CSA Spring Newsletter: May 7th, 2024 (Week 3/5)

Marco, Jorge, and Aeros packing the CSA boxes

Hi Folks,

We have so many dandelions going to seed in our yard and the edges of the sod breaks between fields.  So much it feels like a fairy land.  Gobs and gobs of wishes waiting to be had!  I know our neighbors are thinking, “when are they going to mow their lawn?”  When the dandelions are done blooming, is the answer.  They are such an incredible food source for pollinators, I’d hate to see them go unutilized. 

As I write this, Chris is meeting with our PCO (Pennsylvania Certified Organic) auditor.  Our auditor takes a full detailed tour of the farm, looking at our tools, soil amendments, crop rotation, irrigation, crops we are growing; how we wash them, how much and where we sell them and then we dive deep into the vast ocean of records.  They want to see a relatively clear trail to trace the point of origin, harvest, and purchase of what we grow.  It seems daunting if you start to think about all the little details.  Keeping them all in line… But records let me let go of details that don’t need to utilize brain space (could use a little more) so I can think about something else.  They help us understand our business through a thorough detailed lens.  We all know there’s likely no way I would have maintained such detailed information about the farm without pressure.  So!  Enjoy the disease free broccoli and tomatoes and let’s thank records for helping make that possible….

Spring always goes so quickly.  There are a lot of seedlings for our plant sale, finally going to a new home.  We are moving a lot of plants to our Traditional CSA members as well as farmers market customers.  Meanwhile we have plants constantly coming into the greenhouse from our incubation chamber, moving from being stacked in a moist warm environment to germinate are seeding a couple times a week and potting on summer crops as well as planting out with our water wheel transplanter.   

Cheers,

Chris, Aeros & The Who Crew