CSA Newsletter: Week 1
Meet this week’s vegetables:
Welcome back everyone, to a new year of local seasonal eating! And, welcome for the first time to those of you just joining our CSA in 2009!
Today, at the beginning of February, we are excited for the upcoming season — our fourth season farming here in Yamhill County! Passing the three-year mark feels like a big step for us. We no longer feel as though our success each season is a one-time fluke now with three years of experience under our belts. It is wonderful to enter a new year with an increased sense of confidence — tempered of course by an equally increased awareness of farming’s reality, risks, and challenges. Today is a beautiful sunny February day — perfect for energetically jumping fully back into the work of farming after our six week break.
As you know, our break began somewhat dramatically with one of the most intense and extreme winter storms in decades. Our last 2008 newsletter spoke of uncertainty and worry about the cold weather. We reached a low of 13° here on the farm and watched as almost two feet of snow fell over a two week period (accumulation of 18” at one time). It was a wild time, but as we noted on our blog when it was all over: we were fortunate to be living on the farm and be able to take care of things as they needed attention. We managed to save our greenhouses from collapse by beating the snow off every few hours, and we saved many vegetables from dying by covering them before the cold weather hit.
Just today, we compared two beds of celery root — one that had been covered and one that had been left open to the elements during the storm. The covered roots are solid and have bright green leaves on top; the uncovered roots were damaged and rotting inside. Just a light gauzy fabric made all the difference, and today we are so grateful for the material and for our ability (and foresight) to use it to such benefit.
While we were excited when the snow finally melted, we also then experienced our first mild flooding since moving our farm to the island in late 2006. Only a small section of the cropped field actually went under water, but for several days we weren’t sure whether the water would continue to go up or retreat. When the water did go back down, we were pleased to see very little damage occurred.
Thankfully, the remainder of our vacation was much less eventful and provided more opportunities to rest. We worked on fun projects around the farm, read, visited with friends and family, and started seriously planning for 2009.
On Saturday, we did our first ‘official’ field walk of 2009. With clipboard in hand, we surveyed the vegetables fields to see what survived the cold winter so that we could begin planning the earliest CSA shares of the year.
By the end of our walk, we had a clear vision of the next few months’ harvests. We have lots and lots of vegetables ready to harvest now: cabbages (of course!), leeks, Brussels sprouts, roots of all kinds (celery root, beets, parsnips, potatoes), chicories (for making delicious winter salads), and many varieties of Asian greens (including some sweeter than you could ever imagine). Alive, growing and to be harvested in a few weeks: chard, kale, and ‘rapini’ or all kinds (the tender flower shoot that pops up in the spring on most biennial plants). In the storage room, we also have this week’s remaining winter squash (the last until fall!), onions, garlic, and shallots.
Once again, the new year looks delicious! Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
Reminder: there will be no harvest or pick-up on Tuesday, February 24, because we will be away at a retreat! (This week is not included in the price of your share.)
CSA Inclement Weather Policy:
Although we were blessed with beautiful dry weather for our first 2009 harvest, we are still squarely in the middle of winter. Bad weather remains a possibility for the next few weeks. We will always do everything we can to harvest and distribute produce as normal, but sometimes weather creates impossible or unsafe situations. If any extreme weather event occurs that might interfere with normal business, please check for updates here on our blog.
