CSA's and stuff...

Today we learned that the two beds of cucumbers we planted last week are un-harvestable due to ‘damping off’. Apparently, ‘damping off’ it is a common disease of the soil that afflicts crops in wet, damp climates – essentially it means ‘rot’. We direct-sowed (planted the seed directly into the soil as opposed to ‘starting’ a seed in a flat and planting the ‘start’ into the soil) two new rows in a different greenhouse and will have to wait and what happens with this round. 

Rotting cucumber stems...

This morning I learned a little about fertilization management and got to be the ‘sprayer’. Some crops that are typically in the ground longer than others (broccoli, adult lettuce, kale, etc.) and that are planted in the spring when the ground is still cold, have a harder time drawing nutrients from the soil. We spray the leaves (which absorb nutrients as well) of these plants with a stinky brew of fish by-product diluted with water. I spent about an hour doing some rows of broccoli and kale, humming ‘Ghost-busters!’, because with an accessory like that, how could I not?

'I 'aint afraid of no rows'

Horton Road participates in three farmer’s markets per week (two of which don’t start up until June), sells to local restaurants and grocery stores, and has a 50 member CSA program. Before I came here I didn’t really understand what CSA was, aside from it standing for ‘Community Supported Agriculture’. In a nutshell: (At Horton) people buy a seasonal ‘share’ and become members, sharing the agricultural risks and benefits in support of the farm. (Most farms make all of their annual income in a few months, so CSA dues help farms raise revenue to operate during the ‘off’ months.) Members receive a weekly box of vegetables that varies depending on the happenings on the farm. For example: one week a CSA box could contain salad mix, a bunch of radishes, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, basil, broccoli, etc. But the next week it could all change, say, the cucumber beds ‘damp off’ or the tomatoes harvested didn’t meet the standard to sell at the farmer’s market - - that week the box would contain (along with salad, broccoli, potatoes, etc.) no cucumbers and some odd looking (but perfectly edible and delicious) tomatoes. Members understand that they never know what they’re going to get, and realize that their investment is in the farm as a whole, not a particular crop, whose ‘performance’ is dependent on nature. CSA’s are a way for members to build relationship to their food, nature, the farm and its seasons. 

Rita reads about herself in the season's first CSA newsletter