Today's veggies

Briefly:

Salad greens
Cabbage
Garlic
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Basil
Parsley

Fruit will be blueberries, and very possibly peaches.

See you soon!

From Woodbridge: Share Discrepancies and First Fruits!

A nice, long answer from Heather::

Hi CSA Members!

It seems that there are some grumbles and frustrations going around about some of these delicious tempting first fruits only going full share members so I wanted to send out some communication to help the whole community understand what's going on with this.

As a technical 'half share' member myself I can say that my eyes too have been longingly following the red globes gracing the baskets of full share members as they collect their vegetables here at the farm. That wonderful season of color and diversity and juicy fruit is almost upon us and we are all wishing we had more and more!

Right now, we are just starting to see fruit ripen on our zucchini plants in the field and on our tomatoes in the greenhouse. There are two reasons why there is not very much right now.

The first reason is that when the plants first start to develop, there is never much fruit. The first fruiting is oh-so-exciting, but is usually just 1-2 at at time from each plant. Once they get their juices flowing and the sun starts heating up, things start to progress much more rapidly and we hope to see much more ripening together at the same time. They're just practicing right now, gearing up for the height of the season.

Secondly, we plant these things in succession. So only half of our zucchinis are actually producing ripe fruit now. The other half are flowering and tiny fruits are just starting to fill in. Also, some varieties come in faster than others. So of the half that are actually producing ripe fruit, two of those varieties (out of six) are still not quite there yet. Soon they will catch up, and by the time they do, the other half of plants will be fruiting as well. This is when we start to have enough for everyone to have some (and hopefully plenty!).

Similarly, we are just getting tomatoes now from the greenhouse. We have about 200 plants in there now that are producing fruit, while we have over 500 tomato plants in the field. These too are beginning to flower, and shape fruit, but it hasn't quite ripened yet. Once we are able to harvest from these plants (over 12 varieties all together!) the harvest will be much more substantial.

When we just have a very little amount, like the last two weeks, there is sometimes not even enough to give one tomato or zucchini to each half share, especially since there are so many more half shares than full. We have also heard from you in the past that 1 tomato or 1 zucchini is not too helpful in making a meal. So we're trying to give what we do have to the CSA somehow, and right now that means just sending to full shares. We always try to make up for that extra vegetable by sending an even amount of something else (note that this week for example everyone got the same amount of lettuce.... last week, peas).

I know it hurts! I am jealous of those full shares too! But please be patient, as we are working with the inflexible mysteries of nature and they are just gearing up to give us all some love.

Thanks,
Heather

News from Woodbridge, Week 7

Woodbridge Farm is expecting to send us:

Lettuce (or possibly salad greens)
Swiss Chard
Cabbage
Peas
Fresh Garlic
Herbs (dill or basil)
and probably some extras for full shares from our fruiting crops that are just starting to produce: zucchinis or tomatoes.
Don't worry, there will be much fruit to come for all shares soon, farm blessings willing!

Heather notes on Facebook that the tomatoes are from the greenhouse, just a small prelude to what should be coming later this month from the field. She also writes about the nutrient density course that she and Julia have been following this summer and what that means for our kale, and about the importance of a living soil cover, like rye and clover, in keeping the crops healthy.

Counting, weighing, and sharing

Hello CSA!

We hope you have been enjoying your produce and your CSA experience. So far things seems to have been working fairly well: the produce and extras have been beautiful; the trucks have been showing up (mostly) on time; rain has been minimal on Tuesdays; Abrons has added some music to our distribution; there have been few volunteer cancellations, and they've been manageable.

We have had a problem running short on certain items, which many of you might not even know about, since it affects only the members who show up toward the end of distribution. Nevertheless, it's a major problem for the members who get shortchanged, and therefore something we are taking very seriously. 

Knowing that there is a margin of error weighing produce at the farm and at distribution, both Woodbridge Farm and Breezy Hill Orchard routinely oversupply us with any produce that needs to be weighed out. Nevertheless, for certain vegetables, the error has been larger than the supply. So we've asked Heather, from Woodbridge, to increase the oversupply amount she adds to our order each week. 

Here's where it gets tricky -- it's actually impossible for Heather to add anything to our distribution, because we (and our sister CSA in Brooklyn) already receive absolutely everything the farm harvests on Tuesday. So, in practice, what really happens is that the amount each member is allotted is decreased to make sure that no one misses out (e.g. when there might be just enough for everyone to get 8 oz., we will instead list 7.5 oz as the share). Even though that sounds lousy, it's the best way to make sure that all our members are being treated equally, no matter what time they get off work.

Additionally, there have been a few instances -- most notably last week with the season's first tomatoes and zucchini -- when inexact scales are not the culprit. Items that are distributed in whole numbers should not run dry at all ... but they did.

So we're asking everyone to review the guidelines below:

- Check the large white board and the signs on each bin to make sure you take the amount that's appropriate for your size share.

- Note that, sometimes, a full share will get an item that a half share won't get any of (and, occasionally, vice versa).

- Make sure that your scale is properly tared -- that is, zeroed out with an empty bowl. (Check out the video!)

- Weigh carefully, and don't sneak a few extra ounces/items.
- Don't strip the waste (lettuce core, brocoli leaves, etc.) before you weigh
- Watch your children to make sure they treat the produce with care.

One last thing, which has been a little unclear to members: each week, Heather also brings us a bin or two of extra produce, which we keep off to the side. This is stuff that was picked on Friday and not sold at their farm over the weekend. It's not part of anyone's official share, it's just there for all of us to share. Feel free to take a little something, but please don't get greedy.

We know that distribution can be chaotic, and that it's the end of a long day, so please take a bit of extra time to make sure you're taking your share. And many thanks to the members who have been affected for their patience and understanding.

See you soon!