The Spinach, kale, chard, and other veggies are just getting sweeter as the weather cools; the hard frosts this week will finish off most of the field greens, but the greens in tunnels should be all the better tasting for the freeze. We're lighting fires in the greenhouse wood furnace, and the pea shoots, salad greens, and other usually fast growing crops are slowing to a crawl, as we drop below 10 hours of sunlight a day.
The winter weather this week will put a damper on our outside work schedule, and force/allow us to take some time for planning and preparation for next year and the more distant future. We are looking at simple things like tool purchases; new rakes and loppers, rolling tables for the pack and wash area, and a couple of new wheelbarrows. Meanwhile I'm also making budgets for longer term purchases like automated irrigation and ventilation systems for our gardens and greenhouses (we currently spend a disconcerting amount of time turning water on and off, and raising a lowering sidewalls, which is certainly not the best use of our time, if it can be done by a computer), a solar electric array (our electric bills to keep the cold things cold, and the warm things warm is significant, especially in the summer), and even upgrading one of the little cabins on the farm for potential farmstay guests. And then in the category of truly long term thinking, we are looking at acquiring land adjacent to us; to secure our pizza parking lot, to be able to grow more veggies, and to potentially offer other farm activities like a pumpkin patch, or a sunflower patch, or any one of a hundred other ideas for sharing the farm with the community. Of course, these all require capital, which is always in shorter supply than the opportunities, and so part of the planning process is figuring out how to prioritize the purchases and being strategic about timing. Thats a lot to think about and manage in the weeks ahead, but it's balanced by the ongoing need to harvest, plant, tend, and prepare the spinach, carrots, beets, kale, and other delicious veggies heading your way for the next three weeks, as we grow close to the end of the Community Supported Agriculture season.
We are especially grateful this time of year for our CSA members; you help us have economic and cultural stability from year to year; with the knowledge that we have this wonderful group of members who are invested (both financially and emotionally) in what we are doing out here, it makes it much easier for us to make long term plans for caring for the planet, and taking good care of the people who grow and eat our food.
Thank you,
Farmer Curtis
