Dumbo / Vinegar Hill / CSA

Greetings,

Tomorrow  Wednesday  November  9th, 2011 is your last CSA delivery for the regular 2011 summer season.  Below is the list of expected harvest items for your shares.

I can hardly believe another summer season has passed so quickly.   Like every other season that I’ve farmed, it is always a little bit different each year.   This season has of course, had its interesting twists with the weather.   It’s sobering to reflect on the variability of weather that we’ve experienced, from the heat  of 90+ degrees days during the middle of the summer to the killing frost of 28 o F two weeks ago.  We’ve had very dry weather during which we irrigated into the late night hours every day for some stretches and we’ve had our share of very wet weather with extended periods of consecutive days with rainfall.  We had Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee along with other wind and weather events.

In spite of everything, we’ve been blessed to have the bounty and variety over the course of the CSA season that we did.   We want you to know that we are grateful for your support and participation in our CSA program and hope that you have enjoyed the fruits of this season.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

I’m happy to include the list below that has a full compliment of vegetables. Sometimes after a wind and rain event like what we had over the weekend, it can be a bit ‘ SCARY ‘ for me to go into the field and look at what used to be a nice crop of lettuce or cabbage. There were times in the past when I did a field inspection following a storm, that I just about ‘ wet my pants ‘ after I saw the damages to the crop following a weather event. You’ve heard the saying, ‘ Been there, Done that ! ‘ . Well, I can attest to the truth of being ‘ Scared ‘ almost enough to require a change of clothes. Of course I’m not just saying that because it was Halloween yesterday or that I’m a ‘ Whoossie ‘ . Thankfully, this past week was not one of those times.

While we were spared the ice and snow on eastern Long Island, we did get our share of rain and wind. In addition to the expected physical damage to the vegetables in the filed, both our farm stand canopy and awning were torn from the wind that accompanied the storm. Both can be repaired or replaced, so we are really, just fine.

As I reflect back over the season, I can say without hesitation, that we’ve had our share of challenges this season. I feel relief as we near the end of this CSA season, but also and perhaps more importantly, I am grateful that we have you as CSA share holders. Truthfully, the CSA program has made farming for me just a bit less ‘ SCARY ‘.

Thank you,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Last week we were fortunate to be the host of a high school AP, (advanced placement) Environmental Studies class. All of the students were either in their junior or senior year of studies.

As it has been with all school groups that have visited our farm, it was a productive visit on both sides. The students were exposed to what makes our Certified Organic farm different from a conventional one. I covered briefly the differences in our cultivation practices, type of materials used with soil amendments such as fertilizers, (e.g. Soybean meal for a nitrogen source, and pasteurized poultry litter for phosphorus and potassium), to the classes of pesticides used in organic production, (i.e. environmentally friendly, botanical or biological in nature).

Three items that are in the CSA shares this week were harvested by some of the students. They were; sweet potatoes, carrots and beets. Rest assured, I did not make them harvest your CSA veggies, they simply dug their own samples to take back with them to try at home.

As the insurance Gecko lizard says in some commercials, “The Big Ahhh Ha!” for me was to realize that most of the students in this group could not identify the type of vegetables growing in the fields. This was from a distance of a few feet, looking at the leaves of the plants, just prior to digging them up. You’ll be happy to know that my Eye Brows have returned to their normal resting position on my forehead, although it did take a few hours for them to do that.

Hoping by now, everyone in our CSA can pick out their veggies by name.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings:

Greetings,

A few years back,  I made it a personal policy not to whine, about anything, period.  I realized back then, that things could always change quickly, and sometimes not in the direction I wanted to see.  We’ll,  I’m rethinking that policy, because this week is the last for the watermelon supplies, ( you already know that I’m not exactly doing cartwheels about that ), and we’ve already covered the shorter day length issues with its affect on some folks moods, ( we’re not mentioning which folks ), but have we covered the issue of when it seems to rains every other hour for what seems like a full year  ???

I’m sure you don’t have the exact same weather as we are having everyday out this way in Peconic, so when the sun came out briefly for a few minutes before the rain here on the farm, you may not have even gotten that little bit of sunshine.  I’m sorry that you might have endured more cloudy, wet, dismal, mood dampening weather than we have had here.  But if it makes you feel any better, our PFDs, (person flotation devices), are thoroughly soaked, and we’re still bailing out the life boats that we use to go in and out of the fields.   This may sound like whining, but I can assure you , I am just stating fact, (well almost).  Hoping your “Fruit of the Looms”  are staying dry in spite of the rains.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Greetings,

Tomorrow,  Wednesday August 31st, is your CSA delivery for week # 13.

While we have had some major challenges over the weekend from Hurricane Irene,  we are all very greatful that the damage to the crops and inconvenience from other losses was not greater than what it was.  We were out of electric power since late Saturday evening, and were back with electric late yesterday morning.  We lost our internet capability, land phone lines, and cell phones around the same time, and only late this morning regained those luxuries.

I had to ‘borrow’  a wireless connection from the Mattituck library a few miles down the road from the farm last night to send out messages to our other CSA groups.  Other than having to swat the mosquitoes away, ( I would have thought that Irene could have taken all the mosquitoes with her when she left town ??) , as I sat outside the closed building typing at my snail’s pace, I realize the fact that life is still very good.

I mean, look…., if we had to get a Hurricane, why not a category 1?  I could be much more upset than I am right now, but,  Irene wasn’t a category 2 or more, and that is a great thing for all of us.  Thinking about that, makes me almost as happy as when I was playing under the irrigation sprinklers earlier in the summer.

Be well,

Fred & Karen