Hello Friends,
Well the 2008 season has started as Jon and I look over seed
catalogs and ponder planting strategies. I have attached our 2008 CSA
info sheet, and any who are ready to can email us at
uridel@att.net
and I will send you the "formal" join up form. The freeze we had
last April hadn't happened for over 15 years, so I hope this year to
have more than just red raspberries this year in the fruit category.
The drought and heat were also unprecedented, but even if that becomes
normal, Jon and I have invested in drip irrigation which will help us
deal with that growing possibility of climate change here in the
Midwest. Last year was a tough year, and it was our first year. Jon
and I both learned a lot about the crops we grew, as well as each other
(the less said about that, the better!), and we feel confident and
positive about 2008.
One of the biggest lessons we had was how the heirlooms performed on a
larger scale. Some of these I had never grown for "production", just
home use, and it was very educational. Broccoli was one of these
"gentle teachers", producing rather erratically and over a month. This
is great for home, but not when one is trying to deliver a set amount
per week. Resolution of the heirloom crop and market forces, on our
scale at least, requires planting more out, so that we have a vast sea
of broccoli plants in which to pluck the ripened number of heads we
require. I had planted broccoli on a more hybrid production model,
(only 80 plants), and thus engaged in a freshman error in growing
heirlooms for production.
The tomatoes were also teachers, though not very nice about it. The
challenge with heirlooms is to find the set that does well year to year,
with one or two standing out each year (though not the same two each
year, usually). We found two that did really well last year, while the
rest were a wash. I must tell you, I felt very bad about it, because
here we were with hardly any tomatoes at season's end, and they were
overflowing at the market. Well, most of the toms at market are
hybrids, and the ones that are heirlooms that were doing well we didn't
grow...we wanted to try some new ones. Well, live and learn, and this
season we will be adding Cherokee purple and some determinate tomatoes
to our heirloom lineup.
We'll also be growing some new heirloom watermelons that I trialed last
year (and saved seed from), that had a sweeter flavor than the Tom
Watson's . We also plan to have more summer squash and winter squash
(primarily acorn and futsu's, and some butternuts).
In fresh news, I am currently in the process of getting Hazelbrake Farm
certified organic by the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association.
Oy!!! The paperwork!! But we feel it is worth doing, especially as we
are expanding our nursery sales to outside our regional area. We
are launching a website for our blueberry plants, so anybody with
any advice about web hosts would be greatly appreciated.
If you can, Jon and I would really appreciate your decisions as soon as
possible, so we can start laying out our planting schemes and order seed
and material. Our goal is to have the first payments in by early
February. We also have a few shares left after our expansion, so please
pass this on to any who might be interested. You are our biggest
advocates, and we thank you for your confidence in us.
I hope you are all weathering the winter well. We certainly have
had some typical Indiana "cycles", but the sun is still shining. Please
don't hesitate to email with questions that may not be answered by the
info sheet.
2008 Information and Cost sheet
May your days be filled with happiness and joy, for Spring is on its
way,
Keith Uridel
3267 T.C. Steele Rd.
Nashville, IN 47448
812-988-0579