Our First CSA!

We had our first CSA pick up yesterday which was very exciting and a bit anxiety producing…. But all in all it went really well.  We only have ten members, which feels like the perfect amount at the moment.  Our first box contained little gem romaine lettuce, pac choi, lacinato and red russian kale, easter egg radishes, salad mix, a bundle of bergamont mint, a garden bouquet of daisies and geraniums, and a pair of beeswax candles that we make through the winter.  It was wonderful to have people come out to the farm and know that our produce is feeding their families this week.  These first few weeks definitely feel a bit sparse in terms of what we have to offer, so it will be nice when we hit midsummer and all the boxes will be overflowing.

Besides our first harvest day, the last few weeks have been busy with emptying out the hoophouse and planting peppers, eggplant, winter squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and direct-seeding corn, basil, summer squash, and more root crops.  Things have been pretty overwhelming, and I’m realizing just how tied to the land farming really makes me.  Watering has to be done every day, and an eye kept out for the leaf-miners on the chard and how much flea beatle damage is on the pac choi, and all those daily occurences that cannot be missed.  I’ve never been so knowledgable about one spot of land, the kinds of weeds that grow there, the local snakes and butterflies, where the water pools.  It’s amazing to see it progress as the land dries out and one wildflower replaces another and the grasses begin to turn brown and produce seed.  I’m also realizing that I’m more committed to a place than I’ve ever been.  Even if it is just through the season, as it’s quite hard to grow things through the winter here.