Bonjour CSA friends!
It's been too long since we've seen many of you. The winter flew by even faster than usual, (if it even came at all). And now it feels like spring and it's time to think about the CSA season. Oliver and I just returned from an exciting French adventure that of course revolved around food. The reason for our trip was ostensibly the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, literally the bakery world cup, held every four years. Team USA won silver! But, our time in Paris was also spent biking around the city with Sarah and Dave our beloved British friends (CSA folks from two seasons ago will remember them). We also had the opportunity to visit our friend Christine (from Saratoga Apple) at her family's farm in Provence. Out our window were their family's ancient olive trees and grape vines. It was striking to experience the deep history and the importance of locality of food in France.
Upon my insistence, we drove through Le Puy, the center of French lentil growing. Legally, one cannot call one's lentils Le Puy lentils unless they are actually grown in a specific radius around the city. Our friend Christine is from Brie (who knew it was even a town?) and one cannot call one's cheese Brie unless it is produced there. The same for Camembert… Champagne, you name it. In our globalized food system, that concept seems as ancient as the chateaux we stayed in. It makes sense- standards of quality must be higher if you are producing something that is your specialty, part of your history. Of course, this could just be my romanticized impression of a very short visit.
We had ample time on our flight back to make an overwhelming punch list for the beginning of the season. Oliver, inspired by our trip and being who he is, added "plant vineyard" and "build things out of stone" to the list. Oy vey. It does feel great to be back in the greenhouse. Seeds are flying into soil blocks and frozen irrigation lines are getting repaired. Wind battered end-walls are being rebuilt.
As you might know, one of our biggest limitations has been the amount of farmland we have access to. Crop rotation, an important component of organic production, is extremely difficult with such a small landbase and it generally turns into a very frustrating game of Tetris. This year, we are extremely lucky to have the gotten the opportunity to use a huge piece of land in town. It is a big relief to know that we'll have plenty of room to transplant out what we're starting in the greenhouse this spring. And the hard working soil here on the home farm will certainly appreciate the rest.
We are also improving the logistics of the CSA. Now, in addition to the standard pick up times (Tuesdays 12-1, Fridays 4-6) we will also have a self service area in the farm stand where CSA members can pick up basic seasonal selections like: prebagged salad greens, tomatoes, new potatoes, as well as hearth breads, hoomoos, Goldburgers and more, anytime.
We are keeping our share prices the same for yet another year. And we are striving to grow more plentiful, delicious and beautiful crops than ever. We hope you will all continue to be a part of the Earth Sky Time family. If you sign up by April fools day, we'll give you an original EST silkscreened t-shirt.
Here's the link to the CSA sign up.
PS: we have plenty of eggs so stop by the farm… and fresh bread on Fridays after 3. we'd love to catch up.
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