dwindling in size. Where once there were beans, now lays cover crop. You might assume the worst of us – that we’ve let the grass get out of control – but no, we’ve purposefully scattered oat seed and some peas to condition the soil and control weeds. We are currently at the point in the season where we’ve sowed our last vegetable crop, and have one bed saved for our final head lettuce transplant. From now on out as plants either senesce or are entirely harvested, no new crops go in. As we watch all of our fields shrink from the glory of mid-season, we glory in the shrinkage of our to-do list! With all this extra free time, we give thanks.

Laura and I met at the University of California at Santa Cruz during a farming apprenticeship at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. (Say that five times fast!) Of the many rituals and celebrations we participated in there, that of “appreciations” has stayed with. At the apprenticeship we would have regular community meetings, and toward the end, people would have the opportunity to raise their hand and offer an appreciation about anything…the fact that the avocado harvest was in, that one could see the ocean from the dining hall front porch, that it didn’t rain for 6 months straight. I was always grateful for the ability to pause and think about what touches us.

And now, I would like to offer up my appreciations for this season.

I appreciate the weather for which we have no control. It teaches me to prepare for the worst and exult in the best. I’m sure we’ve said it many times before, but…what a season! I can even thank the prior two extremely wet seasons, as they gave me room to appreciate how amazing it feels to have sunny and dry! And with this idyllic weather – even this stretch of heat into September, prolonging the tomatoes and peppers, is perfect – I thank the flowers, for they had their most glorious season yet. So many, so bright, bringing beauty into all of our homes. Crops don’t have to be edible to be valuable.

I appreciate our working members, who toil alongside us in the fields or in front of a computer screen, always ready with a quick smile or a supportive comment. Sometimes I think they get the worst of us – the stress of a not quite perfect crop – the grumblings of weeds overrun – the repetition of all things that must be done week after week. And yet they are continuously our back bone, the folks we rely on for tangible results, and have come to rely on for moral support. I’m also talking of all the CSA members who’ve come out on our last Wednesday Workdays, and made a pesky task fun and rewarding. There is nothing like a group of people to change work into a party.

I appreciate our brand new field. So well-drained, so loamy and rich with fertility. Providing us with the most bountiful winter squash, brussel sprout, potato, leek and celeriac harvest thus far. I wish we could grow everything in this field. It almost seems like magic, like nothing could fail if planted here. And with this field of course comes the generous offer to farm it from the Hechmers – a family who responded to our on-line plea for better soil. We are essentially farming in their backyard, and they have never once uttered a complaint for all the heavy equipment we’ve rolled on through; in fact, they have complimented us on the beauty of the fields during the weediest time of the season. That is true support!

I appreciate the vision and commitment of all CSA members. We have created a community this season that shares common interests and common goals. They may be knowing that your food is as fresh as possible, harvested that day, and thus chock full of healthy nutrients. They may be connecting with your neighbors, making new friends who clearly care about what they eat. They may be the knowledge that a 5 acre parcel of land in Westford is not up for development because it is full of beautiful, delicious vegetables. Whatever the reason, you all are innovative and worthy of appreciation. You are choosing something that is not the easiest. You have to pick some of your food. You don’t always know what you are getting. You might have to drive and fight traffic and poorly marked detours. However, your vision of what food should taste like, how it should be grown, and by whom, supersedes that all. I appreciate you for appreciating us, your food, your health, the land, and your community.

CSA Shout Outs!

Rebecca Thomas, a Hampshire College student from Westford, is conducting research at Bread and Roses this fall for her senior thesis. You will likely see her around the farm and the farmers' market, observing and helping out. She is also interested in interviewing CSA members about their experiences with the CSA and their views about food and food systems. If you are interested in being interviewed or have any questions about the project, you can contact Rebecca at rlt07@hampshire.edu or 879-7148.

Some folks have started asking how much longer the CSA is running. Don’t fret! You still have 6 more weeks of vegetables coming at you. The last pick-up day of CSA is October 11th for Mondays and October 15th for Thursdays.

Take care,
Your farmers,
Laura and Chris

Week 11: Keeping the faith

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:02:55 -0400

BREAD AND ROSES FARM
Notes from the field

Here we are and September is right around the corner. As of this week I have noticed some slight shifts in the summer routine. Last evening I began closing open windows and even pulled a blanket out from the closet to curl up with on the couch. On the previous Thursday, Chris and I grabbed our sweatshirts for the first time for the early morning harvest. (With the lengthening of the nights, the morning harvests have started to feel ‘early’). We have the garlic hanging to dry in the barn and the onions are laid out on the greenhouse tables to cure. The winter squash in the field is peeking through the dense foliage in brilliant oranges, greens, and yellows. Soon this fall crop will come out and fill the empty tables next to the onions.

Of course it would be premature to say that fall is here. Just last week we were harvesting watermelons and jumping in the river. And this week the tomatoes and peppers are dripping off the vine. It is a transition time though- a time that is straddling the full frenzy of summer and the relief of fall. The juggling act of bed preparation, planting, and weeding has been replaced by the heavy lifting of recently harvested potatoes, onions, carrots…

It is a good time to look over the fields and feel grateful that all the work we have done in the early part of the season has paid off. The fall broccoli has never looked better. Individual brussel sprouts are rivaling the mass of some of our small watermelons. And rutabaga lovers- just you wait!! This season felt different from the start. We have managed to keep a hold on faith and not let worry or angst dominate the feelings on the farm. And now we are able to look over our fields, loosen our grip, and simply celebrate in the harvest! Check out the poem on the back- Mary Oliver can express feelings better than I.

CSA Shout Outs!

Come help us celebrate!!
Save the date: Bread And Roses Farm Harvest Festival is happening on Saturday, September 25.
We will be hosting the first annual Farm Olympics so come prepared to engage in some healthy competition (sweatbands and athletic attire recommended!!)

We invite CSA members and friends to participate! If you are a juggler, magician, face painter, musician, mime, snake-charmer, etc… and would like to entertain the masses check in with Chris or myself. We would love this to be a collaborative event!

Take care,
Your farmers,
Laura and Chris

‘Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faith
by Mary Oliver

Every summer
I listen and look
under the sun’s brass
and even
into the moonlight, but I can’t hear

anything, I can’t see anything-
not the pale roots digging down, nor the green stalks muscling up,
nor the leaves
deepening their damp pleats,

nor the tassels making,
nor the shucks, nor the cobs.
And still,
every day,
the leafy fields
grow taller and thicker—
green gowns lofting up in the night,
showered with silk.

And so, every summer,
I fail as a witness, seeing nothing-
I am deaf too
to the tick of the leaves,
the tapping of downwardness from the banyan feet-
all of it
happening
beyond any seeable proof, or hearable hum.

And, therefore, let the immeasurable come.
Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine.
Let the wind turn in the trees,
and the mystery hidden in the dirt

swing through the air.
How could I look at anything in this world,
And tremble, and grip my hands over my heart?
What should I fear?

One morning
In the leafy green ocean
The honeycomb of the corn’s beautiful body
is sure to be there.

Week 9: To what comes next

Sun, 8 Aug 2010 22:31:06 -0400

This might be my favorite time of the farm season; Mid-point of the CSA, in the heart of the summer. Why do I love it so? There are a myriad of reasons. We have had 9 successful weeks of harvest, thanks to the near perfect weather we have experienced. We have moved past July, which generally we regard as the month of weeding hell. Melons are on, and tomatoes are forthcoming – generally speaking two of our sexiest offerings. All of our working members are officially working in our fields currently (and on the website!), which means the farm is in tip-top shape. And now is the time when the work slows slightly, and we take a moment to breathe, reflect, and regroup.

How have things gone so far, and where are we going? I would have to say that Laura and I unanimously agree that this is our best farming season on record. Our first season we were blessed with quite agreeable weather, but we were also encountering a steep learning curve. The vegetables were both beautiful and bountiful, but our mental and physical health was not. But now, in our fourth season, we have both good weather and experience on our side. The most notable change to date has been our general temperament. Not that we would show you our ugly, moody side, but in high stress situations, I can guarantee you, we have one. Luckily, we learn as we go, and our systems get smoother, your feedback gets more specific, we get more help, and know better where to search for answers. Thanks to an intensive past year of working with the Intervale Foundation in Burlington, we have a pretty bomb-proof business plan which has certainly guided us this year, and is helping us plan for the future.

Of course, there is still a learning curve. We don’t claim to know it all, nor will we ever. This year, we have had to learn to farm in hot, hot weather. We actually prepared for another rainy, cool season, adopting a new field with well-drained soil, and buying our bed shaper for added loft for a hotter microclimate and better drainage. These things are wonderful to have in any season, but our biggest concern so far has been how to cool down our crops! Some past members may have noticed that spring peas were not featured on the menu this year. They unfortunately experienced the almost 3 week drought and early high temperature of May that were the antithesis of their ideal growing conditions. Similarly lettuce has hated the heat. Our plan (which we etch out for a month every January) is to alternate head lettuce with salad mix weekly. Instead we have had a hole in the mid-summer, while our lettuce goes from tiny heads to bolted seed pods in a week.

That said, almost everything else has been a success story. The biggest spring broccoli heads to date, the earliest melons, the most summer squash! (some of you might disagree that the bounty of zucchini given out equates a success…)

So with an amount of pride, and a good season under our belt, what comes next? This farm needs to grow to stay alive. We need solid ground to call our own. This year we “won” a bid to the USDA for a free greenhouse valued around $7,000. Its main purpose is to extend the season. Have early beets and carrots, or tomatoes free of blight, or even grow winter greens! But once placed, this behemoth is hard to move. We are struggling with where to put it as we are leasing (not owning) land. We need more land to have more CSA members. We need more CSA members to pay ourselves a better wage. We need a better wage to buy land. And we need land to put down this new greenhouse! Perhaps easily viewed as a vicious cycle, this dilemma is bound to open up new possibilities for the farm. While we search for a permanent home, we make new connections, strengthen some old ones, and prepare ourselves for the unexpected.

My initial farm plan was not to farm in Westford. In fact, I was looking in Maine and Massachusetts. But, a land opportunity seemingly fell in our laps and lead us to this beautiful farm and wonderful community. While we most definitely will continue to intentionally grow the farm, we have also learned to remain open to the unknown, to change, to whatever comes next.

CSA Shout Outs!

View Bread and Roses Farm on WPTZ’s website! (www.wptz.com) We and you were filmed a week ago at CSA pick-up and the show aired Friday August 6th. The video is can be found under “living localvore – what’s in a csa?” segment.

Take care,
Your farmers,
Chris and Laura

Week 7 : Nuts and Bolts

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:03:54 -0400

Hey everybody!
We are almost at the half-way point in the CSA. On the farm, the weeks are flying by in a hustle of weeding and harvesting. Between these two tasks, Chris and I keep ourselves pretty busy! I thought it might be a good idea in this newsletter to take a pause and let you know how the fields are doing up to this point in the season. Think of this as a ‘nuts and bolts’ introduction to the 4 fields (totaling 5 acres) that make up Bread and Roses Farm.

You have all become familiar with the Pick Your Own garden. This is a quarter-acre plot which has become the official “face of the farm”. For this reason, keeping it beautiful is our main goal here. Due to the heavy clay soil in this spot, we used our shiny new bed-lifter to raise the beds about 6 inches. In June after 7 inches of rain, we were happy for the added drainage. The CSA members are not the only ones appreciating this garden; the Japanese beetles have been making a home here amongst the basil and zinnias. For lack of a better organic approach, I have been hand-picking them and am noticing a decrease in population (and an increase in color amongst the zinnia bed).

The next field is poetically called the thornapple field (a name we toyed with as a potential farm name when we first got started). Rarely do we take the time to say “thornapple” when we are in the throws of a workday- 3 syllables and all. Instead we have nicknamed this 3-acre parcel the “clay field”. And yes it too has benefited from the bed-lifter this season! This field is where our heat-loving crops dwell. Due to its high fertility and warm microclimate, melons, peppers, tomatoes, summer squash, and cukes have been loving this field. This summer’s hot temperatures will hopefully make this a fabulous melon year… as long as we can keep the raccoons at bay. We are being proactive on this front by putting a low electric fence around the melon patch and baiting it with canned sardines (yuck!). And the tomatoes are ripening nicely. We have been able to pick a couple of early ones and they are delicious… true summer begins! You will be getting some in your share any day now. That said, every time Chris and I get online there are messages full of exclamation points and bold font alerting us to the progress of late-blight moving up from the south. It is quite alarming, especially considering that this summer is not a particularly wet or cold season. More than just sitting back and crossing our fingers, Chris and I are applying an organically-approved copper fungicide on our crop weekly. This, in addition to their relatively isolated location, helped keep our tomatoes blight-free last year.

I realize that I am already finished with one page and have only touched on two fields. Let’s move on down to the Riverside Field…the sandy field in short. This is our spring field filled with early crops like lettuces, cabbages, radishes and scallions. We also have our root veggies here (they love the beach-sand soil) and our garlic. Our garlic is coming out of the ground this week and will be hung in our barn for about a week before we give it to you. We feel very fondly towards our garlic and have planted a lot of it this season. If you can overcome the urge to eat it all, I encourage you to save a bit to plant this fall. The variety is unknown, but has been grown for almost twenty years by a brilliant farmer in Hadley, Massachusetts. It’s a gorgeous stiff neck with 5 or 6 plump cloves that are easy to peel. The Riverside Field is usually one of my favorites. The diversity of vegetables that are grown in this one acre gives it an appearance of a quilt with different textures and colors; this piece of land feels like a ‘garden’ rather than a ‘field in production’. Currently it is a bit weedy though. All the rain and heat has been fabulous for the desired growth and for the undesired growth as well. We are constantly working on keeping the weeds down here.

The last field to discuss is our newest field in cultivation. It is two miles away on the Hechmer property. They contacted us last fall and told us that they had sandy loam soil that we could farm. We plowed an acre and a half, laid compost and cover cropped it before the ground froze. It has proven to be our best ground yet. Very well drained! Very fertile soil! And no weeds!!! This is where we have our onions, potatoes, celery root (celeriac), winter squash, and brussel sprouts. The winter squash has become an invasive monster that is starting to overcome our celeriac bed. I have never witnessed so much growth. Every season we wish we had planted more winter squash… this will not be that season!

That’s the tour!! Hope you enjoy your food that much more knowing about the fields in which it’s being grown!

CSA Shout Outs!

If you need to make changes to your pick-up days or times please call 922-6782 and leave a voicemail rather than email. We have limited access to the internet.

Take care,

Your farmers,
Chris and Laura

Week 5 : Party Favors

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:18:14 -0400

I attended the 80th birthday party of a retired dairy farmer this weekend. He lives less than a mile down the road from our farm, and was the first person to ever walk our fields with us. Bill used to hay the areas that are now in vegetable crops – he offered us a unique perspective on soil moisture, fertility, and predation. Until recently, Bill was known for random drive-bys, sometimes driving his luxury sedan all the way down our bumpy terrain to where we were pulling weeds, just to check in. Until recently, Bill sat atop a tractor, tall and proud, directing haying activity, as his family worked for and with him. Now, due to a sudden medical complication, Bill has lost one leg, and is learning to walk for the second time in his life.

Not that you would know it to look at him. Surrounded by a lengthy extended family and a close network of neighbors and friends, Bill was certainly the life of his own party. Amongst cracking jokes and sharing stories, it became clear that his number one desire was to get back on that tractor as soon as possible. He made time to ask me how the season was going. “Was the tractor running well?” When I replied that I was concerned with an oil leak, he told me how to change the seals.

Sometimes, say in 95 degree heat, huffing woodchips wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, the thought crosses my mind, “What am I doing this for?” And this man, who has devoted his whole life to farming, to caring for his animals and land and family, pops into my head. The fact that he is retired, and deservedly so, yet is equipping his tractor with a gadget that allows him to drive with his new leg, overwhelms me. That level of commitment, that passion for his livelihood – I wonder if he ever had a day of doubt in his life.

At this party, I see young and old faces, a diversity of color, singers, teachers, farmers, business owners. Beyond these identities, watching their actions, hearing their stories, I see the deep-felt love and admiration they feel for each other. I have walked into a room full of people who have primarily grown up and lived in Westford their entire lives. The things they have done for one another, have helped each other through, they give a deeper meaner to the word community.

Starting our farm four years ago, Laura and I created our mission statement and vision for the farm. Community building was at the top of the list. Then, it felt like an intentional, active entity. You build community. How is this done? Who do you network with? What events do you throw?

Looking around this room full of Westford residents, I see that those questions aren’t so important. Folks care for each other because that is what you do. You help someone rebuild their barn after a fire because if you ever had trouble, you know they would do the same for you. And that care, it comes with time. From staying in a place, and knowing it well.

I left the party with a promise of an equipment loan from Bill that would help us hill our potatoes. I also left with the feeling that I had stepped into something magical. A little secret that is so obvious that sometime it goes unseen. I’m sure Bill had his days of doubts. But he also had his community backing him up. As I said my goodbyes, I placed two boxes full of cucumbers and zucchini at the doorway, thinking, surely someday someone here will get my back.

CSA Shout Outs!

Plastic bag alert! If you have a plethora of plastic bags piling up in your home, please bring them to the pick up. We are in constant need of bags and would much appreciate it.

Take care,
Your farmers,
Chris and Laura

Week 1 : Fertility and Hope

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:31:21 -0400

Hello wonderful 2010 CSA members!

It has begun, and with a bang. What an amazing season already, due to high temperatures and intermittent rain. Our head lettuce is larger than life, and the spinach is threatening to take over the entire field. We had a personal dilemma over when to start the CSA – as much of our greens were ready three weeks ago. But then we figured that 5 weeks of straight kale and salad mix might push you over the edge. So instead we waited, watching, as we experienced our most fertile spring yet. This speaks not only to our fecund veggies, but also to the nests that are currently residing in our fields: three turtle, one wild turkey, one killdeer, and one mallard duck. This certainly makes for a bit of an obstacle course when we are out hoeing or harvesting, but also a constant reminder of the cycle we all participate in.

The start of a new season always marks hope for us. Everything has a bright and shiny hue. The weeds have yet to take over (sort of!) The pests haven’t discovered the vegetables. We are not yet August-weary, from heat and sore muscles. It is such a beautiful time when everything looks perfect. This will fade. The bugs always come, and the weeds become our daily foe. Luckily, we have you. To remind us of why we farm – for whom we farm. To rejoice in the beauty of a perfect, pesticide-free tomato. To share cooking tips and enthusiasm with a neighbor whose trying bulb fennel for the first time. To offer words of wisdom, or simply a supportive smile to your sometimes flagging farmers. We are so thankful for all you (76 households!) and your commitment to good food and this farm.

Below is our “orientation” newsletter. For those of you that are returning members, most information is the same, but a good refresher. (Pay special attention to new pick-your-own garden hours) For new members, you will be quizzed! These guidelines and systems are set up to facilitate a smooth-running CSA, for both members and farmers.

Pick-up times/days:
There are two pick-up days each week, Monday or Thursday. The day of the week you have chosen for pick-up is set throughout the 18 week season. Once a Monday member, always a Monday member! We ask you to stick to your day in order to have balance in our harvest. If you temporarily need to shift days, let us know, and we will happily accommodate you. Please give us 24 hours advance notice if you are going to change days, or not pick up your share. Folks going on vacation can choose to double up their share for a week, donate it, or find a neighbor to pick up for them.

The CSA pick-up runs from 4pm – 6pm. Please come only within this timeframe. We will be working right until pick-up begins at 4:00, and won’t open the CSA until then. Likewise, we will start packing up at 6:00. If you are running late, please call and leave a message and we will bag your share for you. (922-6782) We will leave your share under the pick-up shed – make sure to come as soon as you can as it is not 100% weather or critter proof. If we don’t hear from you, we will either donate or compost your share.

What to bring:
Please bring your own bags. Plastic bags will be helpful when weighing out greens. Sturdy baskets, bins, and bags will be necessary as the harvest gets heavier. You may want small containers for herbs, or jars with water to carry your flowers home in.

Parking areas:
There are two places to park; alongside the road perpendicular to the fence, and to the right of the pick-your-own garden. Parking may be tight at times – make sure to leave enough room for your neighbors to come and go. The CSA pick-up is right atop a hill on a busy road. Please be very careful when exiting the pick-up.

Arrival at CSA pick-up:
Please come and check-in with us. We will let you know what’s happening on the farm for the week – from the latest delicious recipe, to pick-your-own harvest techniques, to extra items for sale and more.

Accessing your share:
There will be signs on every box labeling the vegetables, herbs, and fruit within. The signs will also detail the amounts to take per share size. Some vegetables will need to be weighed out. Ask us if you need help with the scales.

Oftentimes we give you a choice of what to take amongst a grouping of vegetables. We call this system “Mix-n-Match.” For example, you may see cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in bins before you. If the sign says “choose 2”, this means take either 2 heads of cabbage, OR 2 heads of broccoli, OR 1 head of cabbage and 1 head of cauliflower, etc. (Not 2 heads of each item!) Mix-and-match is a notorious confusion maker. Please check in with us if your head is spinning!.

Some of you have purchased a weekly or bi-weekly share of eggs, cheese and/or bread along with your vegetable share. The eggs and cheese can be found in a cooler under the pick-up shed. Bread for bread share members will be bagged on top a small table. Any un-bagged bread is available for sale ($5.50 a loaf) on a week-to-week basis. Bread will only be delivered on Thursdays. Monday members can feel free to come by on Thursdays from 4-6 to purchase any extra bread.

Exchange table:
The exchange table is available for anyone to add to or take away from. Have a vegetable you wish to share? Simply place it on the table. See something extra that you’d love to take home with you, then do so. Sometimes we’ll throw seconds onto the exchange table for the taking. It’s a big free for all, so enjoy! You do not have to put something on the exchange table to take something.

Pick-your-own:
In the pick-your-own garden we have a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers for you to harvest throughout the season. A blackboard under the pick-up shed will update you weekly with what is available for picking. Always check the board or talk to us before venturing out – some things may look ripe that are not. Also, different share sizes get to pick different amounts. We are happy to give harvesting pointers, so if in doubt, ask. New this year, we ask that people only use the pick-your-own garden during the designated pick-up hours, 4-6pm. If you are late to pick-up your share, you can always pick on the next available pick-up day.

CSA Shout Outs!

Please use our fabulous website! www.BreadandRosesCSA.com

Every week, by Sunday, click on our “News” heading to see what to expect in your share for the week, plus delicious recipes to use, and our ever informational newsletter. (Which is written bi-weekly.) Feel free to email us any scheduling conflicts you have at least one week in advance info@breadandrosescsa.com If anything comes up suddenly, please notify us by phone. 922-6782

We will sell egg, cheese and bread shares through the first week of the CSA only. Eggs and cheese will only be available through pre-paid shares throughout the season. Bread occasionally will be available for sale at pick-up (only on Thursdays) on a first come first serve basis, in addition to the pre-paid bread shares.

Come join your farmers for an aerobic work out and gain tips for your own garden! This year we are offering CSA work days every last Wednesday of the month. Come from 9am – 12 and help with projects from weeding, to weeding, to weeding! That’s actually just in June. In July it will be weeding, weeding and mulching. First work day is June 30th. Meet/park at the greenhouse. Check in with us for more information.

Take care,
Your farmers
Chris and Laura

October 5 Newsletter

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 11:35:07 -0400

Week 17: Change, Change, Change

A small VT seed company had a major victory this past week in the world of organic food. High Mowing Seeds in Wolcott took on Monsanto, the GMO (genetically modified organisms) giant, and won. The USDA had prematurely deregulated GMO sugar beets and put them on the market. Just this year, 1.1 million acres were planted into GMO sugar beets with almost half of the sugar in the U.S. made from beets. High Mowing, along with other food advocate partners, made the case that the beets impact to human health, the environment, and the economic viability of farmers was yet unknown. The media is now mentioning Vermont as a national model for healthy food systems and building a local food economy. The federal government is actually following our localvore lead in a “Know your Farmer, Know your Food” campaign. It seems that our sometimes sleepy, mostly rural state is actually cutting edge.

The act of participating in your food seems like an obvious one. Eating is a necessity, along with breathing and sleeping. You need to eat to stay alive. But beyond that, food enlivens you. What you put in your body can give you the energy, the stamina, the clear-headedness necessary to meet your day. And I believe, the concept of knowing where your food comes from, seeing that it is a healthy source, engaging with the farmer, or better yet, pulling it from the earth yourself, actually enlivens you more. I love looking down at my plate, and naming off the vegetables I grew, where the butter came from, and naming who baked the bread. I love staring at our fields, seeing them active and thriving, knowing that this piece of farmland is intact and useful. And I whoop with joy upon hearing that Vermont is getting it right; that our little state is a forerunner in a food movement that is both obvious and revolutionary.

I hope this season has filled you up, with nourishment of both body and mind. I hope that you have been able to nurture a bond with your food, the land it comes from, your community and your farmers! And the change that is occurring all around us, I hope that we can not only ride the wave, but participate wholeheartedly. Winter may be rearing its frosty head, but good, local food still exists. There are many opportunities to engage in discussion, protest, politics, and eating that will move us toward the change we want to see.

Supporting us supported yourselves. You kept your food dollar in the community, you kept agricultural land thriving, you met and engaged with your neighbors, you ate well. Way to go! We support you as well, for holding us up, making us laugh, feeding and inspiring us. For all that and more, we thank you.

Your farmers,
Laura and Chris
CSA Shout Outs!

A CSA survey will be available at the pick-up for the last two weeks. Please save time to fill it out on the spot, as we rely on your feedback to make changes.

Last pick-up day is October 12th and 15th

September 20 Newsletter

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:34:03 -0400

Hey everybody-

Yes, the farm season is winding down. The weather is getting a bit blustery and there are frost warnings on the horizon. Yet the food keeps coming! Our lower field is still abundantly planted with fall crops: root vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, kale, and kohlrabi! We have winter squash curing in the greenhouse and potatoes in the cellar. All this is to say that the season continues even though the kids are back in school, the geese are flying, and the wood-stoves are kicking into gear.

Now that we’re nearing the end you may be wondering where are the onions? Chris and I are feeling the loss of the storage onions as well. We had hundreds of feet of them planted in the field, but none of them bulbed! After sending them into the UVM extension office, we have found that they had fallen victim to a bacteria called pythium. It is common in wet, cold seasons when the soil is not very well-drained. Despite the weather this summer, we were surprised to see it arise in our lower field because the soil is extremely sandy. I thought it important to broach the ‘onion’ subject since I figured there were some folks out there who were wondering. Rest assured we do love onions, we do grow onions, and next year we plan to have them in abundance.

Chris and I have spent the whole last week getting ready for the harvest festival. It was our third year hosting the event, and every time it got bigger and more fun! In 2006, planning our first festival, Chris and I felt that it was important for everybody to sit together at one table. With only 28 members, that felt like a reasonable expectation. Now, a couple of years later, with 67 households participating in the CSA, we still keep the tradition. It was not until after lugging 110 chairs and 19 tables to the pick-up site that I could see how much we truly have grown. After a busy season, it feels right to kick up our heels and celebrate with our CSA members and community friends.

It’s also a good time to express gratitude to the people who have helped us this year. Thank you to Heike who has skillfully crafted our website and continually put her muscles to good use by weeding her heart out in the fields. Thanks to Amey Radcliffe (the talented sign painter) for helping to make the lower field “immaculate”- coming weekly and never failing to bring a smile. And Kaye and Ed, a grounding presence in the fields on those early harvest mornings, always stay late to make sure that the work is done. And I would like to say thank you to Clarissa who has spent more time working alongside us than anybody. Even after witnessing our freak-outs and mood swings she still comes to help every week!

And with another season winding down, I would like to extend an appreciation to Paul Birnholz for letting us use his land. We are in his space day in and day out and he asks for nothing more than a share of vegetables- thank you Paul for allowing us such a beautiful setting in which to farm. To Donn and Diane Siegriest- thank you for sometimes being the first ones in our fields with a hoe, thank you for endlessly loaning out your tools (even if we forget to return them), and thank you for always saying yes when we need a favor or when we need to borrow your truck. I don’t know what we would do if you didn’t live in Westford. And finally… Thank you to our CSA members!! We have felt immense support from you this season and have truly enjoyed hearing your stories and getting to know you all.

Your farmers,
Laura and Chris

CSA Shout Outs!

Final pickup is the week of October 12th and 15th.
Any members who are on the payment plan and still have a payment to make, please bring a check to your next pick-up.