2010!

Greetings everyone,

                               As we look forward to 2010 and the return of light (which plants love!), we are busy here in Sunderland planning for our growing season. We continue to be inspired by the growing commitment to sustainable agriculture, manifested in the buying decisions of many customers, who are making a point to support practices they believe in with their food dollars. 2010 arrives in a world of unrest, in many ways; as a country we are at war and owe a lot of money. Looking back to the millenium change, I remember a time of relative peace in America, and certainly economic prosperity. Many feel questions inside them arising; with whom should I place my allegiances? Who is to be trusted to fight for a common well-being?

The way I see it, buying local is the best way to support what you believe in, if you believe in local people doing good things for their local community. The idea of Community Supported Agriculture is an idea I see value in for many buying decisions. Support those people who are committed to providing you with quality goods and services locally. CSAs do have a price advantage when compared to other local enterprises, however the idea of "you get what you pay for" still plays through.

Furthermore, as a consumer, the ever-increasing reporting on food security, or lack thereof, concerns me. Buying local produce is a great way to support your family or yourself with healthy, delicious food. Buying a CSA share guarantees you the ability to look your farmer in the eye as they explain how they grew your food. Farmer's markets provide this interaction as well, however the commitment involved in CSAs is something which excites everyone, I believe. Your commitment to us inspires us to do our best in all we do. CSA shares are "guaranteed business," we know you are committed and in return we have committed to being there every week with healthy, delicious food. We'll drive in the pouring rain, and then stand in it as we fill your shares. Your commitment makes this happen.

We are excited for 2010 for a number of reasons. First, we are shifting our growing focus a bit. In the past few years, I have been supplying our farmer's markets and CSA with the produce grown traditionally at Warner Farm. Mike has been managing Warner Farm for years as a wholesale business, developing a reputation as a reliable source of high-quality fruits and vegetable for many of our local markets. While this is a successful business model, it began at a time when direct-market opportunities were fewer for farmers. With the resurgence of commitment to local agriculture in the last ten years or so, farmers are finding new ways to grow diverse crops on a smaller land base. An increase in direct market opportunities allows for more attention and care to the crops being raised. The new model, common with CSAs, is to grow a wide variety of crops really well for your committed customers. The old wholesale model is to grow as much as you think you can sell of one crop. The old model was this way because the profit margins are slim for a farmer selling his produce wholesale. There are distributors and stores working along the way to get the food from farm to table, and they necessarily consume some of the final price you pay at the store.

We will be raising the majority of our crops for our markets and CSA in the new market garden, and will continue to raise crops like strawberries, sweet corn, asparagus, beans, peas, peppers and eggplant for the wholesale market. We are known for raising these delicious crops, and want to continue to satisfy the demand for them. Crops grown in the market garden will be grown in a more diverse, natural setting, with very-limited chemical usage. As with all crops at Warner Farm, we practice Integrated Pest Management.

The idea of the market garden inspires me, because I get to think about more creative ways to use the land. Wholesale growing is very linear, concerned mostly with the bottomline and crop yield in a given space. Diverse, market-garden scale growing invokes a more circular thought process, one which involves the cycle of life and death in the soil, nutrient cycling, pest and plant interactions, and the impact of our growing systems on nutrient quality and also our local environment.

So, for 2010, join our CSA! Help us grow our commitment to sustainable agriculture. The more support and excitement we see from our customers, the more excited we are about growing you all the best possible food we can.