CSA / News

GEE CREEK FARM 2010 – WHAT’S NEW

We are very happy to announce the opening of our 2010 season. We are now taking applications for subscriptions to our farm’s CSA program.  If you are new to buying your veggies and fruit through a CSA and want to find out more please look through this CSA section to learn more about this innovative way to buy the fresh local organic produce while also doing so much more good at the same time.

We plan to build on our successes and make this season even better! To the many of you who supported our farm last year, thank you!  We have made some adjustments to our CSA program and our business model. These changes are a result of trial and error and listening to you our members. We are grateful for all the feedback we receive and we try to implement your suggestions.

2009 was a good one for us. The weather was quite favorable last spring. Even though it was a little dry we got irrigation going early enough to avoid the problems associated with the stress that comes with early heat. Our system of farming utilizing 100% drip irrigation puts extra stress on us during the rush of planting season to get the water going early; a lot of work on the front end to save the work on the back end.

Last year we experimented with student labor. During the spring we brought homeless and at-risk youth to the farm to learn, eat and work. It was very enlightening for all concerned and we will repeat the experiment again, refining the model so we can open up the farm to larger segments of the population and facilitate skills transfer to the next generation.  We will be looking to accept a number of interns this year as we think this will help our farm and the students in ways immeasurable and many.

Other experiments were carried out during the year as well. These innovations and trials included adding new mulches, building needed and innovative farm machinery, new variety test plots and the development of additional market channels. For instance, we started a food processing “division” in a rented certified kitchen.  Our products met with good market acceptance and we are looking to expand our product lines. Look for these value added products this year at the farmers markets.  We are excited about this diversification as a way to make the farm more profitable and add more jobs for our community. Many value added products currently available in local grocery stores are produced far away. On average the food we eat (not including your CSA share!) travels 1500 miles from where it was produced to get to the local store. We think that there just might be a market for fresh, locally produced foods. We hope to record our successes, failures and observations so we can pas along our experiences to others. Please wish us luck!

Disappointments during last year included poor germination on our corn crop, poor fruit set in the orchard and the loss of thousands of pounds of winter squash in the barns during the early and unseasonable cold weather in early December.  

Looking ahead to the 2010 season.

Expect to see us continue to provide a wide variety of vegetables! We are looking into some added products to offer members including; organic milk, eggs and flowers and other organic products that we may happen to source at affordable prices to our members. We do not forget that one of our missions is to keep local high quality organic food as affordable as possible. We will solicit your potential interest in these new offerings on the registration form.

We hope to greatly expand our retail presence and will try to double the number of farm memberships sold. Please help us to do this by spreading the word about our CSA program; there is an economic incentive to you for doing so! We plan to use the added farm income to hire another farm manager to assist us in making better use of available labor and resources. We are hoping that an extra pairs of manager’s eyes will result in higher efficiencies, better product quality and extended shelf life.

We have decided to change the venue for product distribution to the farmers markets. We think this will save labor while also giving our members a greater degree of choice in what they receive in their weekly shares. Also having the distribution occur at he markets gives our members a chance to source other products the farm does not offer from other farms selling at the market.

Currently we are in the midst of pruning the orchard and have started planting on the indoor benches. With in a week they will be transferred to the greenhouse to spend the next two months growing out before being replanted to the field.

We are hoping for a better fruit harvest this year after last year’s very disappointing crop. We will be engaging the efforts of a long time orchardist and pruning expert from Mt. Hood Organic Farm, to assist us. We are fortunate to have met him and have arranged a mutually acceptable labor trade in exchange for the benefit of his mastery and advice. We have about 200 dwarf fruit trees, mostly heritage apples varieties.

  The winter weather has been very nice since the cold spell in December. Spring is coming early and 2010 is shaping up to be another year of promise and bounty on the farm. As of this writing, the daffodils have just bloomed, and the grass is growing again. This is such a hopeful and busy time of year. So much to do!

Sitting down to write, during this time of so much activity, is challenging. That brings us to our next project for the new year ahead, a regular newsletter. To make this happen we will employ an office assistant who will and newsletter-communications person to help send out flyers and email posts to all members. Our goal is to send out a newsletter once a week once the season starts in late June. Make sure we have a good email address for you. We will try to pass along recipes, announcements and facilitate a dialogue with you, our farm members. It is our hope that our newsletter and the participation of our members will help us more effectively create community.  We will be the catalyst for that effort and we hope you have the interest and desire to participate.

Farm Days

One effort we would certainly like to cooperatively organize farm visit days with a pot luck picnic. We hope our farm family members will step up and help us put these together so that we can enjoy and appreciate the beauty of our working organic farm. We are so blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth her in the Pacific Northwest. Our beautiful mountains and forested hills looks particularly spectacular with the under story of multicolored vegetable crops. If these farm visits days and picnics sound interesting to you, please consider helping us organize them. Look for announcements about these in the newsletter.

A big year is ahead for us all. Share in the harvest of renewal and rebirth as we, together move toward a more sustainable path to growing food and health.  We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Peace,

The Stanley family - Gee Creek Farm