New this Week: Yukon Gold and Red Potatoes, Delicata Squash, Starry Night Acorn Squash, and Bulk Small Garlic. We also have our dried flower bunches in fall colors!
This Week at the Farm:
OK, we take it back. We really didn't want it to stop raining, but now it has and we are back to drought-like conditions here again. Rain dances needed! It looks like we might get some assistance from Mother Nature this coming week.
It cannot be overstated how difficult this growing season has been for PA farmers. First, the snow in mid-May causing a very late start to the growing season. Then, 10 weeks of drought, high humidity, and 90 degree temps starting in June and lasting into September. Last week, very early heavy frost in many areas. And now, continued drought-like conditions, and perhaps an October ahead that feels more like a typical November. All of these weather factors have an impact on crops in a variety of ways, including the size of individual crops, overall yield, diversity of crops available and so on. For those of you home gardeners, you know how tough it was!
If you are new to farm share, it is important to keep in mind that farm share is not the same experience as shopping at the grocery store. A global supply chain has made virtually every vegetable and fruit available every week of the year in most supermarkets. Joining a farm share requires a commitment to eating with the seasons, and not every vegetable can be grown all summer long in PA. Veggies go in and out of season throughout the year, and as CSA farmers, we have to be exceptional at adapting to whatever Mother Nature throws at us. We are constantly changing our growing plan to focus on crops that will grow in the current conditions, but this is never perfect. If only we had that crystal ball...
We understand that sometimes this can be disappointing to members. When you really want that juicy heirloom tomato and they just simply aren't ripe yet. Or when all the spring broccoli burns up in 90 degree heat in June, and there is essentially no harvest (happened this year).
Throughout our 19-year history, we have tried different models of CSA and we believe the Harvie platform works well with the ever-changing seasonality of veggies and variable quantities due to weather and crop challenges. For the most part, members receive veggies they want and none of the veggies they dislike. However, the system does have limitations. If you are not receiving a wide selection of the veggies you want, now is a good time to take a look at your preferences in your Harvie profile as we head into the last 6 weeks of the season.
.jpg)
Here are the things you will want to check:
1) Have you rated every item available? If you have an unrated item, then the system defaults to a 3 rating, which means you will get the item, even if you dislike it.
2) Have you accurately rated each item? In other words, maybe you said that you would just make it easy and rate every item either a 1 (dislike it) or 5 (love it). This type of rating is essentially the equivalent of not having any ratings at all. Of course, you will not receive the items you rated as 1. But everything rated as a 5 will be looked at equally by the Harvie algorithm, which could explain why you are getting the same items in your share every time. The Harvie algorithm does not take into account what you get from week to week. It looks at each week as standalone (it is one of the drawbacks that they are working to fix). Bottom line, be sure to rate items as 2s, 3s, and 4s. It will make a difference.
3) Have you changed every item you don't want to receive to a 1? Although the Harvie language instructs you to rate your preferences based on your likes and dislikes, the preferences really reflect what you want to receive and what you don't. If you grow your own herb patch, you may not want to receive those herbs in your share. You'll want to change the preferences for those herbs to 1s (even though you love them) so the system does not allocate them to you. Same with squash or tomatoes, or anything else you might be growing for yourselves.
Preferences will become even more important as we head into the fall season. As produce availability becomes more limited in the final weeks, you will want to make sure that your preferences are in good shape to give you a share you will enjoy!
.jpg)
Starry Night Acorn Squash - so beautiful!
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR FLOWER BOUQUET MEMBERS:
Unfortunately, the Harvie platform scheduled some of the flower bouquets after the end of flower season in late October or early November. We have taken the first step to move these bouquets to the weeks between now and mid-October. For every four week or biweekly flower subscribers, this may mean that you will receive a bouquet on a week you weren't expecting. If you are a weekly bouquet subscriber, some of your bouquets will be doubled up. Of course, these moves are just place holders. If you wish to cancel these bouquets or you wish to reschedule them to different weeks, you are able to do so via your Harvie profile. Or drop us or Support an email and we'll help! We will even substitute a dried flower bouquet by request. Our fall harvest bouquet is this week's featured photo. We hope you have enjoyed your bouquets this season, and we apologize for this inconvenience.
Thanks to everyone who completed a survey. Credits have been applied to your accounts. We'll be taking all of your comments into account as we plan and prepare for next season. We greatly appreciate your feedback!
If you have any questions, please reach out to jodi@cherryvalleyorganics.com or to support@harvie.farm at any time. Thank you for being a farm share member this season!
Jodi, Emily, Annie, Allie, Meghan, Nicole, Hannah, and Vanessa
The CVO Team
