That's a wrap!
This week's share will be the final share of our 2020 CSA program.
It's been a long, laborious, and fruitful season. We've faced some typical challenges, like deer, bugs, wind, heat, and an absence of rain, but also some uniquely "2020" challenges too. Our delivery-only model and compostable bags were a direct response to social distancing and low-contact recommendations made during the initial weeks of the pandemic.
Deer practice social distancing while examining our lettuce from afar
Overall, we're happy with how the season has unfolded and hope that you are too. We've learned an awful lot this year and are excited about taking those lessons and making our CSA program even stronger next season.
Food Bank Support
As you may know, each week throughout the season we deliver fresh produce to the Kawartha Lakes Food Source in Lindsay. From their facility, they support and distribute food to food banks throughout the Kawartha Lakes.
Our delivery this past week brought our season total to over 2,000 pounds.
We still have some more to give before the season ends but wanted to share this milestone and thank all of you, whose support and participation made this possible.
Winter Microgreens
As we mentioned in our survey, we're thinking of running a light micro-green focused program throughout the winter months. It's one sure-fire way we can provide fresh greens in the dead of winter.
Some people love micro-greens, others not so much, to each their own! But since our survey was anonymous, we're not actually sure which of you reported being interested.
If you are interested, send us a quick email to hello@brandestonfarm.ca and we'll be in touch!
Early Survey Results
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to fill out our 2020 CSA Survey. There's a lot of great information and feedback and we're already able to see how your input is informing our plans for next season.
A more detailed review and analysis of the feedback will be done once we wrap up our activities in the field and we'll send
but we thought you might be interested in some early highlights that we're taking to heart:
1. Okra, No thanks! We've heard you loud and clear: okra is widely disliked and we won't grow it for our CSA next season. Okra was always a bit of a left-field crop for us, certainly not common in these parts. What made it an interesting choice is that it fares extremely well in the heat. As the climate changes and our local climate becomes warmer, we'll want to be aware of new crops that can tolerate the new conditions.
2. More Lettuce, Salad, Spinach! Nearly everyone expressed love for lettuce, salad mixes, and spinach. Our first draft for our 2021 field layout allocates at least twice as much garden space for lettuce, salad mix, spinach, and other salad-like greens. Next season will be lettuce-abundant!
3. Ongoing feedback cycle. This year we asked you to complete a end of season survey to gather feedback. Next season we're hoping to make it quick and easy to provide feedback throughout the season, so we can make improvements in real-time. We're not sure how this will work yet but we want to position ourselves to be more responsive to our members needs and preferences.
Other Local Food Producers
One item that was hit or miss in terms of popularity this year was hot banana peppers. On the other hand, we had many CSA members tell us that they liked hearing about recipes and other local food producers.
Allow us to introduce you to Heather Dewey, owner and chef at:
We met Heather last year at the Kinmount Farmer's Market. This year, we were happy to be able to provide her with hot banana peppers and jalapenos which she'll turn into some amazing and fiery hot sauces.
Check out her website for recipes, hot pepper information, or order some sauce!
This Week's Share
Lettuce
Salad Mix
Pak Choy
Spinach
Swiss Chard
Bunching Onion
Radish
Carrots
Microgreen Mix (Pea, Arugula, Red Cabbage)
Butternut Squash
Thank you!
Thanks again for joining us the season and taking part in our CSA program. You'll hear from us once more in a couple of weeks when we share more detailed results from our survey. We'll also tell you about another local farmer who has an Egg CSA you might be interested in.
Until then, all the best!
Commentaires