A couple quick announcements then on to whatever news there is.
In my survey this past year I asked if anyone would be interested in having their place of employment be a drop site. It was a good question and I had a couple of positive responses. Unfortunately when I formulated the question I didn’t think about the fact that the survey is anonymous so I don’t know who felt their office could be a possible drop site. So, if you were one of those people who responded “Yes” or you now realize your place of employment would embrace the concept please contact me and we can explore it further.
Speaking of selling shares, we still have some shares left. We are ahead of last season but it would be great if we could be done selling them. So tell all your friends, neighbors, office mates, protest buddies, Supreme Court nominees and anyone else you run across. Have them put your name in the “Where did you hear about us?” box on the order form and we will credit your account $25!
Payment for veggie shares is due this month unless you signed up for a payment plan.
We are still selling a bunch of other things like FruitShare, MeatShare, EggShare, FlowerShare, CheeseShare, IceCreamShare, WinterShare, SalmonShare, and CoffeeShare. These are great add-ons to the veggies and are a nice way to help out small, (mostly) local businesses. Order online at our virtual farmstand or just send me an email and follow up with payment!
If you are interested in purchasing bulk items for storage (like tomatoes for canning) please let me know. I’m keeping a list of people and what they are interested in. If this works this season we can formalize it better next season but for this season it will be a bit ad hoc.
So what is happening on the farm these days? Mainly greenhouse planting. So far in the greenhouse we’ve planted shallots, onions, green onions, Brussel sprouts, Swiss chard, beets, broccoli, lettuce, thyme, parsley, sage, oregano, a few different flowers, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and tomatoes for the hoop house. There might be a few other things I’ve forgotten. This week we add kohlrabi, fennel, and a second broccoli planting. Next week we plant peppers and eggplants!
Which brings me to unrelated issue. One of my employees went to the MOSES conference this past month. MOSES is the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. They hold a conference every February to enlighten us on the latest in organic farming. This year Rebecca was in a session where they were discussing CSA farms. During the discussion the presenter said (and I am paraphrasing here), “If you are using your CSA as a way to get rid of seconds…” I stopped listening since I couldn’t comprehend what she just said. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, some farms use the concept of CSA to get rid of produce that they can’t sell elsewhere! And it must be somewhat prevalent if a presenter brings it up in a session. Using CSA as a means to get rid of seconds makes no sense to me. Why would anyone spend good money — upfront I may add — to buy what is essentially something that nobody else wants? Where did this concept come from? And how prevalent is it? In my mind it really gives the term CSA a bad name. I guess it is really buyer beware these days.
For those of you new to Fresh Earth Farms let me assure you we do not use CSA as a way to get rid of seconds. We use it as a way to get rid of everything. We give everything to our members (or our chickens if it doesn’t look edible). Our members are our first and only customers. We do not sell wholesale, at farmers’ markets, to co-ops or to restaurants (unless they are willing to buy shares like everyone else). I find it frustrating that a term that once meant something has been twisted to mean whatever someone wants it to mean and thus has become meaningless — though where the customers still think it means what it originally meant. In any case, our members are first and only in our model. We wouldn’t want it any other way.
As always, please send in your questions, comments, suggestions, etc. and please spread the word!