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“When the community is connected to its soil the plants are not the only things to grow roots.” – Farmer B
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Hey Friends & Farm-ily,
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Whooie! What a weekend. Full of excitement, appreciation, long- hard working days and even some clouds (THANK GOODNESS) during the early part of the day on Sunday. We have been calling it “the best day of the summer!” A wonderfully cloudy start to our Sunday morning also meant a whole morning to harvest all our glorious garlic (with the help of a handful of friends and members) where it is currently curing in the barn loft. It feels so great to have the garlic out of the garden… this weekend we shall pull the storage onions…. all 6,000 ft of them (see below for more info on volunteering!)
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Our CSA Member Farm Day on Saturday was a big success and we have all our wonderful 2014 CSA members to thank. It’s truly great gift to share with everyone first hand what we do and believe in (especially since moving to our new farm full-time). A lot of forward momentum has happened over the last 20 months and it felt great to share it with our members. Since the Farm Day we’ve had some time for reflection and we wanted to share some of our thoughts.
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What the C stands for. The acronym is CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) but for your farmers that C can stand for so much more. It stands for commitment, as in the incredible commitment that our members make to support our small farm, to eat a healthy diet, to visit the farm once a week and greet your farmers and pickup a box packed full of veggies, to experiment with an open mind and try new recipes. And as you well know that commitment goes both ways, the commitment from the members to their farm and their farmers to their members. As your farmers, we are committed to excellence. To producing the most delicious and nutrient dense produce we can to meet your household’s needs. To hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards of organic food production. To ensure that the veggies are washed and packed at the CSA pick up every week three times a week without fail. (Did you know that in 5 years of business we have never missed a CSA drop?) And we are committed to growing better, not bigger.
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The C can stand for Culture, as in investing your dollars into a culture of food that is thoughtful and sustainable. A culture that teaches its young people to eat a balanced diet that gives a young person the best possible chance to succeed in this life. Whatever that c might stand for, for our CSA, the community is at its core.
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C is for Community. During Farm day this past weekend, we were overwhelmed with gratitude, inspiration and appreciation by the community that visited our farm. Many of our members (1/3 of our shares) braved the heat and were introduced to the vegetable garden, to the fall crops coming up in the propagation house, to the chickens, honey bees, cows and pigs. They learned about our rotational grazing methods and about our ethical standards of growing safe, nutritional and well loved/grown produce/fruits. They were able to chat about food, recipes and seasonal eating with their farmers and other members in the community. To top it off, everyone brought fantastic potluck dishes that were enjoyed amongst good company in our new shade structure. It was surely a great feeling looking around and seeing all the different people in the community being brought together by food….
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It’s a powerful reminder that food has brought so many people together over the centuries and it’s brought so many people together here on our farm over the past 5 years. Wherever you may be in your food journey there are kindred spirits here. Our farm is a place to discuss all sorts of things from seasonal eating to sustainable growing practices, to inspiration in the kitchen & new favorite foods and varietals or to changing lifestyles/habits – and feeling good about yourself – to be happy and productive members of society. All these things are part of it and we welcome you to share a little bit about your food journey over the next 20 weeks of the CSA. You are all doing a fantastic job and by doing so it’s the greatest motivation these two farmers could ever have.. here we go Week 9!
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Onion Harvest This Weekend! Many Hands, Make Light Work… This coming Saturday morning we will be harvesting our storage onions! We are hoping for 10 or so people to come and volunteer to get the job done. Please send us an email if you are interested in coming to help your farmers and we will let you know the details!
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WHF Organic Chicken. We have a handful of WHF pasture-raised chicken available for our members. Email us to make your order.
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Remember to bring back your crates, berry hallocks, rubberbands and egg boxes. Keep up the great job and we’ll see you all this week….
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Stay cool out there,
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your farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
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working hands farm 