Well, the difficult spring kept me away from the blogosphere for a while… but now I’m back, and I’m pleased to report an abundance of beautiful produce. We’re now beginning week 8 of our 26-week CSA, and we have enough additional produce to go back to the Saturday farmer’s market as well.
I’m still not fully recovered from the weather-related difficulties this year (read: wet soil, perennial weeds, fungal outbreaks, wind-burned & chilly summer crops), but with all the great food coming from the field now I’m a lot less stressed about filling baskets in the weeks to come.
It’s inevitable that by this time every year I feel hopelessly behind, but somehow this year it’s been even harder. I hedge my bets with many different crops and multiple planting dates, but this year hit me with more losses than I’m used to dealing with in a single year. The garlic crop was almost completely destroyed by a rust I’d never seen before, the early peas had a drastically reduced harvest due to a downy mildew I’d never seen before, and I ended up pulling out over a third of the potato patch because of late blight (more on this later).
But enough doom and gloom… The CSA harvests have been nice every week and there are way more things going right than going wrong. With care, planning, love, and sweat, the Earth provides in amazing abundance!
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Man is it fun to have all my CSA members coming out to the farm again! The pick-up times are a great social setting, and it is really fulfilling to get to know the folks I’m growing food for. After our seasonal break, I got to catch up with last year’s members… and since we’ve expanded, I got to meet many new members as well.
My CSA membership goal this year is 160 members/households, and we started this year with 156! (I’m still hoping to fill those last 4 spaces). We had a nice first harvest on Tuesday and another big one on Friday and, despite the difficult spring, we’re starting at the same time as last year with a nice array of veggies. Early in the season I always have some anxiety about the upcoming harvest, but as the season progresses and the abundance manifests, it’s easy to send everyone home with a full basket. Here’s some pics from the 1st week:
They are turning the dirt and hoping to be successful enough to turn a profit, and to become a valuable part of their communities as suppliers of organically grown food.
Peaceful Valley is giving them a head start by offering them special pricing as part of this Freshman Farmer program.
| Freshman: | |
| New Farms Coming Soon! | |
| Sophomores: | |
![]() | Laughing Duck Farm Newcastle, CA |
![]() | Starbright Acres 12575 Polaris Dr, Grass Valley, CA |
| Graduates: | |
![]() | Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
![]() | Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
![]() | DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
![]() | Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
![]() | EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
![]() | Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
![]() | Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
![]() | Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
![]() | Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
![]() | Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
![]() | Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
![]() | Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |
| Coyote House Farm Palermo, CA |
| Daily Grace Farms Crescent City, CA |
| DeepSeeded Community Farm Arcata, CA |
| Driftwood Farm Fort Bragg, CA |
| EarthDance Farm St. Louis, MO |
| Ellwood Canyon Farms Goleta, CA |
| Four Frog Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Freestone Family Farm Vernal, UT |
| Hand Sown Homegrown Heritage Farm Poulsbo, WA |
| Home Plate Organic Farm Orleans, CA |
| Honey in the Heart Farm Nevada City, CA |
| Laughing Duck Farm Newcastle, CA |
| Starbright Acres 12575 Polaris Dr, Grass Valley, CA |
| Willow Springs Farm Penn Valley, CA |
| Wise Moon Farm Redding, CA |