Week Eleven!

flowers at Powisset!

This morning I opened up our harvest records on Tessa’s computer in her cozy office up in the barn that looks over the distribution area.  As I turned on the computer and waited for the files to reflect on the screen, the two big, soft, hybrid couch/arm chairs that were procured from the dump this spring, were calling my name to curl up and catch a few more moments of slumber.  Last week, August revealed its true nature to me and the Powisset farm crew—we struggled to keep our energy up through each hot and humid day.  At one point last week, I turned to Jess and Jon while as we finished up a cuke and squash harvest and were about to turn our energy to the tomatoes, and proclaimed that I simply could not harvest another vegetable until I got some Gatorade and chips into my body! So it was—we stopped, drove to the market and took a 20 minute snack break!  August…the tomatoes are coming on full force, we are rounding the half-way point on our season, the days are getting shorter, just as they are getting hotter!

The excel spreadsheets displayed on the computer and I pulled my gaze away from the soft chairs calling to me and dismissed my thoughts of where I could find a bag of chips for an 8am snack.  Week 11.  The spreadsheet was open to show what we had distributed in the share last week, and the empty, week 11, columns were waiting to be filled.  How is it our eleventh week of our CSA season?  Our plan is to distribute 20 to 21 weeks of vegetables to you this season in order to reach or exceed the value that you paid for your share as well as provide a full season of vegetables to you. So far, we have distributed $381.95 worth of produce to you this season—the combined value of what we distributed at the barn and out in the pick-your-own fields. 

Each vegetable has value—compared to other CSAs, farmers’ markets, supermarkets, distributors—we find an average price that reflects those comparisons, as well as the prices of seeds, fertilizer, crew costs, fuel and more.  I will post our price list up at the barn, and we welcome questions from you any time about those prices.  Then we track what we put in the share each week, in order to track the value of what you are taking home. Most of the time there is very little difference between Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  The times there are differences, we try to make up for in changing the amounts of produce, to make sure that the share value remains consistent through the week. 

Now that we are at our halfway point and our crew has sadly only about three months remaining of their season here, what have you enjoyed? What would you like to see more of in the fall?  Please feel free to pass along your ideas, hopes and dreams for your 2012 season! contact me at: mlatronica@ttor.org or catch a crew member in the field anytime!  We want to make sure that the second half of the season brings you joy in the form of carrots, rutabagas, winter squash, tomatoes and beautiful time at the farm! 

See you out in the fields, as we begin the second half of this incredible 2012 season!

Meryl (on behalf of the Powisset farm crew)

What's in the share this week:

What's in the barn: Tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, carrots, beets, komatsuna, arugula, basil, cukes or squash

What's in the field: lots o' cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, beans, chard

Blueberries!

Hey ya'll!  A reminder to you that there are blueberries available at the farm this week.  You can find pint containers at the farm stand fridge for sale on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  And if you are interested in picking up a five pound box for all of your jam needs, please get in touch with Tessa to place your order as soon as possible!  You can reach Tessa at: tpechenik@ttor.org  

Blueberry season only lasts a few weeks, so get your blueberries while you can!