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It”s been pretty quiet around this website! We’ve decided that part of the semi-sabbatical this year is a break from weekly farm blogging. We’ll still post recommended recipes and an occasional update, but no late night uploading of weekly harvest photos. The season has been terrific so far, with the best looking Bok Choy and Chard we’ve ever had! The season has turned from the earliest crops to the next chapter of vegetables; we harvested the first beets last week, and the deluge of green beans will be fast upon us. Here are a few photos of our season thus far:
May & June 2011, planting, mulching, and playing
The summary:
- Our box is $500 this year.
- We are only having on-farm pick-up (in St. Francis, MN).
- Veggies will be ready for pick-up on Tuesdays, anytime between 4 – 7 pm.
- Our season runs approximately June 7th to October 4th.
Click on the tabs above for the 2011 details. “2011 General Info” has an intro to the CSA model and a table of what crops you might see in your box when. “2011 Registration & Logistics” has the registration form to download and other 2011 specific details.
Happy Spring Equinox!
Scroll back a few posts to see some GREAT photos from May!
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- We had a great time working alongside new CSA members Mark and Kris. Here, they get to sample the first radishes of the year.
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- Chris and Kris planting the peppers.
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- Maggie and Kris relaxing and chatting in the garden.
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- Mark with some peppers.
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- The rye field next to the garden.
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- Thea checks on the bees.
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- Thea shows her dad (visiting from Maine) and her unborn baby the ropes.
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- We got chickens!
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- 11 chicks, a variety of kinds.
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- This is the most complete picture of our “Tractor Coop.” The chickens roost and nest in the shelter on top, and graze in the protected area down below (accessed by a retractable ramp).
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- Thanks to Dave for taking all of these pictures (except this one!).
Thanks everybody!
If you are interested in being a member next year (2011) and you want to get an email from us when we open up 2011 registration next winter, let us know at ReimannFarm at yahoo dot com.
Happy Spring!
We feel like proud parents! Chris (in blue), Carol (in white), and Darwin (in maroon) enjoy a sunny spring day with the first round of seedlings. In the top photo you can see the onions with a ladybug friend, in the bottom photo you can see chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, and onions. We hope to plant these out in the ground right around the beginning of May. Thanks to Dave for the photos.
While we have all enjoyed the sudden return of warm sunny days, the quick thaw means a shorter maple syruping season. Around here we are still hoping for more days with highs of 40 and lows of 20. Top left is Chris, top right is Darwin and Carol.
The vibrant green of young leaves -- delicate yet amazingly resilient! We have enjoyed our first bites of fresh parsley (top right), and are excited to see the perennial bunching onions starting to poke through with new growth (bottom left). Bottom right, Chris walks next to the Big Oak with Luna, our beekeeper's dog. Just a few weeks ago we walked the same area with snow up to our knees!
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- Field mouse tracks across the snow. Notice the line in the center where it dragged its little tail along!
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- Freezing and canning the harvest in the summer makes for easy, fast, and tasty meals in the winter. Here, chunky canned tomatoes are added to sauteed onions and garlic, herbs, and a little maple syrup (all from the farm). Served over store-bought frozen raviolis.
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- Last summer we grew trials of nine different kinds of dried beans. Part of our job this winter is to taste-test all of them! These are the Indian Woman Yellow Bush Beans soaking before being used in a tasty (eastern) Indian curry.
Mom, Dad, and I went down to LaCrosse last weekend for the annual Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference. It is always a good time full of excellent food, informative workshops, and meeting up with other farmers. I personally find it inspiring to see the diversity of people involved with organic farming: young and old, rural and urban, red and blue, dreadlocked and beer-bellied, talkative and stoic, community organizers and self-sufficient livers. Sustainable farming is good for the land, providing us with healthy food and a more robust local economy. By keeping your food dollar circulating within the local community, you are directly helping to create a healthier food system and higher quality of life for all of us — you the eater and us the growers, but also the non-local food eaters who still benefit by having cleaner water, more wildlife habitat, and more resilient rural and urban economies. I think part of the reason that sustainable farmers are a diverse crew is that a vibrant local economy is something that people from all walks of life can agree is a good thing.
This year we had a few things in mind to focus on, so we went to sessions about pastured poultry, hoophouse season extension, and permaculture orchard design. There was also a really nice panel discussion of and for CSA farmers. Partly because of that discussion, there have been some new collaboration and support initiatives for CSA farmers that deliver to the Twin Cities, such as peer-mentoring options and potlucks for farmers. A few of us are also hoping that we could hold a CSA-specific conference in LaCrosse the day before the usual annual conference begins.
I love being a farmer in Minnesota, and having the winter to rest, dream, study, plan, organize, and collaborate. I honestly don’t know how they do it year-round in warmer places. The annual organic conference is one of the signs that spring is right around the corner. We are tapping maple trees right now, and getting ready to start the onion seeds next weekend. Another growing season is upon us, and as the days get longer and longer we too are feeling more energized and excited. Here we go again for another trip around the sun!
Looking forward to sharing the growing season with you,
Chris.
