Homestead Happenings

 It is getting to be that time of year again.  With our warm weather, we have already sewn seeds for cool weather crops and are beginning to contemplate this years farm bags.  It is no small matter of anxiety for me to begin this process.  Above all, I want our recipients to feel that they are receiving value in their bags, and since we have started from scratch three years ago with this process, I feel a little out of water.

Through a friend we found a Wisconsin based CSA called Good Earth Farm, similar to us in that several years ago they started with a handful of families, and they are now doing over 500 families a season.  Their website is extremely helpful giving me some framework to visualize how we will be doing ours.  I was heartened to see that when we send a bag home, our volumes seem to be consistent with what is being sent home in their offerings.  Last year I always put in a little card in the bag highlighting what was included each week and a helpful tip, but this year I am going to try my hand at a newsletter for each week.  I figure, I blog, I can surly get a newsletter out!

 One place that we are going to expand is into herbs.  We have always grown them, but I want to grow them better and on a larger scale so that we can include them fresh or dried this year as well.  We are going to continue to focus on better ways to stay on top of succession planting so that we can have recurrent things like carrots much more frequently.  And, the bees are on their way, so by fall maybe a little offering of honey as well!  So what do you think?  Would you find value in a weekly newsletter?  What special tidbits come in your farm box?

Happy Spring!
Amy
  

The Evolution of Farm Bags

When we moved to the homestead and were contemplating creating our garden, in a much neglected space where one had once been, we approached a few friends and asked if anyone was interested in trading labor for produce.  One couple enthusiastically offered, and that began our first farm season 3 years ago.  We worked very hard, and had more than enough food for both of our families to enjoy the whole season and most of the winter.  It was during that time, that I began to blog, thinking it would be a great outlet to catalog our garden each year. 

Last year, we offered the idea of farm bags to a handful of friends who wouldn’t mind being guinea pigs.  Five took us up on it and we started delivering produce once the season began, about weekly.  We learned a ton last year and as a result adjusted our approach this season.  Firstly, I researched CSA’s in many different areas of the country to get a feel for the quantities that were provided with each allotment, as well as how they were pricing.  In most CSA’s you purchase a share at the beginning of the season that helps cover the farmers costs, and then receive the boxes weekly.  These prices averaged anywhere from $400-$500, in our area of the country, for 16-20 weeks. It was important to us to include some value added things in bags so I spent time this winter, laying out and printing recipes and food tips to include with our bags.  I also experimented in appliquéing kitchen towels, soap making and a number of other things that we could include as little trinkets of the farm. 

This spring after I excitedly ordered seeds, I sent out a mass email to everyone who participated last year as well as a number of other’s who had expressed an interest, and laid out some guidelines for our season.  At the end of the email I asked for a response if interested.  I figured we could handle eight families this year, first come first serve.  These are the guidelines that we put forth this year:

:: Each bag will be $15 ($18 for egg families) weekly to every other week depending on the season.  Some bags early on may be smaller, and later on may be extremely bountiful.  (It really concerns me to get money upfront, I would rather people pay per bag.  I am already a little twitchy about being sure I stay in touch during slow times and try to flesh out the bags early in the season, so that people feel the return for their investment).

:: We will supply a farm bag to be refilled weekly and will pack delicate produce in green bags, to be rinsed and returned for future bags.

:: Farm bags need to be picked up at our house or place of business. (Last year I delivered bags and that added a whole other layer of stress, as I would race from place to place in between work and home and deliver the bags and then worry about leaving them on porches in the heat if someone wasn’t home.)

:: We made sure to be clear that our harvest would be directly related to the season and how cooperative our cooler northern weather was. 

:: Instead of simply planting  an abstract ‘more’ than what we need for our two families (us & our  friends who come out weekly to help), we took a more scientific approach and planted either a row per family(carrots) or a plant per two families (eggplant) depending on the item.

:: We brought a second refrigerator to the main floor to help hold produce overflow.  Last year, every time we opened our main fridge it was an adventure in Jenga to get something in or out. 

B and I spend some time each morning and evening perusing the garden, spot weeding, making sure things aren’t too dry or that there aren't any bugs.  We are always amazed at how quickly everything grows this time of year.  It happens literally before our eyes!  End result, we have 10 farm bag families and an ever growing waiting list.  As I go to post this, I'm headed out to stake all of our pepper plants that were hit by wind sheer in a severe thunderstorm this morning.  I am certain that we will learn even more about logistics this season, one thing is for sure, it is quite a ride!

~Amy

Garden Bag One~ Delivered!

This past weekend was crazy busy.  We  hosted our annual chili cook-off for just over 70 people (adults and kids) and it was the Fourth of July here in the U.S. and in our little town that is a big event.  We also delivered of our first garden bags to the eight families that are participating in our little CSA experiment (at some point I'll feel more comfortable dropping the word experiment).

It has been an incredibly cool season, and as a result we are averaging 2-3 weeks behind last year's harvest.   So our plan was for the first bag to be small and a taste of what's to come.  It surprised both of us, that it ended up being a fairly decent sized bag even with the little tidbits.  The inaugural bag included:  Micro-greens, mustard greens, green onions, garlic scapes, rhubarb, sugar snap peas, a few baby squash & a jar of our rhubarb ginger jam.  I would say size wise, the everything except micro-greens, rhubarb, and jam could be used to make a good sized stir fry meal for a family with some onions and scapes left over. 

We did have some excitement though.  Most of the farm bag families were at our cook-off, so we planned to hand out bags there.  There had been an apartment sized refrigerator left by the previous owners here and B moved it downstairs into the mudroom for the season for produce overflow.  When I reached in to pack up the first bag the top two shelves had frosted!! UGH!  Lesson learned, and now the fridge has some new settings.  The micro-greens had to be replaced, but an interesting note~ mustard greens survive a frost both outside when their in the ground and once harvested inadvertently in the fridge.

Overall, we are off and running and I think with the warm weather that we have finally had the last ten days or so, we may just have another bag headed home this weekend!

Sunday Morning Seeds

Every year has been a garden adventure for us.  After last years CSA experiment, we are actively dialing things in so that we can accommodate more families and reduce the performance anxiety a little.  B and I have spent our sunny Sunday morning referencing and cross referencing what seeds we have, what we need, how many to plant what beds to plant in, are there enough beds, how many days until each plant matures, and how to best time succession planting.  Whew!  This plan is like a dance, and not an elegant waltz, no it's like a head spinning polka.

So what we have ended up with is designating individual rows or for high yielding varieties a number of plants per family participating.  Then we will plant separately what we know we need for ourselves for fresh consumption, processing and storage.  We have decided upon 25 different types of produce subset into 45 different varieties.  This does not include the onions, potatoes, or lettuces that will also be planted.  I'm not sure whether to be excited or overwhelmed!  For many of the plants we will begin seeds in the basement this week.  Living as far North as we do and with the uncertainty of warmth in our summers, we are going to utilize some black landscape fabric to try to boost the possibility of having a good season for those warm weather plants.  With any luck, all of this planning will result in a full and prosperous season.  Now off to order seeds!  Have a great Sunday!