Posts Tagged ‘diversity’

Wrapping up the Winter Harvest

Well… It’s been a great, long season of harvests; and now it’s over.  We kept it coming for 32 weeks this year, which is longer than any of the CSA farms in the area, and longer than I’ve ever kept it going before.  For the 6-week Winter CSA add-on we had 94 member-households.  The harvests were abundant and diverse, and folks were pleased to be getting farm-fresh produce long after the Farmer’s Markets had ceased.

But I’m glad to have stopped when I did.  There is still a lot of produce at the farm, but the diversity of the offering is going way down.  While the serious locavores might be thrilled with a late-winter harvest of Chard, Kale, Cabbage, Leeks, Potatoes, and Beets,  many of my members would get a bit tired.

A realization that I’ve come to is that our climate is not all that great for a late winter CSA.  We have enough cold that the crops need to be hardy, but then we get warm, wet stretches that cause roots to rot, leaves to mold, and plants to start bolting long before spring.  It seems that the best climates for all-winter CSA’s are those that are either warm enough for crops to keep growing, or consistently cold enough for the field to become like a refrigerator.

Anyway… it’s been a great season, and I’m truly grateful to all who supported me in the farm’s first year!