Now the fun begins! We start distributing vegetable shares this week to our many members – both new & old. We are working hard to gather vegetables, make the distribution area sparkle, fine-tune just the right recipes, and generally get ready for our members to come to the farm. We can’t wait to see everyone.
Every CSA is a little bit different….at Yellow Stonehouse Farm’s CSA, we are trying to accomplish several goals in addition to providing really fresh and delicious organic produce. As I’ve written before, we are trying to keep the farm a farm in perpetuity. There’s a lot of reasons for this – the primary one being that America is losing family farms at an alarming rate, and we think small farms are better for the planet than industrial farms. Plus, we think our farm is a particularly beautiful and productive farm: we have great soil, plentiful water, a healthy and robust ecosystem, gorgeous fields and a consistent breeze, all isolated from other farms protecting us from diseases and pests. Quite frankly, this farm is so perfect for farming it would be a crime to sacrifice it to any other use!
But it’s the members that make our CSA work. CSA members are the lifeblood of the whole thing – helping us make the farm successful by joining our farm and sharing our farming enterprise. Our members share our goals – they want to support local farming, to know where their food comes from – and who is growing it.
Our members encourage us! It is so rewarding to grow for others and see the joy it provides: the small child tasting young peas for the first time or picking a juicy cherry tomato in the sunny fields; the oncology patient eating organic vegetables as part of their treatment; the member who just loves getting his hands in the dirt, weeding, as he picks beans; the member who shares her favorite recipe and brings in a sample for all to taste! Members provide us feedback, give us new ideas, and let us know when we get it right (and wrong) so that we can improve. So thank you YSF CSA members – see you soon!