As the season wrapped up just before Thanksgiving, we worked quickly to clean up the farm before it was covered in snow. When that was done we launched right into planning for the next season! Aided by our experiences of the past season, as well as time spent learning from others at the biannual New England Fruit and Vegetable Conference, we analyzed what worked for us last year and brainstormed new ideas to fix what didn’t. Before the new year we completed our field schedule, ordered seeds, and posted available jobs to be filled for the upcoming season. We also received many member sign-ups: 80 before the new year, which is a record! After some time off spent with family and friends over the holidays, we have returned to the office ready to continue the preparations for the 2020 season. Before we get bogged down in our tax season accounting, town reports, and organic re-certification paperwork we thought we’d take a minute to reflect on the past season and share some of the things we are excited about for 2020!
This past year was the first time that we kept our CSA size steady from the previous year (235 members). This consistency allowed us to fine tune our crop planning and harvest schedule as well as continue to expand our early and late season offerings (tulips in the spring and a record 135 members in the late fall). That didn’t mean things slowed down around here - the farm store was busier than ever and the farm was a particularly bustling place on beautiful Saturdays. The farm store benefited from a variety of factors including the third year of consistent hours, a refined growing and harvest schedule, and our ability to process credit card payments.
One of the biggest improvements in crop availability in the farm store and CSA was the long tomato harvest season. This was a result of growing half of our tomato crop in one of our newly built high tunnels. The tomato crop was not only productive over a longer season, but was more efficient for our farm crew to harvest and care for (especially because it did not need to be sprayed to protect it from Late Blight during late summer rains). In addition to tomatoes, we also planted lemongrass, ginger, scallions, and spinach in our new high tunnels. The success of growing in tunnels and the potential they offer to expand the season for popular crops led us to apply for another NRCS grant for the construction of two more tunnels. One was completed this fall and another will be built behind it this coming spring. In 2020 they will be utilized for tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers as well as later season Salanova lettuce mix. We can’t wait!
Another highlight of the 2019 season was our farm crew. Rebecca and Dave returned for their fourth seasons on the farm and Molly returned for her third season working both in the field and as our CSA shopkeeper. We were so lucky to have them all working with us again this past year. They are not only great workers but are now good friends! Assistant Growers Sarah and Brian joined us full time, and since they were both already experienced farmers, they helped take the farm to a new level of organization and efficiency. Weeds didn’t stand a chance with these two on the cultivating tractors! To round out our field crew we also had a great group of teachers and college students home for the summer (Ali, Annemarie, Leah and Rachael), as well as our weekend watering warrior, Ari, who kept the plants healthy while we took a break on Sunday mornings. Ione, Debbie, Sue, Megan, Jane and Kathy were the friendly faces you know well from the farm store! When we started the farm 6 years ago it was mainly just two of us splitting up the field and store work, so the expansion of our crew has been one of the biggest changes on the farm over the years. There’s a lot more planting, weeding, harvesting, and a lot more fun on the farm these days thanks to them!
In 2020 we plan to keep our CSA membership the same overall size and will continue to offer more of the popular Flex and Extended memberships. We are excited to continue to try out new crop varieties including Purple Murasaki sweet potato, Moonbeam white grape tomatoes, and Tetsukabuto winter squash (billed in the seed catalog as “the squash of choice for the apocalypse” - how could we resist?) among many others. We will be increasing crops grown in our high tunnel for a longer season and higher quality, as well as continue to expand our cut flower selection (daffodils, more tulips, and stock!). We will also continue to improve efficiency to ensure the the farm is viable in the remaining 4 years of our lease and hopefully beyond. Let’s hope for sunny days, rainy nights, healthy backs, and working tractors in the year to come!