Greetings CSA members!
As I sit down to write this update from the farm I am looking out the window to a persistent yet pleasant rainfall that started about 12 hours ago and looks to continue for quite some time. That means things are pretty quiet around here with just a handful of people working, a few in the warehouse and a few under the pitter patter in the high tunnels. This moment of relative quiet is as good as any to reflect on our year so far.
Nathan working to pick cherry tomatoes in the high tunnels
We have been quite fortunate once again here at Featherstone. Timely rains, healthy crops, an amazing crew, and strong customer support have made this year another good one thus far. I personally have the unique perspective to see all operations farm wide and this late August does feel like a time of early transition away from what I consider to be more “summer” operations, into “early fall” operations.
In the production world, things have shifted away from seeding and planting into WEEDING. All day the crews head out and pull weeds to keep our crops clean for harvest, and our fields as weed free as possible for following years. Its not the most thrilling work and the monotony of the job can be wearing, but our team here does it with purpose and gusto.
In harvest, we are shifting away from things like watermelons and sweet corn and getting into more Fall crops such as broccoli and winter squash. It’s a bitter sweet time, saying goodbye to summer but also looking forward to some cooler weather and more predictable crops! As with every year, I continue to be blown away by how well our farm crew does with these unpredictable harvest yields of summer. I’m proud to call myself a part of this team.
Heirloom harvest
The warehouse has been getting absolutely punished by large orders and larger inventories. Watching semi after semi of product go out week after week is jaw dropping. The small crew of packing and stacking and shipping is constantly under the gun. They deserve all the accolades for the work they have been accomplishing.
Moises, Luis Enrique and David in the warehouse on the CSA packout line
There are so many other fundamental jobs on the farm as well. The repair shop that keeps our diesel hungry tractors rolling, the admin and office that process all the orders and keep the numbers in line so the rest of us can play farmer. All of it so so critical to making even a single day on the farm work smoothly. I am so grateful to every single person.
So as the rain falls and I have a little time for introspection I come back to how thankful I am for this Featherstone community. Us here on the farm of course, but also our community at large that makes what we do here possible. Thank you for investing in us and believing in what we are trying to do here. Mid-west vegetable growing isn’t the easiest task, but having a CSA program like we do gives me hope that there are enough people out there who know how important it is to be buying local, treating the soil well, and investing back into your own communities.
Thank you very much,
Nathan Manfull
Operations Manager
