Greetings from Against the Grain and welcome to the Final week of the 2022 CSA! It's time to see what's in your box this week, make swaps and add extras.
ATG is offering a five week Fall Extension CSA in 2022 on Wednesdays from October 19th through November 16th. Pick up at ATG or at the High Country Food Hub. Sign up link: https://www.harvie.farm/farm/against-the-grain/signup
Just like past seasons, the customization period begins once this notification lands in your inbox (which should be around noon on Friday) and will end at 11:59pm on Sunday, October 9th. During this customization window, you can make swaps to your box and add extras. Pick up your box at your chosen location on Wednesday, October 12th.
Just as a reminder, if you'd like to change pick up locations for the share that is currently open for customization, please email Harvie support to request that change support@harvie.farm. Always feel free to double check with Holly to make sure the change was made. It is so important to the farm that CSA members have flexibility in their pick up location.
We've got another crew profile this week as a way for you, our CSA members, to get to know the people and hands who grow the food that's in your weekly share. Taylor Broussard, our pack shed manager, has volunteered to interview and document the personalities and interests of the crew who have chosen to call Against the Grain home for the 2022 season. This week's profile features Monica Gowan.
Monica made the trip across the county from California in her Toyota Tacoma, landing at Against the Farm in August of 2021. After living on farm over the winter, she bought a house just down the road and has started homesteading there with her cat named Basil and a flock of chickens.
She came to ATG with 13 years of agricultural experience under her belt. In 2011, she started her own farming operation, naming it ‘Agnes’ Mini Farm’ after her grandmother who inspired her to begin gardening. She also managed a 6 acre production farm in Covell, California for 4 years with her partner.
Monica is someone who genuinely loves farming, showing up with cheerful dedication and passion every day that she comes to work. Her spirit vegetables are ginger and hot peppers, which reflect her fiery nature (sagittarius is her zodiac sign). What has kept Monica working in agriculture is her love for food and her strong belief that everyone should have access to it. She also finds value in getting to work outside and move her body. When she is not working at ATG or substituting for the local elementary school, she is tending to her home garden, and preserving, cooking, or eating the food that she grows.
When asked about what lights her up, Monica replied the ocean, rivers, music, dancing, hanging out with friends, and again: food.Monica describes the community that surrounds ATG as being her favorite part of working here. Saying that it has helped her to feel at home while adjusting to a new state. Her second favorite thing about ATG is the beautiful setting, with its mountain views and two streams that run alongside the farm. In the future, she plans to buy a piece of land in the area where she can lean more into homesteading, hoping to keep mostly native plants and livestock to live off and potentially sell.
