We are wrapping up the 2017 season this week! It is hard to grasp how fast this year has flown by, as it feels like just yesterday I was whispering sweet things to the tomatoes, encouraging them to ripen. I recently scanned through our photos from the year and am overwhelmed with satisfaction when I look at how much we grew this year and how much we accomplished.
2017 will go down as the 'Year of Infrastructure' at our farm. We put up the game fence, built a prop house and built two moveable greenhouses in the spring. Then in August, right when the nonstop harvests were starting to kick in, we began the construction of our wash/pack/storage warehouse. No wonder a recurring comment this season was ‘can we just farm next year…?’. We may have but a few too many projects on our list this year, but we did it with the help and support of our friends and family members, whom we cannot thank enough! And now we're set up for some serious organization and streamlining in 2018!
We are excited and ready for the slow down of the next couple months. Our bodies and minds will appreciate this time to rest and recuperate from the growing season. Next month we will begin to reflect on the 2017 season and contemplate how to improve our systems for the upcoming year. Now that we have all of the infrastructure in place, we have determined that our main focus in 2018 is weed management. We are purchasing a new cultivation tractor from friends down the road and a couple implements for this tractor that will help us manage the weeds in a more timely and mechanized fashion - aka less time weeding by hand. Woohoo!
As many of you know, it's incredibly dry in Southwest Colorado. We haven't received a real snow storm as of yet... and it's December 18th?! This is alarming and very worrisome.
As farmers in this part of the country, we rely on snowpack for our irrigation water come spring. Currently there is very little, or no snowpack up high so... we're patiently waiting and trying not to freak out. We have talked about our 'drought plan' for next season if that is needed... but hopefully enough moisture falls before Spring so we do not have to initiate those plans. Oh how I want to see the fields full of lush cover crops, endless rows or brassicas, glowing lines of carrots, and oh so many rows of onions and potatoes. We're grateful to be on this beautiful piece of land and we will practice patience and develop our plans based on what Mother Nature provides. It's a good reminder for all of us that she's in control.
We delivered the final Fall CSA Share to our Telluride CSA Members last week! Our 2017 CSA Season was our best yet and we want to thank all of our wonderful CSA Members! We couldn't have asked for a better CSA Community this year, you're support, encouragement and enthusiasm throughout the season was amazing. THANK YOU so much for supporting us and our farm this season! Thank you for being committed to local agriculture and for choosing to join our CSA. It was such a pleasure to grow produce for you all this season and we hope we can do it for many years to come. Below is a wrap up of the last five harvests, we're pretty excited about the variety we were able to provide to both our Summer and Fall CSA Members this season. Vegetables are a source of nourishment and so incredibly beautiful, and it's satisfying to help others discover, or re-discover, this and get excited to step back into their kitchen and commit to spending time preparing meals for themselves and their families. We are excited to continue to grow our CSA Community and hope you will join us again next season!
Fall CSA Harvest - Week #10
Until then... we hope your holiday season is lovely and that you get to spend quality time with friends and family. Sending best wishes to everyone for a wonderful New Year!