Thanks for sharing the feedback about this weeks share. I would say that
we are experiencing a seasonal shift in what is growing on the farm and
that is the biggest difference in quantity and quality in the the past 2
weeks. Crops that were producing quality vegetables such as tomatoes have
been hit with late blight and excessive water from rain causing cracking.
Additionally tomatoes do not rippen when the night time temperature falls
below 60 degrees so there are a lot of green tomatoes and not enough ripe
ones. As a result of these conditions, the wholesale market is even in
search of quality tomatoes and paying record prices. Other crops such as
broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, turnips, collard greens
and rudabaga are doing well and should be bountiful in the next two or
three weeks. We are just starting to harvest fall kale, which you
recieved this week and will get plenty of this fall.
Sorry I didn't share all the hardships with you but we did loose a lot of
head lettuce that was set out in the field as transplants in late August.
We spent the day transplanting and then were hit with record heat causing
many varrieties to bolt prematurely. So lettuce and many greens were hit
hard and are in short supply. Excess water caused spinach leaves to turn
yellow and then burn in the sunlight. We lost 3,000 plants all cared for
for 40 days. Just bear with us on the greens, you will be getting plenty
as they grow better with the cooler nights we have been having the last 2
weeks. It is easy to forget about the heat wave we had with cooler
weather lately, but plants do not forgive or adjust as quickly as humans.
We just started digging sweet potatoes, and we have plenty of potatoes in
the ground. We also just harvested 6,500 pounds of winter squash and it
all looks great and is curing in our greenhouse. You will receive some
this week. Varrieties include acorn, buttercup, butternut, speghetti and
kabocha. We also have about 1 acre of beets and 1/2 acre of fall carrots
that are doing well. We held off on both this week because they were a
little too small.
We could offer larger quanities of fewer varrieties to make people happy.
For example 5lb bag of sweet potatoes and 5lb bag of potatoes. That would
be a $17.50 value alone and then one or two additonal items to equal
$20.00 in value. I considered that last week but opted for a little more
diversity. It is important to not loose sight of the value of the share
the preveous 15 weeks in which the value exceeded $20.00. I appreciated
all of the possitive feedback I received up until last week when I was
greeted by many members who thanked me for the bountiful harvest and
diversity of beautiful vegetables. We did have two items at our stand this
week that we did not grow but were grown by two other organic farms. One
of our friends asked us if we could sell them for him because he was away.
Everything else is grown on our farm and you will be receiveing the same
vegetable varieties in the coming weeks.
As far as eggs go we did order eggs from another farm to make up the
difference this week but they did not make it to the stand by the time of
distribution. We do not sell eggs at our farmstand at the market or in
Riverhead on the farm. We will make up or reinburse the differnce for
those who were shorted.
To alieviate future problems it is important to have good communicaiton.
We have not had any complaints from the other 5 locations where we deliver
CSA shares and they receive exactly the same as you. Most of those have a
weekly newsletter and call or e-mail to see what is new on the farm. We
should talk about how to make that happin.
Most every farm that provides CSA shares also has other markets and other
means to sell vegetables and goods to make a living in farming. Farming
can be very rewarding occupation but very difficult to make a living for a
family. The relationship we have with the Williamsburg CSA is an
important part of our life and success of our farm. We are constantly
reading, planning and learning to make our farm better. We try not to
blame our failure on the weather as we can't change it and we never look
for ways to cut corners. Every week we review the quantiy of what we have
on the farm to decide what we can offer our members. We are always aware
of the value we are providing each week. Any member can call me with
questions or concerns anytime. My number is 631-680-1699. Thaks for the
feedback!
farmer Chris
