Farm Update
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| The corn is just waiting for some good warm days in order to be ready for the drop-off! |
What to Expect in This Week's Share
- Choice between carrots and transparent apples
We'll have plenty of green beans
again this week! - Choice between beans and broccoli
- Potatoes for everyone!
- Choice between cabbage and beets
- Choice between heirloom turnips, kale, or chard
- Choice between large salad mix and summer squash
- Choice between basil, bok choy, and kohlrabi
- Choice between shallots, onion, or garlic
Where We've Been and Where We're Going
On Thursday afternoon when I looked at my roster of CSA newsletter topics that I brainstormed several months ago, I came to the topic I had planned for this week, which was about the many aspects of sustainability that are important to us at the farm. We had done a similar article back in 2011, so I trolled through the newsletter archives to find it and see what I wrote when I was a newbie at farmwife-ing, mothering, office managing, newsletter writing, and basically everything that has become second nature to me now. I never did find that article. But after skimming through the first two years of our farm experience over the course of about 15 minutes, I was overcome with a sense of both change and continuity, and a little bit of nostalgia. I decided to postpone the original article (don't worry, it's still coming!) and talk about the (fairly short) history of the farm. So here it is: The Monroe Family Organics Timeline.
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| Some really beautiful dark clouds at the farm last week. |
January and February 2011: Fred hits the ground running getting the appropriate business permits, the rights to our farm name, a business bank account, a small business loan from his uncle (thanks, Uncle Mark!). Michele gets signed up to do some substitute teaching, because our family now has no income. She also timidly tries her hand at marketing, with mixed results.
Spring 2011: Fred starts planning, planting, and getting the fields ready to produce veggies. We do research about different CSA structures, brainstorm possible problems and complaints, and generally try to come up with the best CSA model we can. We didn't have as many people sign up as we had originally hoped (or need in order to not go broke in our first season), so Fred contacts some potential wholesale buyers, and the (unintended) wholesale half of the business is born.
Summer 2011: We kick off the first year of the CSA! We establish the three original drop-offs, work through a lot of the kinks, and develop relationships with the CSA members and small wholesale accounts. Fred does all the field work with just himself and one other employee, as well as all the record-keeping and article-writing. Michele takes care of the few-month-old baby, continues to establish the household, helps at the CSA drop-offs, and edits the newsletters.
Fall 2011: We wind down our first season and evaluate what changes need to be made for next year. Michele completes her first marathon, and a few days later, we find out that we have baby number 2 on the way. We realize that we really need to streamline and get more help for 2012, and that Michele needs to take all of the office-related things off of Fred's shoulders.
June 2012: We kick off our second CSA season, adding a new drop-off at the Midland hospital and a few new wholesale accounts. Michele takes on all the record-keeping, payroll, newsletter, etc, and begins to develop systems to manage all of her new roles. The farm is growing extremely quickly, and we are trying to put infrastructure in place so we can handle all the demand. We're both glad to be back into the season, and we are anxiously making plans for the birth of our second daughter, who is due in mid-July, but who is actually expected by the end of June. Surveying the insane workload that Fred has in the field (literally 100 hours a week for both the last two weeks of June), Michele fears that if the baby is born on a drop-off day, he's just not going to be able to be there, because no one else can replace Fred for even a few hours.
June 25, 2012: Michele goes into labor at 1:30 on Monday morning, and has Jessamine around 5:30 AM. Fortunately, Fred was able to be there since it was the middle of the night, and he got to be with his new little girl for 45 minutes before having to get out to the field to start the harvest for the Alma drop-off. Michele spends the next few days in the hospital, holding and feeding little Jessamine, trying to keep her end of the farm running from a laptop in a hospital bed, and trying not to notice the pitying looks from the nurses because her husband has been making only short appearances when it is either too early or too late for field work. Meanwhile, Fred is experiencing trial by fire as the farm is experiencing some major growing pains. He leaves the farm only when he can no longer see anything, picks Jane up at his parents, stops by the hospital to see Jessamine and Michele, and returns home to fall into bed for a few hours, until he has to do it all again the next day. It goes on like this for about a week, because after a very brief release from the hospital, Jessamine is readmitted due to severe jaundice until the following Sunday night.
July-October, 2012: We spend the rest of the season trying to keep our heads above water. Fred is still working insane hours, Michele finds that important management things are slipping through the cracks despite her best efforts, and no one is getting much sleep. We have a newborn and an almost-two-year-old who is acting out because she isn't sure what to make of the tiny usurper who has just entered the household. (Disclaimer: Fred remembers the 2012 season a lot differently than I do. He remembers primarily the growth the farm experienced, whereas I primarily remember not being able to keep up with everything. So it was probably somewhere in the middle.)
Fall and Winter 2012: We spend the off-season trying to keep the farm moving forward and improving our systems, because the last season was completely unsustainable. After just barely keeping our heads above water all season, we do a combination of draining some of said proverbial water, and learning how to swim more effectively.
Summer and fall 2013: We enter the 2013 season ready to get to work. We have a little more infrastructure in place that Fred created the previous year, but there are still a lot of things we need in order to make things run really smoothly at the farm. The girls are a year older and therefore a year easier, so in general, it is a much smoother year than the year before. Michele has a little more practice at running the office, Fred has plenty of help in the field, and everyone is getting a full night of sleep each night. Now all we need is a tractor that doesn't break down at really inopportune times! In September, after most of our summer help leaves, Michele joins Fred working in the fields Monday-Thursday, learns to appreciate all of the effort that occurs on the field side of things, and builds awesome arm muscles lifting heavy bins of veggies.
Winter 2013-2014: We spend the winter in a really relaxed fashion, hanging out by the fire, spending time with the girls, and doing some renovation projects around the house. Fred is chomping at the bit to get out and do some work, but everything is under a few feet of snow, so he chops a bunch of firewood and designs new farm implements instead. He also gets his new tractor, which he proudly uses to shovel snow out of neighborhood driveways.
Spring and Summer 2014: This is absolutely the best season yet. We've hit our stride, developed our systems, and gotten most of the tools we need for the job. We also have enough help in the fields to get things done. Our girls are now three and two, so they are at an age where they can entertain themselves for twenty minutes at a time without hurting themselves or destroying anything. Michele has stopped being afraid of marketing, figured out how to do her tasks more efficiently, and also has more time to do them now that the girls are more independent. As for the CSA, we've added our East Lansing and Saginaw-Bay City drop-offs this year. The CSA has gotten a lot bigger, which is nice, and we are trying to figure out how to know everyone by name like we did the first year. All in all, it is a good season, and we've finally gotten into a more sustainable groove.
...And beyond: Who knows? We're tossing around several ideas for the future, such as a Flint drop-off, a home delivery option for the CSA, more kids, and working on an organic farm in the South of France in January. We've had a lot of ups and downs in the last few years, but overall, it is a good life. We really believe in the importance of the work we're doing, we love having such a seasonality to our lifestyle (not to mention an abundance of awesome food), and we love being so connected to our family and the community. We're living according to our priorities, and in the end, isn't that what everyone wants to be able to say about the road they've been travelling? So here's to the adventures we've had so far, and here's to the road ahead!
Fall 2011: We wind down our first season and evaluate what changes need to be made for next year. Michele completes her first marathon, and a few days later, we find out that we have baby number 2 on the way. We realize that we really need to streamline and get more help for 2012, and that Michele needs to take all of the office-related things off of Fred's shoulders.
June 2012: We kick off our second CSA season, adding a new drop-off at the Midland hospital and a few new wholesale accounts. Michele takes on all the record-keeping, payroll, newsletter, etc, and begins to develop systems to manage all of her new roles. The farm is growing extremely quickly, and we are trying to put infrastructure in place so we can handle all the demand. We're both glad to be back into the season, and we are anxiously making plans for the birth of our second daughter, who is due in mid-July, but who is actually expected by the end of June. Surveying the insane workload that Fred has in the field (literally 100 hours a week for both the last two weeks of June), Michele fears that if the baby is born on a drop-off day, he's just not going to be able to be there, because no one else can replace Fred for even a few hours.
June 25, 2012: Michele goes into labor at 1:30 on Monday morning, and has Jessamine around 5:30 AM. Fortunately, Fred was able to be there since it was the middle of the night, and he got to be with his new little girl for 45 minutes before having to get out to the field to start the harvest for the Alma drop-off. Michele spends the next few days in the hospital, holding and feeding little Jessamine, trying to keep her end of the farm running from a laptop in a hospital bed, and trying not to notice the pitying looks from the nurses because her husband has been making only short appearances when it is either too early or too late for field work. Meanwhile, Fred is experiencing trial by fire as the farm is experiencing some major growing pains. He leaves the farm only when he can no longer see anything, picks Jane up at his parents, stops by the hospital to see Jessamine and Michele, and returns home to fall into bed for a few hours, until he has to do it all again the next day. It goes on like this for about a week, because after a very brief release from the hospital, Jessamine is readmitted due to severe jaundice until the following Sunday night.
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| Fred puts the apples on the grading table, which rolls them around so he can more easily see if an apple has blemishes, and sort them accordingly. |
July-October, 2012: We spend the rest of the season trying to keep our heads above water. Fred is still working insane hours, Michele finds that important management things are slipping through the cracks despite her best efforts, and no one is getting much sleep. We have a newborn and an almost-two-year-old who is acting out because she isn't sure what to make of the tiny usurper who has just entered the household. (Disclaimer: Fred remembers the 2012 season a lot differently than I do. He remembers primarily the growth the farm experienced, whereas I primarily remember not being able to keep up with everything. So it was probably somewhere in the middle.)
Fall and Winter 2012: We spend the off-season trying to keep the farm moving forward and improving our systems, because the last season was completely unsustainable. After just barely keeping our heads above water all season, we do a combination of draining some of said proverbial water, and learning how to swim more effectively.
Summer and fall 2013: We enter the 2013 season ready to get to work. We have a little more infrastructure in place that Fred created the previous year, but there are still a lot of things we need in order to make things run really smoothly at the farm. The girls are a year older and therefore a year easier, so in general, it is a much smoother year than the year before. Michele has a little more practice at running the office, Fred has plenty of help in the field, and everyone is getting a full night of sleep each night. Now all we need is a tractor that doesn't break down at really inopportune times! In September, after most of our summer help leaves, Michele joins Fred working in the fields Monday-Thursday, learns to appreciate all of the effort that occurs on the field side of things, and builds awesome arm muscles lifting heavy bins of veggies.
Winter 2013-2014: We spend the winter in a really relaxed fashion, hanging out by the fire, spending time with the girls, and doing some renovation projects around the house. Fred is chomping at the bit to get out and do some work, but everything is under a few feet of snow, so he chops a bunch of firewood and designs new farm implements instead. He also gets his new tractor, which he proudly uses to shovel snow out of neighborhood driveways.
Spring and Summer 2014: This is absolutely the best season yet. We've hit our stride, developed our systems, and gotten most of the tools we need for the job. We also have enough help in the fields to get things done. Our girls are now three and two, so they are at an age where they can entertain themselves for twenty minutes at a time without hurting themselves or destroying anything. Michele has stopped being afraid of marketing, figured out how to do her tasks more efficiently, and also has more time to do them now that the girls are more independent. As for the CSA, we've added our East Lansing and Saginaw-Bay City drop-offs this year. The CSA has gotten a lot bigger, which is nice, and we are trying to figure out how to know everyone by name like we did the first year. All in all, it is a good season, and we've finally gotten into a more sustainable groove.
...And beyond: Who knows? We're tossing around several ideas for the future, such as a Flint drop-off, a home delivery option for the CSA, more kids, and working on an organic farm in the South of France in January. We've had a lot of ups and downs in the last few years, but overall, it is a good life. We really believe in the importance of the work we're doing, we love having such a seasonality to our lifestyle (not to mention an abundance of awesome food), and we love being so connected to our family and the community. We're living according to our priorities, and in the end, isn't that what everyone wants to be able to say about the road they've been travelling? So here's to the adventures we've had so far, and here's to the road ahead!
Recipes
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| Try out this easy applesauce recipe! |
I am so thrilled that it is the beginning of apple season! Since Transparents are a little more tart, making applesauce is a great thing to do with them. Here is a really easy applesauce recipe to help you on your way!
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| Grilled Potatoes! Yum! |
Also, most people already have a favorite thing to do with potatoes. But if you're looking to try something new with an old favorite, check out this Grilled Potatoes recipe from Paula Deen. (I know she gets a bad rap for using plenty of butter, but these potatoes are totally delicious, and butter is not as bad for you as we've been told for the last few decades. Just saying.) Enjoy!
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