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November 7th, 2008 |
Greetings from Helsing Junction Farm!
 Sue and Chris Gregoire
at the Tacoma Hunger Walk So sorry for the delay in getting this newsletter to you, we had a hard time thinking straight until after the election since two such different outcomes made planning for next year seem impossible. We are filled with hope and excitement at the possibilities for the future.
Because we are sending this out a little later than we had planned, we’ve decided to delay the date of the early membership sign-up/discount to November 21st. Please see the attached sign-up sheet for more info on the exact details and cost of the 2009 season, though prices will be the same as last year. We don’t plan on making many changes for the 2009 season. We thought that the number of members we had and the amount of food we provided was a nice balance for us. It filled our truck to capacity each time it left the farm, but it did not overwhelm our fields or our staff. All in all we found it to be an enjoyable and tasty year. The weather and bugs were a bit of a challenge, but hey, that’s organic farming in a nutshell. Thank you so much for being patient with us about the insect damage. We are always trying new strategies and we aim to keep abreast of the latest organic bug controls as they develop.
We’ve also attached a survey to this newsletter and we’d love to hear back from you. Our business is ever evolving; we really appreciate your suggestions and comments. You can send it back electronically after filling it out, by saving it to your computer and sending it back as an e-mail attachment, or you can print it out and send it back via snail mail.
All in all, we had a pretty great season here on the farm. It’s been amazing to watch the demand for organic and locally raised food exponentially grow in the last few years; we really hope that despite economic setbacks the trend continues. We really believe in the concept of CSAs and the value that thriving local farms provide to the communities that they serve. When thinking back over the last 20 years we’ve been in business, it seems amazing to us that it took so long to get here, but it also seems amazing that we made it here at all. For us, this revolution started in the kitchen, which made it feel easy to be a part of. But the fact that it’s easy shouldn’t erase how profound it is. What you chose to eat is one of the most important decisions you can make; what you eat becomes irrevocably entwined with the very cells of your body. And the ramifications spiral out from there, not only does the food you eat affect the health of your body, but it also affects the health of your community on so many different levels. We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what exactly that means and how we can work to include our community in our farm.
One of our most successful community associations has been with the Gleaners coalition. Due to our CSA’s generous support, we had an unprecedented amount of donations to our Farm to Food Bank program this year and we were able to provide 15 shares to our local food bank here in Rochester as well as an extra share for the food bank in every neighborhood that we delivered to. We also hired Selma Bjarnadottir (our local shepherdess and Rochester food bank volunteer) to be our Gleaning coordinator. We’ve been having a lot of requests to host gleaners (from grade school groups to Evergreen students) and it was cutting into our regular duties. The Gleaners connect directly with Selma and she tours them around the farm, helps them harvest and helps keep track of where the gleaned food should go. Next year our farm is going to host regular gleaning days, to which you will be invited. We’ll keep you posted as the concept unfolds.
Once again, we just want to say a heartfelt thank you to you, our CSA members. Thank you so much for being a part of our farm. As farmers who have been in the business for almost 20 years and who have tried every mode of sales, from Farmer’s Markets, to wholesaling, to restaurant sales, we have pretty much tried everything over the years. Nothing is as consistent, supportive and pleasurable to grow for as a CSA. Sure there are downfalls to running a CSA (you’ve sold everything on the farm before you’ve grown it), but there are also benefits (you’ve sold everything on the farm before you’ve grown it!). Thanks also to all of you who have taken the time to e-mail, call and write us. We have been very pleased to receive feedback about purchasing produce from other farms. It seems that most of you concur that we should grow what is in your CSA boxes, and that you really value eating seasonally. We are really happy about that!
Sue’s son Jade is screening his movie Growing Awareness this weekend at the Washington Tilth Conference in Bellingham. Jade and Sue will be attending the conference together, they are especially looking forward to workshops about potato cultivation, greenhouse production and farming in a flood plain during climate change.
With the memory of last year’s flooding fresh in our minds, we are cleaning up the fields and barn. Everything from the tractors to the irrigation pipe will be moved, so that if our fickle river decides to come visiting we will be prepared. The storms rolling through have germinated our cover crop, which is now a velvety looking green haze. Grey oats freshly germinated by rainwater is the greenest green imaginable. We are preparing to hunker down and eat some soup, drawing nourishment from the few hearty vegetables left in the fields, our freezers stocked with food we squirreled away for the winter and the way the wavering yellow leaves glow against the backdrop of a gray sky.
For those of you who don’t join early, we’ll be in touch in early February with more sign-up info for the 2009 season. We hope you have a peaceful fall and winter.
All the best, your farmers Sue and Annie
Sign-up form
Survey:
Helsing Junction Farm
12013 Independence Road, Rochester, WA 98579 | (360)273-2033
helsingfarm@msn.com | www.helsingfarmcsa.com
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