We had a great farm season. Despite cooler temperatures, we kept our CSA customers boxes full. We were at Polk County Bounty Market almost every week with our soap, plants, vegetables, and crafts. Towards the end of the season we added jams and salsa.
Even though it looks like fall outside, we are still busy in the garden. The fall garden needs weeding, items for the cellar need harvesting, and seeds need to be collected for next year. We are also busy planting fields with grain crops and pasture for next year. The work is never done.
We are quite excited about the new animals on the farm this year including sheep and turkeys. Next year we hope to sell Thanksgiving heritage turkeys and wool for spinning.
The last of winter preparations are being done and we anticipate eliminating purchasing any groceries in the new year. We will continue to purchase grain and baking staples from a bulk food supplier. However, all other food will come from our own little farm. It is an exciting time to be securing our family's food.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Community Supported Agriculture Subscriptions
We are busy planting for the summer 2011 garden. Little broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower plants have already been started. Onions are poking their heads through the soil and herbs are coming up too. Peas are swimming in all this rain, but they've been planted. Lettuce is growing quickly and we'll have lots of vegetable plants and vegetables to share in the coming months. We sell our items at the local farmers market - Polk County Bounty in Dallas as well as through our CSA and our farm stand.
Community Supported Agriculture or CSA’s have become a popular way over the past twenty (20) years for consumers to buy local and farmers to market their produce. Only a limited number of subscriptions are offered for seasonal products throughout the farming season. An important concept woven into the CSA model is the notion of shared risk. CSA members agree to accept the produce the farm is able to grow and acknowledge that there is no guarantee of specific crops where nature is involved.
All of our produce is raised using organic practices. We have a limited number of subscriptions available for this season with delivery/pickup options in McMinnville, Amity, Dallas, Monmouth, and Independence. We can make special arrangments for those in Salem. If you are interested, subscriptions prices are $420 for 20 weeks of vegetables. We have half subscriptions for $240. Please email us for more information.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
New Blog
I have been trying to set up this blog for awhile. It's all new for me. I am also trying to import all of my old blog files at homesteadblogger.com/maplegrovefarm. My skills are somewhat limited, but my lack of high speed is also limiting me.
It has been such a busy summer on the farm. We are in the midst of harvesting before the perpetual rains start in. DH built a new a new cellar and woodshed this summer and we have been busy filling both.
Our food needs have been met beyond our wildest dreams and on the food self-sufficiency we we are probably at about 75%. We are still buying grains and rice as well as things like yeast, baking poweder, baking soda, etc. We raised more of our own animal feed this year than ever before. From hay, to wheat, to kale, to sunflower seeds, and to feed corn, we are feeding our animals food we grew on the farm. I doubt we have grown enough to last the winter but hopefully we are about 30% of their food needs.
Every year we take on more projects and do a little more. This year we grew enough to do a Farmer's Market and a CSA customer. We raised more animal food. We harvested and dried enough herbs for the coming year. All of this is in addition to the projects we continue such as growing all of our own plants from seeds for the garden, raising our own meat, milking a cow, preserving all of our own fruits and vegetables, and saving seeds for the next year.
In addition to our wonderful Jersey milk cow, this year we added turkeys, geese, and ducks. While they are headed for the freezer soon, we learned a lot about what we need to do to raise them successfully in the future - a separate housing unit! We also would like to do a chicken tractor for the meat birds next year.
We still have much to do on our little farm, but life is satisfying outside of the mainstream, tucked in our little valley, living a more self-sufficient life. . .
It has been such a busy summer on the farm. We are in the midst of harvesting before the perpetual rains start in. DH built a new a new cellar and woodshed this summer and we have been busy filling both.
Our food needs have been met beyond our wildest dreams and on the food self-sufficiency we we are probably at about 75%. We are still buying grains and rice as well as things like yeast, baking poweder, baking soda, etc. We raised more of our own animal feed this year than ever before. From hay, to wheat, to kale, to sunflower seeds, and to feed corn, we are feeding our animals food we grew on the farm. I doubt we have grown enough to last the winter but hopefully we are about 30% of their food needs.
Every year we take on more projects and do a little more. This year we grew enough to do a Farmer's Market and a CSA customer. We raised more animal food. We harvested and dried enough herbs for the coming year. All of this is in addition to the projects we continue such as growing all of our own plants from seeds for the garden, raising our own meat, milking a cow, preserving all of our own fruits and vegetables, and saving seeds for the next year.
In addition to our wonderful Jersey milk cow, this year we added turkeys, geese, and ducks. While they are headed for the freezer soon, we learned a lot about what we need to do to raise them successfully in the future - a separate housing unit! We also would like to do a chicken tractor for the meat birds next year.
We still have much to do on our little farm, but life is satisfying outside of the mainstream, tucked in our little valley, living a more self-sufficient life. . .
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