NOFA-VT FARM SHARE program begins accepting applications TODAY! The money they have is limited, so if you are applying for a scholarship, please apply ASAP! Or, please DONATE to the Wild Carrot Farm Scholarship fund, either directly to Wild Carrot, or through NOFA Farm Share (specify Wild Carrot in your donation) to make your donation tax-deductible to help subsidize shares for low-income members.
http://nofavt.org/programs/farm-share Wild Carrot Farm is committed to making our food accessible to people of all income levels. With this as our mission, we raise money through our Scholarship Fund to help subsidize CSA shares up to 50%. If you would like a scholarship, please contact us, as well as apply through the NOFA program. If you would like to DONATE, you can do a tax-deductible donation through NOFA (be sure to specify Wild Carrot Farm), or you can donate directly through Wild Carrot by mailing us a check with a memo marked "donation to scholarship fund". Thanks for helping support our mission!
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Overwhelmed. This is a word the four of us have spoken regularly in the past couple of weeks. The house needs finishing before we move, the barn needs more preparation before the animals can move, and we are in the throws of farm planning for this upcoming growing season. We are a bit overwhelmed. But, then we are spurred on and our loads are eased a bit when a new lamb is found in the early hours of the morning, we save the life of a goat kid, a wall is painted, or Janet makes us the best dinner we can ever remember eating. Jesse by and large has been heading up the home make over with Caitlin these past weeks. He has put in new wiring and lights, applied mud, and scrapped lead paint. If you catch him in town and he has two seconds I would offer him a hug or high-five (or a cold beer?), he has more than earned it. Caitlin has been right there with him at the house, and holding the farm together via her excellent organizational skills and bookkeeping. Ashlyn has been enamored with the above mentioned goat kid who she was able to bring back from the brink (her name is Jenny) and has recently regained most of the sleep from the long nights spent awake tending to it. Ben (along with Ashlyn) recently attended the NOFA-VT Winter Conference to learn more about micro-dairies and veterinary techniques, but mainly has dreams about the apple branches he stares daily. Seedlings are getting started! The greenhouse is a balmy 55 degrees and the smell of Vermont Compost Company potting mix is a sure sign of warmer days to come. And the really exciting news is that our order forms are available!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can check them out here, along with our brochure. If you have any questions call or e-mail us, we'll help you as soon as possible. For now, stay warm, eat well, and think spring thoughts.
Oh and also, don't forget to change your clocks this weekend (hint: spring ahead). - W.C.
Dear Beloved Shareholders,
Welcome to week 15! I can’t believe how this summer has flown by, I still feel like I never caught up on some of July’s chores. We are getting some much-needed rain this morning, and are feeling good about how well the season has turned out, despite the lack of precipitation. We are also feeling blessed that (so far) we have not had any Irene-like disasters. We have come a long way from week one of 2011, when we were scrounging for food with such a late late spring in our first year. The soil has improved immensely, and we are seeing the results! That being said, we are still having quite a bit of animal pressure. As soon as the fields dry out, we expect to get most of the winter squash pulled in to begin curing in the greenhouse. The garlic has all been processed, and seed chosen for next year. The majority of the onions are processed and curing. We are starting to plan out what the gardener’s shares will look like, and watching some of our hardy fall crops with an eye to the first frost, which will sweeten up the brussel sprouts and the carrots and parsnips. We are still harvesting tomatoes and peppers, though they are slowing down considerably with the cold nights. A big note for Tuesday folks: It has been a rare occurrence that anybody has shown up after 6:00 on Tuesdays, so we have decided to close up at 6:00 instead of 6:30 as the days are getting shorter, and soon it will be dark by then! If this is a problem for you, please let us know, and we will make arrangements to either stay late, or get you the food somehow. In big letters so you don’t miss it: TUESDAY PICKUPS WILL NOW CLOSE AT 6 PM. Cell phone is 716-969-2480. We would also like to share with you some EXCITING NEWS ABOUT THE FUTURE of Wild Carrot Farm. While Brookline and especially the Soloman's have treated us tremendously well over the past two years, and this has been an unbelievably welcoming home for Wild Carrot, the farm will be moving next season, a bittersweet decision. Max has decided to pursue his dreams of having dairy goat farm (location yet to be determined), and will be stepping out to embark on this endeavor with his wife Leigh. Jesse and Caitlin have been offered an unbelievable opportunity to transition into ownership/tenancy of what is now Fair Winds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road in Brattleboro. We will be partnering up with friends Benjamin Crockett and Ashlyn Bristle, as well as Jay and Janet Bailey (the current owners) to create an extremely diversified farm on the 41+ acres there. We will continue to do a vegetable CSA, eggs, chickens, and turkeys, but will expand to include a legal raw milk cow (and goat?) dairy, pork, and beef, and in the future hopefully berries and fruit. The farm is currently powered by draft horses, which we hope to continue. That being said, the plans for next year’s CSA are not yet determined. We will keep you updated as soon as we have figured out the details! It is likely that for the first year on new land, with undertaking such an enormous project, we will have limited shares available. Current members will be given first priority for these shares. There are many details yet to be figured out, but we believe and hope that the current Wild Carrot Fields shall not go fallow! We’ll keep you in the loop. Now, for the grand list of veggies of the week: broccoli peppers (Sweet/hot) tomatoes husk cherries green/purple beans red cabbage kale chard mesclun head lettuce arugula celery celeriac tomatillos potatoes onions garlic basil daikon radish napa cabbage beets (later in the week) okra daikon radish extras: parsley, cilantro, sage, oregano, anise hyssop, peppermint, lemon balm, thyme, tulsi basil Warmly, Caitlin, Jesse and Max Click Here to read Wild Carrot Farm's recent article in Southern Vermont Arts and Living.
Hello Faithful Wild Carrot Friends!
Spring has sprung at the farm, though this cold snap has kept us on our toes. The greenhouse is full of beautiful little seedlings, the fields are plowed and planted in cover crops, and our first peas are popping out of the soil. In our efforts to keep you informed about what's going on at the farm (and to make a living at it!), here are some updates: The greenhouse is teeming with seedlings, many of which are for sale to gardeners. Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, swiss chard, sunflowers, onions, leeks, brussel sprouts, kale and more are ready. We are putting some of these things out on the street on warm days, but they are always available in the greenhouse. Feel free to come by to purchase seedlings when you need them and let your friends and neighbors know that we're here! A few experiments (or improvements) are underway this season. With our new greenhouse we're planting early cucumbers inside, hoping to have them ready by the end of June. Basil too is already in the ground and thriving. Tomatoes will join them soon, and we hope to correct the problem of late tomatoes with a good, early July greenhouse crop. Despite being ahead of schedule on plantings, we are well behind our goals for CSA sign ups. We are thrilled at the number of members from last year who have signed up this year, but new sign-ups have been very slow. With a miniscule marketing budget and less and less time on our hands as the season takes shape, we are relying on you to spread the word and help us find the membership we need. Please help us by telling friends and colleagues about the CSA, put some brochures in your workplace, a shout out on facebook, or whatever you can. Community supported agriculture is not just about up front payments. We will be stronger as a farm with enough customers to pay the bills (and maybe some day even the farmers!). Some flyers are attached to this email. We have been fundraising for scholarship shares once again this year. If you know someone in need of some inexpensive veggies, please send them our way. And consider donating to support our efforts to offer more shares to low-income neighbors. Finally, a reminder that eggs will not be included in the regular CSA on a regular basis like last year. We are offering egg shares on a rolling basis--20 weeks at a time for $90. Please let us know if you'd like eggs. We deliver to Newfane and Brattleboro too! Thank you all for your support. June will be here in no time! Jesse, Caitlin and Max If you drive by the farm today you'll see a little trail of smoke rising from the back of the greenhouse. That traditional sign of winter is really a sign of spring. It means we've started planting seeds inside and the season has officially begun. So far: onions, leeks, scallions, basil, celery and celeriac. Cucumbers will be in tomorrow! We also planted our first greens in the new hoophouse today. Spinach and arugula will be here soon!
Our seed order is finished! In my opinion, pouring over seed catalogs in front of the fire on a cold winter day is one of the joys of the season. This year it happened with an eye to the bare ground outside, wondering whether we will be planting earlier than usual.
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