CSA (2011)UPDATES:
December 3, 2011 What a beautiful day for a dividend distribution. We gave out lots of broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, and kale to some CSA members. I do believe this is the best broccoli and cauliflower we've ever grown. Tuesday, Dec. 6th is another chance for those that missed Saturday, provided that the weather is not so bad that we can't pick it. :( Let's hope we'll see you on Tuesday 3:30 to 5:15 ...if you emailed us and said you would be at PHFM location.
November 12, 2011 Thursday, Nov. 10th was the last distribution for 2011 Misty Meadows Farm CSA. We had such a good there, despite the fact that we did lose some things and tomatoes were so slow to ripen :( We think, all in all, it was a very good year. We hope you do too. We are still waiting on the broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage to grow and be ready and if that occurs before everything freezes down for the season, we'll be emailing you for another distribution. We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you gather lots of good memories to carry you through many more years of family and friends. We've said it many times, but we have the best CSA members around!!! We have enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you. Many blessings. Kathy & Ralph
October 24, 2011 Yesterday was our last day selling after church on Sundays for the 2011 season. There is a lot going on, both at church and personally, so we decided to wait until Spring. The Wednesday program at CPC will still get veggies that we can donate. We were not hard hit by the frost on Saturday morning. It appears that we have lost some things like the tomatoes, but other stuff is doing okay. While it is later in the season than normally and we feel so fortunate for that, it does seem like it "crept" up on us. We have lost several fall crops, but we are also looking at the fields in amazement at what we do have. We feel blessed as Kirk as decided to return to us next year in his 2nd year intern capacity, so he will be with us for the entire season next year. :) On another note, we will soon be sending out notices about returning for next year's CSA. With the good year we had this year (and I think you'll all agree), we've had a lot of interest in joining the CSA next year. Getting started early on the planning part of it gives us a leg up so we will be a little earlier than last year. We offer to present CSA members before we open it to the public, so be on the lookout. I will also send a survey, that I'd love for you to fill out (no need for a signature unless you want to). Our annual surveys help us to determine which direction to go, what to eliminate, what to make better. We'd still like to have a soup dinner, perhaps, and will try to work on that in the next week or so so that we can do something in November, hopefully at our church in Louisville. We'll see you soon. :)
October 13, 2011 We've been really blessed with some great weather, it has been in the low 70s all week long. This morning, rain, but it was time, I think. I hear our luck may be running out. We have just 2 more weeks for our Radcliff CSA, but 4 more weeks for our Louisville CSA. They are predicting a frost for next week and we are hoping that we don't lose a lot. Some things will get hurt, like the tomatoes, green beans, and eggplant, but others will be okay...sweet potatoes, winter squash, broccoli, the yellow squash will go down :(, but it's been a good yellow squash year! So we are taking it as it comes and very thankful that you've had such great boxes for both the spring and the fall CSAs this year. Check out the pictures above, mostly of Ralph and Kirk in the fields. Bean picking is not an easy task and they master it well. Kudos guys!
October 3, 2011
The fields are looking great :) I took some pictures today and I hope to put them on the website tonight. Oh how I wish you could see the fields...Ralph and Kirk are doing such an awesome job keeping this together. We were not affected by any frost and let's hope it stays that way.
September 14, 2011
Note that our Thursday CSA distribution site has now changed to Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church, 311 Browns Lane, Lville. Hours are 4 to 6 p.m. We will also be selling items there. Thanks for your patience :)
September 5, 2011
Fall CSA begins this week for PHFM/Thursday. It will start off short, but your boxes will fill up real well in the next few weeks. Be patient, yummy things are coming.
The CSA picnic at the farm tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 29th has been canceled. We just found out our daughter is graduating from Sullivan that day and we'll be going to that :)
September 1, 2011
Fall CSA begins next week for Louisville CSAs. Thursday CSA members need to go to the back parking lot (behind St. Andrew Church) to pick up your share as we will no longer be selling with the farmers market. The hours are changing to 4 to 6 p.m. Nothing changes for Tuesday CSA pickup...hours are still 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
August 8, 2011
We had some rain yesterday; it was nice to cool things off a bit. Ralph and Kirk have been busy planting, planting for the Fall CSA. Only one week left for Spring CSA (after this week). Sometimes it feels like it just started; other times it feels like it's gone on forever...I'm sure you feel the same way. A lot of things we just couldn't get planted early on for a lot of reasons: heat, rain, and no one to help plant :( Our dear friend and CSA member Lisa who has come out many times to help plant is leaving on Thursday. She will be teaching English at the American University in Beirut and we are so proud of her! She writes and tells us she will miss the farm..I don't know who will miss who more. Godspeed dear friend...eat those olives :)
Everything that is growing is looking real good; don't know yet how the fingerling potatoes have done, I think he plans to start digging those soon. We lost all of our other potatoes from all the rains. The sweet potatoes are looking awesome and this morning K & R are weeding them. The new squash, tomato, and bean plants are growing and look wonderful. The spring beans didn't do so well and we have lost our yellow wax beans from the heat :(
We've had 3 really rough weather years...but we think our CSA is going much better than it has been for a few years...the CSA troopers that have been with us all these years would probably agree. And so it begs the question...what makes a bad growing year? One year we had too much rain, the next...too much heat, and this year both. I think I'd rather have both so that they can offset each other :)
C ya at the market :)
July 31, 2011
This hot weather has really hurt a lot of things, but we are grateful for what we do have. We hope that everyone has been happy with their shares for the Spring. The tomatoes are coming, I promise!!! The plants are looking good; we are starting to harvest tomatoes from the field, but still few and far between and they are looking spotty from the weather we've had; still edible. We hope to be able to get enough of them to distribute soon. The tomatoes you've been getting and seen on the sell table are greenhouse tomatoes grown in the dirt.
June 28, 2011
You've been getting plenty of onions in your shares the past few weeks; these can be stored now and here's how to do it: All you need do is to spread them out where they can dry, the necks will dry out, shrink up and seal the onion and they'll hold for about 3 mths.
June 8, 2011
Your share will be boxed based on the size share you purchased. Please take care of the boxes and be careful how you open them; the bottom sides fold up (and the top folds up) before taking apart. Several were "ripped" open last year and this makes them unusable. We would ask that you please return your box the following week.
PLEASE SIGN IN so we know you've picked up your box.
You will get a reminder email each week (the day before your pickup day). I will ask you to hit reply and send so that I know you've gotten the email.
IMPORTANT: If you cannot pick up your share, we cannot hold it for you or replace it another time. You must pick it up or have someone come and pick it up for you. If no one comes, your share is forfeited for that week. If we picked another share for you, this costs us money and time. We appreciate your full understanding on that and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to talk to us. We do understand emergent situations, so communicate with us. Forgetting is not an emergent situation; we make every effort to keep you reminded. ;)
This is going to be a very good year...we are bound and determined this will be true!!!
If you have free time during the week (other than Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Wednesday and Saturday mornings) and want to come to help on the farm, call or email us to see if we will be here and come on out. We appreciate weekend help too, although Sundays we are in church and not available to work until afternoon.
Blessings,
Ralph and Kathy
