We had a great but exhausting Week 1 of our new customized CSA Shares. There were a handful of missed items in the boxes that will be sent next week (or the following if you have biweekly deliveries). Thank you all for your patience as we experience growing pains. This week not only did we move our CSA to Harvie for customized boxes (and the learning curve that comes with new software), but we also added a second delivery day which we hadn't had for several years, an additional route for our driver, and we have triple the CSA members as this time last year.
I have gotten some inquiries about charges to credit cards this week from those on the 25%/25%/50% payment plan. How this plan works is that the credit card that you entered when you signed up was charged 25% of the season total then. This week and additional 25% was charged. That's the reason for the larger amount this week. The remaining 50% will be divided among the remaining weeks when your order is finalized for the week. You can see the breakdown per week here. And if you would like to see your orders and payments, go here and click on the yellow details button.
You will also see charges to your card if you swap out lower priced veggies for higher priced ones or if you add additional items to your share. If you don't have a card on file, then you will be limited in what you can swap.
After you have edited your CSA Share on Harvie, head on over to www.nwpagrowers.com/login to shop in our Webstore. We have lots more local products there including milk, bread, cheese, meats, additional produce, and more. When you shop there, be sure to choose "CSA Member Wednesday" or "CSA Member Thursday" to avoid an additional delivery fee.
Derek from Glacial Till Farm posted this on his Facebook page this week: "A HUGE part of our mission is to teach the next generation. As we grow food we grow minds." He often talks about his kids picking kale and other veggies to eat right from the fields.
My children can walk through the yard, fields, and woods and identify many edible or medicinal plants that grow in our area. We accomplish this by taking our children alongside us when we do our farm work and talking to them about where our food comes from. My 13-year-old son is learning to drive the tractor this year, tedding hay after his dad cuts it on the other tractor.
Speaking of hay, the weather has been almost perfect this year for cutting hay! The last several years we have had lots of rain in May and June, so it has been difficult to cut hay. Farmers need 3-5 dry days in a row to cut and bale dry hay for their animals. Some years we haven't finished first cut of hay until late July, and then struggled to get a second cut in the fall. Some farms made second cut already this week, so they will get 3-4 cuttings this year from their hayfields.
I know you can't eat hay, but our animals do, so it's an important part of many farms. We sometimes use old hay that has lost its nutritional value to mulch our gardens and fields. The mulch acts as a weed barrier and traps moisture underneath during dry spells. Some farmers use plastic weed barrier or even cloth landscape fabric.
These Glacial Till Farm kids are learning all about growing food for themselves and their communities. I know that many of you plant your own gardens, whether in the ground or in containers on your porch. Have you dug in the dirt this week?
On behalf of your farmers,
Amy Philson
