CSA Weeks 9, 10 and 11
Posted 8/5/2011 10:59pm by Larry Brandenburg.
Friends,
It is hard to believe that we are now past the halfway mark for this year's season. I enjoy keeping you up to date on our farm activities but the last two weeks have been so challenging that I have run out of steam by the end of the week and haven't had the energy to write anything.
Our biggest challenge right now is labor. We have essentially lost all of our labor and it is down to just me and Beth. And Beth starts back to school next Friday. Over the past several years we have been very fortunate to have had some wonderful people work for us here at Harmony Fields. We thought we had a couple of young men who would join the ranks of enlightened farm alumni but it just didn't work out. Organic vegetable farming is more labor intensive than most any other kind of farming. Although many young people are excited about organic farming, when faced with the reality of hard physical labor in the oppressive heat and humidity of our Kentucky summers, that enthusiasm might find other venues for expression.
Last week Mary Berry Smith (Wendell Berry's daughter and owner of Smith-Berry Winery) and I spoke for about thirty minutes to the Louisville Food Policy Advisory Council about what it's like out on the farm. We were both appointed to this council by Mayor Fischer and it was becoming apparent that somehow those of us who actually provide food to the Louisville area were being ignored. Mary agreed with me that organic vegetable farming is the hardest of all. They no longer do any vegetable farming and some days I wonder why in the world we are doing this.
Last week we had a new customer at the market who bought several things. He enquired as to where the other organic farmers were. We have one other organic farmer at St. Matthew's and I believe that we may be the only two at any market in Louisville. This customer was shocked. He had just moved here from Madison, Wisconsin where there are hundreds of certified organic farms and he could not understand why there weren't more.
Well, that is one of the reasons we do this. Who else is going to do it? So, we will continue to struggle against the odds and somehow I will come up with a solution for our labor problem.
Finally we are beginning to get some of our small-medium size heirloom tomatoes. You will get a quart of these this week. Hopefully the larger ones will come on in the next few weeks. The weather has "done in" the beans. We feel fortunate that we were able to get as many beans as we did this year but again the weather has just turned too hot for them to continue producing. We also dug a row of Red Norlund potatoes this morning and they do look scrumptious. Thanks for putting up with several weeks of "green" potatoes.
This Monday night, August 8, we will again be the featured farm for the evening meal at The Mayan Cafe. We really appreciate the support they give local farms and feel honored to be one of the featured farms this summer.
Spread the word among your network of friends and associates. Yes, the word that we need help. You never know when our mission here at Harmony Fields may resonate with someone who would like the hands on experience of working on an organic farm. Fridays are the days when we need the most help. This is harvest day (so everything will be as fresh as possible) and the tasks are overwhelming for two people. With many at work, it actually can be fun. And definitely rewarding.
Larry
It is hard to believe that we are now past the halfway mark for this year's season. I enjoy keeping you up to date on our farm activities but the last two weeks have been so challenging that I have run out of steam by the end of the week and haven't had the energy to write anything.
Our biggest challenge right now is labor. We have essentially lost all of our labor and it is down to just me and Beth. And Beth starts back to school next Friday. Over the past several years we have been very fortunate to have had some wonderful people work for us here at Harmony Fields. We thought we had a couple of young men who would join the ranks of enlightened farm alumni but it just didn't work out. Organic vegetable farming is more labor intensive than most any other kind of farming. Although many young people are excited about organic farming, when faced with the reality of hard physical labor in the oppressive heat and humidity of our Kentucky summers, that enthusiasm might find other venues for expression.
Last week Mary Berry Smith (Wendell Berry's daughter and owner of Smith-Berry Winery) and I spoke for about thirty minutes to the Louisville Food Policy Advisory Council about what it's like out on the farm. We were both appointed to this council by Mayor Fischer and it was becoming apparent that somehow those of us who actually provide food to the Louisville area were being ignored. Mary agreed with me that organic vegetable farming is the hardest of all. They no longer do any vegetable farming and some days I wonder why in the world we are doing this.
Last week we had a new customer at the market who bought several things. He enquired as to where the other organic farmers were. We have one other organic farmer at St. Matthew's and I believe that we may be the only two at any market in Louisville. This customer was shocked. He had just moved here from Madison, Wisconsin where there are hundreds of certified organic farms and he could not understand why there weren't more.
Well, that is one of the reasons we do this. Who else is going to do it? So, we will continue to struggle against the odds and somehow I will come up with a solution for our labor problem.
Finally we are beginning to get some of our small-medium size heirloom tomatoes. You will get a quart of these this week. Hopefully the larger ones will come on in the next few weeks. The weather has "done in" the beans. We feel fortunate that we were able to get as many beans as we did this year but again the weather has just turned too hot for them to continue producing. We also dug a row of Red Norlund potatoes this morning and they do look scrumptious. Thanks for putting up with several weeks of "green" potatoes.
This Monday night, August 8, we will again be the featured farm for the evening meal at The Mayan Cafe. We really appreciate the support they give local farms and feel honored to be one of the featured farms this summer.
Spread the word among your network of friends and associates. Yes, the word that we need help. You never know when our mission here at Harmony Fields may resonate with someone who would like the hands on experience of working on an organic farm. Fridays are the days when we need the most help. This is harvest day (so everything will be as fresh as possible) and the tasks are overwhelming for two people. With many at work, it actually can be fun. And definitely rewarding.
Larry
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