What’s in the share?
- Lettuce
- Arugula
- Salad mix
- Kale
- Garlic
- Rosemary
- Yellow onions
- Potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Bunched carrots
- Leeks
- Broccoli
This week’s fruit share will be your last of the year and will include Empire apples from Yonder Farm. I hope you have enjoyed the fruit share. Please feel free to send me an email with any thoughts that might make for a better one next year.
What’s new on the farm?
Members of our local staff have begun to announce their plans for the future. It’s something of a tradition here that in the last weeks of the distribution season, Jan and I learn about the changes we can expect in the makeup of our team. Farming is a seasonal activity, and life changes here tend to follow the seasons. Andrea, our membership coordinator, will be back for her 15th season next year. If sign-ups run smoothly, it’s because of her excellent work. Sisters Victoria and Naomi, our distribution and delivery coordinators, respectively, have indicated that they will be with us again next year, too. Victoria has been here for 15 years! She joined us as a newlywed and is now the mother of three boys. We are her mental health day. She is our key to a well-run packing shed. Naomi, now the newlywed, has been with us for 12 years. She makes sure the truck is on time, and that the right packages are delivered to each site. Don, who drives the delivery truck through the narrow and often chaotic streets of New York City, has not announced any changes, but that is different from announcing no changes. My fingers are crossed. Daren, who runs his own small garlic and specialty crop farm and works with us part-time, will also be returning. Working for us, he has said, is his day off. We are his “easy money,” and he’s been collecting it on and off for more than ten years. Angela, who works part-time on the farm and drives the van to Google’s offices in Manhattan on Thursdays, will be behind the wheel again next year.
TB, the jack of all trades who lives in our little cabin, has already returned to school, but he will be with us for a couple of days next year, which is likely to be his last. When the time comes, his vacancy will be a tough one to fill. Sara, who has worked with Jan on the flower team for the past several years, has been developing a pottery business that is consuming more and more of her energy. She also has two or three other jobs. We are not sure if we’ll see her next year. Julia, our first-ever field coordinator, has announced that she is changing careers and will be moving on. Farming for profit, it turns out, is not for her, and she intends to answer the call of another vocation. We’ll all miss her. Nate, my oldest son and both payroll and soil health coordinator, is also staying on. I am grateful that he loves our little farm every bit as much as Jan and I do. I’m grateful to the whole staff – the best team in the Hudson Valley.
What’s a winter share?
Winter share signups are underway! The share will start on Saturday, November 23rd, giving you enough time to empty your refrigerators of any summer share debris. The share lasts a total of four months, and come just once a month, on the following four Saturdays – November 23, December 14, January 11, February 8. Each month, the winter share, which comes pre-packaged in a returnable box, will include a big bag of greens (about 2 lb of spinach, kale or mustard greens from our unheated greenhouses), all kinds of storage vegetables (8 lb or so of carrots, beets, red and yellow onions, celeriac, potatoes, winter squashes and more), about 4 lb of apples and pears, and a locally made sweet treat (honey or jelly or apple cider). I hope you’ll decide to join us and keep our farm team gainfully employed during the winter! Follow this link to learn more and to sign up.
Best wishes, Ted
Central Brooklyn CSA 