Greetings shareholders,
Here we are,
reviewing the season and gearing up for next year. Overall it was a productive,
albeit not very hot summer. It was an amazing carrot and potato year, less
impressive for peppers and eggplant. A single early frost blasted our tomatoes
and basil; otherwise they would have made it through October distribution.
Here’s to barn parties! The spring event was so memorable we just may try that
again sometime. The greenhouse has been
built and we look forward to starting our transplants in there come 2015. Our
live-in apprentices were great; thank you Emily, Lauren and Kaitlyn. There were
fun groups for the Garden Mornings. The burning question is: will next season’s
potlucks contain such hits as Lew’s guacamole and Grace’s dumplings?! We can
certainly hope so. Also positive were the many group discussions and tours at
the farm including students from Canton and Massena High School, St. Lawrence
University, SUNY Potsdam, state assembly woman Addie Russell, congressional
candidate Matt Funiciello and the board of the Adirondack North Country
Association (ANCA). It’s encouraging that the farm continues to draw interest
both locally and regionally.
We
are sharing next season’s sign up information sooner than in past years. The
majority of our spending occurs in winter and early spring, as such we’re
encouraging households to sign up as soon as you are able to. This will cover
winter costs of seeds, soil and such. Here’s
a link to the 2015 SHARE WRITEUP which can be found on the right panel of
the blog along with the SHARE SIGNUP form. Once the form has been
filled out, we’ll send you an online invoice for the first payment. While we do
prefer payment in full, we understand that is not realistic for everybody’s
budget, as such you have the option of being billed up to 3 installments, paid
monthly.
Shareholders
always compliment the ‘As You Like,’ distribution option. It’s intrinsically
pleasing to choose how much or little of an item you take. We love to share the
bounty this way and it involves less labor on our end in dividing and packaging.
Also, members are more likely to consume what they willingly took. We want to
keep offering veggies like this whenever possible. How can we keep this option
alive? It’s possible if all households sign up for one share per adult in
household. Up to this point, we’ve encouraged members towards this option, but
HAVE NOT REQUIRED it. Due to the modest size of our town and the farm, we never
want to turn away interested subscribers, but it makes it hard to level the
investment playing field due to unlimited quantities being available to
households who are feeding more mouths with only one share. Either there is equity
across households or we have to parse out every item. It’s a frustrating
conundrum, but vital for all to understand. To put it into perspective, the cost
of two Fresh Full Season shares will be $750 (same as last year). Split into
three payments that is no more than a smart phone bill and a dinner on the town.
Please, invest in this community
resource (and your health) as much as we all do in Verizon, AT&T and other
mega corporations! Do you worry that
will be too many veggies? We encourage members to think beyond the quantity of
food and more towards the security of knowing that a diversity and bounty of
fresh veggies will be available to you as members of this community farm.
Are
you aching for Fresh veggies before mid-June distribution rolls around? Does
the close of the CSA season come too quickly in October? Consider the new add-on share, ‘You Pick Greens’! This share is
meant for folks who want to extend the season with salads and hardy greens.
It’s available for 8 weeks total (4 in the spring and 4 in the fall) and will
include a variety such as head lettuces, salad greens, spinach, arugula, kale
and Swiss chard.
As ever, we look forward to the adventures that 2015
will bring. Let us know if you have any questions.
All the best in this holiday season,
Flip & Bob
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