If nothing else, 2020 – and now, 2021 – have made us all adept at rolling with whatever astonishing new realities history may throw at us. Since we are as well-practiced as ever at keeping our balance in the face of change, I figured the moment was right to pile-on.
As we mentioned in our last newsletter, Hilltop will be undergoing some changes in the coming year. A number of infrastructural projects have been begging our attention for awhile. Erin will be stepping away from commercial flower production in order to free up time for additional pursuits, on-farm and off. All of which posed a great temptation to me to follow suit.
Upon reflection however, I decided that stepping away from the vegetable CSA this year didn't quite make sense. Erin and I will still be growing vegetables for ourselves in our gardens in any case, and -- what is more -- last Fall we made a once-in-a-decade investment in 20 yards of compost which we expect to boost the productivity of our soil.
If we can expect even modest cooperation from the weather (always a gamble, it's true...) we are likely to produce enough food beyond what we can eat to supply another season of shares. Not coincidentally, I've also discovered that 28 years of commercial growing is a harder habit to break than I ever expected. So, for 2021 the CSA will continue.
Unloading and staging compost for fall application in the CSA beds and orchard. Photo by Erin Schneider
But, since our time will be stretched this coming year, Erin and I sought to reimagine how our farm might operate in a way which would streamline processes and do away with unnecessary work. The following tweaks to this year's CSA are the product of that re-thinking and we hope they will be agreeable to you.
Two changes are significant.
Since apportioning shares each week consumes a disproportionate amount of time, this year we will switch to a system in which members pull their own shares from bulk produce we deliver to our porch. We'll wash it as usual and segregate it by type, keeping items that need to be cold in coolers and other stuff in crates so that members can draw their own shares. We hope this will provide a little more flexibility and self-direction in composing your individual bag, but it will also require being mindful of how much you take of any given item. We'll have a check-off sheet so that you can see how many shares remain to be pulled after you leave; that should enable you to help insure that the final share gets a (roughly) equal amount compared to everybody else. Indeed, whoever is last to pick-up can simply grab whatever remains on the porch (though if there are leftovers we'll insure that they don't go to waste).
CSA pick-up will work a little differently this season. For example, members can plan to pick out produce such as rhubarb in bulk bunches.
We expect this process to work for most vegetables, however for a handful of things -- like salad mix and perhaps certain herbs -- we'll bag up individual portions as we've done in the past.
The new system will not be quite as covid-friendly as the old one, but no less-so than picking out bulk veg at the coop or grocery store. And (crossing our fingers here) we're hoping that covid concerns may finally begin to abate this summer as vaccination slowly gains a foothold.
The other major change for 2021 is that we will be going to an every-other-week delivery schedule. This will almost certainly reduce the amount of produce you receive overall, though for items that keep for two weeks or longer – garlic, onions, carrots, beets, potatos, cabbage, squash, apples, pears – volumes should remain similar to past years. To accord for the reduction however, we've dropped the price of a 20 week (10 delivery) share to $400 ($395 if sign up by March 1) for 2021. We anticipate that this will roughly match the reduction in what you receive (about 1/3, we expect), though we can adjust the price in future years if it doesn't.
We appreciate that these are significant changes and that they may, for any number of reasons, not suit what you need from a CSA. We knew when we decided to shake things up that we might get any number of responses.
But, we hope these changes will provide greater flexibility for both our members and ourselves and – because of increased efficiency at the farm -- allow us some additional capacity as we age to keep up with the demands of work that we love.
In any case, we send our thanks to all of you who have got us this far and hope the new paradigm might be amenable to your continued support.
Rob, sizing up the crops for mid-summer CSA in our farm’s fields.