August 10th, 2022
What’s in your share?
Carrots
Heirloom and Slicing Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Italian Frying Peppers
Scallions
Basil
Poblano or Shishito Peppers
Today marks halfway through the CSA season! We’ve put out 11 shares, and have 11 left to go. It’s been a different season for us, the biggest change being not having the farmers market, so we thought it might be a nice time for some reflection on the season so far.
First of all, we can’t express enough how much we love growing for CSA. All of you are so gracious and appreciative of the veggies, and that makes even the hardest days worth it. We love being able to have our little community be connected in so many ways; from literally the soil our food grows in to the more abstract complexities of being able to communicate by the click of a button via the world wide web.
Pesto, bruschetta made with cherry tomatoes, and a big mess of burrata.
We’ve found that putting all of our energy into the CSA means that we have been able to plan our crops and harvests with greater ease, taking some of the stressful guesswork out of farming. Even though we do miss interacting with our market customers every Saturday, we found that the market was at times (at the risk of sounding dramatic) slightly volatile. Wisconsinites love their summer events - ourselves included! - and often, events such as the State Fair, football games, and other festivities interfered with folks’ ability to get out to the market on a Saturday during the most bountiful time of the year. We’ve been, and seen, hot and tired farmers sitting under their booths on what they thought would be a killer market, only to haul their ripe tomatoes right back home.
Additionally, we’ve found a new energy within ourselves by having weekends again. Starting in high school and until the day we broke ground on this farm, I worked in the food service industry, always having to work on weekends. Sam, being a traveling musician, often plays gigs on weekends, making his weekends completely booked - and would sometimes drive all night just to get back for the market. Being able to take an entire Saturday to go canoeing, ride bikes to the beach, or just chill on the porch and read, has been an absolute game changer for us, giving us more energy to put into the field during the workday.
At this point, we feel like we made the right decision, even though it was a tough one. There are definitely things we miss about selling at the market, but for our own sanity and longevity, we think that, for now, CSA might be the direction we’re heading in as a farm. We couldn’t be more thankful that y’all are on this journey with us! Happy Halfway!