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Saturday, October 27, 2012

CSA Survey and Share Report


It's Saturday afternoon, Tessa is upstairs cleaning and counting garlic to distribute at our winter share pick up and hosting the last few farm stand visitors of the day.  It's a little chilly in the office and very quiet--this being the first Saturday since June that our CSA hasn't been bustling all day.  Even the farm crew has the day off and there is no mistaking that the summer season has ended.

And what a season it was!  I felt lucky this season to get to spend time up at the barn on a few Saturdays, allowing me to connect with many of you one on one.  I always appreciate your kind and supportive feedback and your honest and unique perspectives on how to grow and improve our CSA!  I can't wait to dig into the planning for next year after having one more year of learning under my belt and one more year of imagining what this place could grow to be!  Thanks to you all for making this farm such a special place.

Please read on to see your 2012 share report and to find the link to our 2012 CSA survey.  

See you in the soon-to-be snowy fields!

Meryl LaTronica


 CSA Survey
Powisset Farm CSA Survey 2012--Please click the link below to fill out a short (14 questions) survey! Let us know what we did well!  Let us know how we can improve.  
We really appreciate your feedback.





Powisset Farm 2012 Share Value Report

Our 2012 farm season ran for 20 weeks, beginning on June 5th and ending on October 20th.  
The value of the share distributed at the barn (not including pick-your-own crops) is $696.35. 
That is an average of $35 per week of Powisset veggies, not including PYO crops.
 Including PYO crops, the value of our farm share this season was $899.10! 

We compiled our share data by tracking the amount given each week in the share multiplied by the price of each vegetable.  In our report you may see a range or a fraction of a bunch given—this represents when a vegetable was part of a choice—maybe you could choose between Kale or Swiss chard, we would enter that in our records as distributing a half bunch of each item. 

As you can see, we exceeded the amount that you paid for your share! Each season, we strive to provide you with the produce that you paid for and maybe a little more (this season our share price for TTOR members was $590). This season we went a bit overboard, providing you with 20% more produce in the barn and nearly 50% more including pick-your-own!  It is not our goal to way exceed our share value (and it’s not the best business model either), but we couldn’t help sharing the abundance with you this season.  We just hope the amount of produce wasn’t too overwhelming for you!  Some highlights of this season’s share are; 40 pounds of tomatoes, over 20 pounds of potatoes and over 20 pounds/bunches of carrots distributed! Wow!

Our report below shows you how much of each item you received during the 2012 season:

Crop

Units distributed
Price per unit
Value in share
Arugula-bunches
4-5 bunches
$4/bunch
$16-$20
Basil-bunches
4.5 bunches
$2.00/bunch
$9.00
Beets-bunches
10 bunches
$2.50/bunch
$25.00
Beets-loose
7 pounds
$2.50/pound
$17.50
Broccoli
7 pounds
$2.50/pound
$17.50
Cabbage
4-6 heads
$2/head
$8-$12
Carrots-loose
13.5 pounds
$2/pound
$27.00
Carrots/bunches
6.50 bunches
$2.25/bunch
$14.65
Cauliflower
1.5 pounds
$2/pound
$3.00  
Celery
1.5 bunch
$2/bunch
$3.00
Celeriac
2 pounds
$1.50/pound
$3.00
Chard (not in pyo)
3-4 bunches
$2.50/bunch
$7.50-$10
Collards
3-4 bunches
$2/bunch
$6-$8
Corn
2 dozen (1/2 dozen for four weeks)
$5/dozen
$10.00
Cucumbers
10.25 pounds
$1.25/pound
$12.80
Eggplant
11 pounds
$2/pounds
$22.00
Escarole
1 head
$1.75/head
$1.75
Fennel
2-4 bunches
$2/bunch
$4-$8
Garlic
.5 pounds
$10/pound
$5.00
Garlic Scapes
2 bunches (12-15 pieces)
$1.75/bunch
$3.50
Specialty Greens bunches/heads (tatsoi, mizuna, broccoli raab, bulls blood, komatsuna, radicchio, bok choi and more)
14 bunches/heads
$2.00/bunch or head
$28.00
Herbs (cilantro, dill, sage, parcel, savory, parsley—not including basil)
8 bunches
$2/bunch
$16.00
Hakurei turnips
6 bunches
$2.00/bunch
$12.00
Kale
6 bunches (not including pyo)
$2.25/bunch
$13.50
Kohlrabi
2-4 bunches
$1.50/bunch
$3-$6
Leeks
5.50 bunches
$2.25/bunch
$12.40
Lettuce
30 heads
$2.25/ head
$67.50
Melons
1 pieces
$2/piece
$2.00
Onions
6 pounds
$1.50/pound
$9.00
Parsnips
2 pounds
$1.50/pound
$3.00
Peppers, bell
13 pounds
$2.50/pound
$32.50
Peppers, sweet
6.50 pounds
$2.50/pound
$15.00
Peppers, hot
1 pound
$2.50/pound
$2.50
Potatoes
21.50 pounds
$1.50/pound
$32.25
Pumpkins
2 pieces
$2.50/piece
$5.00
Purple Top Turnips
2 pounds
$1.25/pound
$2.50
Radishes-bunches
6 bunches
$1.50/bunch
$9.00
Rutabaga
1.5 pounds
$1/pound
$1.50
Scallions
8.5 bunches
$2/bunch
$17.00
Spinach
4.5 pounds
$4/pound
$18.00
Summer squash
16 pounds
$1.25/pound
$20.00
Sweet potatoes
6 pounds
$2.50/pounds
$15.00
Tomatillos
1/2 pound
$2.50/pound
$1.25
Tomatoes
40 pounds
$3/pound
$120.00
Turnips, purple top
1.5 pounds
$1.25/pound
$1.25
Winter squash
7 pieces
$3/piece
$21.00




Total share Value without Pick-your-own:


$696.35

The total value of PYO crops offered was $202.75.  That is an average of $10 per week over 20 weeks.  We know that you didn’t always make it out to the fields to participate in the pick-your-own part of our CSA, so you probably didn’t take home all $202.75 worth of PYO produce this season.  But, most of you spent time picking and we are proud to have a CSA that continues to provide the opportunity for you and your friends and family to get your hands dirty, find joy in picking your favorite bean, and bending low to get that last pint of husk cherries.

 Below is our Pick-your-own report for 2012:

PYO crop
Units Distributed
Price per unit
Value in Share
Bush beans
16 quarts
$1.50/quart
$24.00
Chard
15 bunches
$1.75/bunch
$26.25
Cherry tomatoes
12 pints
$3/pint
$36.00
Cilantro
3 bunches
$1.50/bunch
$4.50
Dill
4 bunches
$1.50/bunch
$6.00
Fava beans
2.5 quarts
$2/quart
$5.00
Hot peppers
4.25 pints
$2/pint
$8.50
Husk cherries
5 pints
$3/pint
$15.00
Kale
4 bunches
$1.75/bunch
$7.00
Peas
8 pints
$3/pint
$24.00
Strawberries
3 pints
$3.50/pint
$10.50
Flowers
12 bouquets
$3/small bouquet
$36.00




Popcorn Stalks
unlimited


Herbs from herb garden
unlimited


Raspberries
A few handfuls






Total Value PYO Crops:


$202.75


we had some big sweet potatoes this season!
the awesome crew with those delicious pumkins!
 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Powisset in the Movies!

Hello CSA members!

It will be so strange to start our day tomorrow without harvesting for you!  Thank you all for such a lovely season of growing our farm and our community at Powisset Farm!  This week we will be sending out (through this newsletter) our 'share report' detailing the contents and value of your summer share for 2012.  We will also be sending out a CSA member survey, that we encourage you to participate in--help us shape our farm for future seasons!

For today, I am sending out a wonderful documentary created by one of our very own CSA members!  Check out, "Growing Community," a short film about Powisset Farm and Community Supported Agriculture.

Producer/director Jeff Hyman takes us behind the scenes of Powisset to show how our Farm operates in all four seasons.  You may even see yourself our your friends who were interviewed and filmed during the two year project. Click on the link below and get out the popcorn! 

 (film is about 16 minutes)


I hope to see you in the fields this winter!

Meryl
(on behalf of the Powisset Farm Crew)



Pork, Beef, Eggs, Veggies!

If you are missing Powisset Farm already, please visit our farm stand on these days:

Tuesday, October 23 1:30-6:30
Saturday, October 27 10am-5pm
Saturday, November 17 noon-4pm
Saturday, December 8 noon-4pm

We will be selling Powisset produce, pork, beef, eggs, jam, honey and more!  Come and stock up for the winter months!  We hope to see you there!







Monday, October 15, 2012

First Frost, Last Week

Last week we had our first frost at Powisset Farm.  In the days before the frost we harvested napa cabbage and peppers and the last handful of eggplants.  We covered our beautiful butter-head lettuce with heavy row cover, hoping the frost would stay off of the tender leaves.  We admired the shining pepper plants and full sweet potato vines, at the verge of their demise.  The first frost brings a true end to those summer crops we have been hanging onto and sweetens the roots and kale that can withstand some of the next few near-thirty degree mornings. 

The next morning we got up to set up for our Saturday morning distribution.  With many layers and hats and rain bibs, we set up the barn and pulled bins of vegetables out of the walk-in cooler, which now felt warmer than the outside air.  The five of us, the core of this season's Powisset team, worked like we were in a perfectly choreographed dance--sliding around each other between cooler and distribution tables, ducking and weaving, piling and primping the vegetables--like we had been doing this for a while, because we have.

This week is our final week of summer distribution!  My cold hands picking lettuce, the perfect organization of a Saturday distribution and that first frost all convinced me that this is indeed the end of our summer CSA season.  The days are getting shorter, the soil is getting colder and we are prepping the soil for next season's garlic field--more things pointing out that we are closer and closer to another winter on the farm.

I have cherished this season for its amazing crew--truly talented, hardworking, creative and enthusiastic people who make every work day a great day.  I have been filled with joy about the growth of our CSA community.  It is my favorite thing to be able to spend time up at the barn on a busy Saturday, watching you all come through the farm, connecting with each other and sharing your recipes, farm experiences, or events of the day with me.  And I am constantly stunned by the beauty of this farm;  the sunrises behind the butler barn, the carrots- weeded and growing in perfect rows, the laughter of the crew, the time spend with my knees in the soil making bunches of beets.

Thank you for being a part of this wonderful 2012 season!  I hope that you feel nourished and satisfied by the farm, the veggies and each other! 

See you in the fields,

Meryl (on behalf of the powisset farm crew)

***next week: CSA value report, CSA survey****



What's in the share:

beets, carrots, collards, kale, parsnips, winter squash, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes and more!

 




Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Powisset Pork for sale...Beef next week!

Powisset-Raised Pork is for sale at the farm stand starting tomorrow, Thursday October 10th!
We will have chops, sausage and country style ribs for sale.  Bacon will be for sale in a couple of weeks! 

Pork will be available to purchase for the next two weeks of our summer distribution: 
Thursday, October 11
Saturday, October 13
Tuesday, October 16
Thursday, October 18
Saturday, October 20

Pork will also be available at our fall farm stands:

Tuesday, October 23 (1:30-6:30pm)
Saturday, October 27 (10am-5pm)
Saturday, November 17 (noon-4pm)
Saturday, December 8 (noon-4pm)

Beef will go on sale next week as well!  This season we have provided Natural Organically Raised, grass-fed beef from High Ridge Meadows Farm in Randolph, VT!  Give it a try, tell us what you think!

We hope to see you at the farm soon!

meryl (on behalf of the Powisset Farm Crew)