Clagett Farm Notes

Our farm family just became a little smaller

One of our dear and long-time CSA members, Marissa Irwin, just passed away.  She and her husband, Hans Verolme, have been members since they moved to the area eight years ago, and have become the type of old friends offering deep support and encouragement that makes our jobs so much more fulfilling.  With Marissa gone, and Kolya leaving, who will convince us to grow so much arugula?

Marissa died of ovarian cancer at the young age of forty.  She was a conservation biologist, and an activist and supporter for other women with cancer.  We're so glad to have known her. 

2006 Order Form

Time to order!  Previous members have priority over shares until April 1, 2006.  We fill orders according to the date they were sent (that way you can mail your order and you won't lose your share to a person that faxed it on the same day).  Most years we sell out of shares in May, so you still have a couple months to send it in.  You can send your order form and payment by mail or fax, or call in your credit card number.  We are suspicious of e-mail security, so e-mail your credit card number at your own risk. 

Click here to download the order form: 2006_CSA_order_form.pdf . 

We will update our homepage (www.clagettfarm.org) with the 2006 information this week.  In the meantime, the only major change is that we are raising the price by $20. 

This year's prices are as follows:
Dupont Circle, Tuesdays 5-7pm, $445
Clagett Farm, Tuesdays 3-7pm and Saturdays 1-4pm, $405
Anacostia Farmers' Market, Wednesdays 3-7pm, $405

Just as last year, you may pick up at any site you wish from week to week, as long as you have told us which is the site where you pick up most often.  That way, if you forget to pick up one week or have a schedule conflict, you can get that week's share another day.

Within a week of receiving your order, we will send you an e-mail confirmation. 
Thanks!

Last CSA harvest of 2005

This past Tuesday, November 8, we had our last harvest day of the 2005 season. A bittersweet day. Everyone was cheerful and our team's customary wry and irreverent humor was in good form. And yet there was a tinge of sadness, too. After all, we will not be doing this again in a while and when we resume some of us will not be around. But that's what happens every year. There is continuity even in this end of season dispersion.

 

Here we are harvesting mixed baby lettuce for our CSA shareholders. In the foreground, on the left we see Carrie being productive as always and to the right a smiling Andrea Humm is being her usual gracious self, but Dave Vernon, in the middle, is showing obvious signs of work-induced derangement (the size of the image may not show that clearly, so readers will have to trust me on that).

A view from the other side: Gail Taylor and Megan Caine with the baby lettuce. It took a comically long time to harvest this tiny lettuce. Why? Because when we seeded them we didn't expect that we would be cutting them that small--otherwise we would have them closer together for a quicker and more efficient harvest. Incidentally, cutting baby lettuce is not the only exciting experience lived by Gail and Megan. Gail recently returned from a visit to Europe. Right before Europe she had some interesting adventures in Guatemala. Megan, after studying Spanish in Ecuador, hitchhiked through several South American countries. Every once in a while during her travels the farm would receive Megan's fascinating emails. Her traveling companion was Farah Fosse, another friend of the farm who frequently volunteers here. Before we knew her, Megan also traveled to China and South East Asia.

Back to the baby lettuce. Here is a batch of it being rinsed to get it ready for the shareholders.

Dave, Andrea and Megan working on the lettuce at the wash station. Dave is new to the DC area. Shortly after his arrival this summer he found out about Clagett Farm and has been a consistent volunteer ever since. He has worked on farms in his native Wales, and lived in South Africa and Canada. As to Andrea, all season she was a Tuesday volunteer whose dedication went above and beyond the call of duty. Neither cold rain nor oppressive heat ever managed to dent her gracious and gentle humor.

During Tuesday's lunch break Kathleen Davis came by to say hello and goodbye to us--her former farm teammates. We were happy to see her! Next week she is flying to her home in Hawaii. We wish Kathleen the very best, but for selfish reasons hope to see her back. Many of you know Kathleen, especially if you were a Saturday shareholder or worksharer in 04 and 05. Few people know, however, how much the CSA benefited from Kathleen's friendly and unassuming but very capable presence.

So here we are in mid-November. There are still plenty of things to do at the farm. But the dynamics of the work are quite different and fewer hands are needed.

You-pick

During most weeks of the growing season, in addition to their weekly share (and at no extra cost) shareholders are welcome to the farm to you-pick (u-pick) veggies/berries to take home. To find out what's allowed to be u-picked in any given week, check the list on the board at the wash station or ask a farm staff person (next season shareholders will also be notified by email.)

Judging from last year's survey results, over 2/3 of shareholders you-picked at least once during the season. Many of them did it almost every week. Some shareholders u-picked more than twice the amount of tomatoes they got in this season's shares. I also know of shareholders who u-picked more than eight quarts of strawberries in one outing. Needless to say, even though it is not included in our share totals the you-pick option (if exercised) adds significant value to a shareholder's benefits.

Farm Fall Festival

Thank you for a wonderful fall festival. The day was cool, overcast and at times drizzly, but that did not dampen anyone's spirit. Many of the activities took place inside our main barn, which felt cozy, cheerful and warm from the buzz of all the people, the food, the warm cider and the live music from the steel drum band.

And yet the weather did not deter people from going outside and take hay rides led in turns by Michael Heller and Craig Highfield. From all appearances, people had a great time.

Some of the many hay riders (picture snapped by Kenji.)

Shareholders may seldom hear about Julie Adkisson and Susan Topping, both of the Capital Area Food Bank, but much of the work done for the CSA, the Anacostia Farmers Market, and the farm volunteer groups is done by them. And in keeping with this, the fact that the fall festival was such an enjoyable experience to so many people owes a lot to the dedication of Julie and Susan.

Incidentally, shareholder and friend of the farm Fred Delventhal kindly sent us a link for a series of photos he took during the festival. To see his pictures, click here.

And let me finish this post with one of Fred's fall festival photos.

Future greens

This grasshopper is enjoying the baby arugula bed. And in a couple of weeks it will be the shareholders turn to enjoy the arugula growing in this bed. In addition, our spinach, spicy mix, lettuce, turnips and radishes are doing well and we hope shareholders will end this CSA season enjoying their fresh greens.   

Pumpkins!

Shareholders will get a pumpkin in this week's share. Several varieties of winter squash will be coming soon.

Yesterday Carrie, Kenji and I harvested pumpkins, about 3,600 lbs worth. We carried the pumpkins to the wagon by hand, so once the wagon was full we were ready for a break.

Above Carrie and Kenji are barely starting to load up the wagon. Remember that we harvested about 3,600 lbs.

 

One of the many pumpkin laden bins Carrie carried.

Driving the wagon to the wash station. We did have an unscheduled stop when on an uphill a bale gave way and a portion of the pumpkins cascaded off the wagon. Luckily only a couple of pumpkins were ruined.

And here they are. Resting in all their glory until someone picks them up. Some of them will be shipped off to our Dupont drop off and and others will go to Anacostia.

Come to U-Pick Your Strawberries

The strawberries are not flowering anymore, which means that there will be no more berries after the ones that are ripening right now.  So if you have not done so already, this is a good time to come to the farm to U-Pick your strawberries before they are gone.  I wrote "your strawberries" because if you are a shareholder they are indeed your berries.  Although most shareholders come during the weekend to U-Pick, you are welcome any day of the week. And keep in mind that Saturday is when you will encounter the most pickers and that on Sunday more than likely you will not find any farm staff to assist you with directions. 

This is Carrie last Tuesday afternoon, picking strawberries for the Dupont shareholders:

A full Saturday

Saturday was a very full day.  All the farm tractors worked on various parts of the farm--disking, seeding, cultivating. And volunteers and worksharers came in full force, and they not only harvested, but also weeded and hoed. Thanks! The strawberries are not yet at their peak, but this did not deter shareholders from picking ripe berries. Sarah Tooley, who frequently volunteers at the farm, besides getting her hands dirty with field work was given the farm's camera and recruited as a photographer. Here are three of the photos she took.

Worksharers harvesting young chard.

June Arrington, shareholder and worksharer, washing leaf lettuce.

Girls picking herbs.

For more photos or for larger versions of the above, visit our 2005 photo album.

First Share Thank Yous. Strawberries--Not Quite. More Transplanting.

Shareholders, thank you for making our first share such a good experience. It was great to be greeted by smiling old-timers as well as to see eager and curious new shareholders. Expect much of the same in the second share. Details will probably follow after Tuesday's harvest (it's still Monday, as I'm writing this). I have to say, though, that I was overoptimistic when last Tuesday I told Dupont shareholders that they will be getting strawberries in their second share. There are strawberries to pick, just not enough to harvest. But this weekend will probably be a good one for those who want to come to the farm and pick their own berries.

Moving on to later crops, last Thursday we had our second (and last) session of tomato transplanting. This year we transplanted the same amount of tomatoes as last year, so shareholders can expect plenty of tomatoes later in the summer. Whether the harvest will be as plentiful as last year's is another issue--we'll certainly do our best, the rest is up to Mother Nature.

Weather permitting, we will transplant sweet potatoes later on this week.

That's Megan's left hand placing a tomato seedling into the "pinchers" of the transplanter. In her right hand she is holding the camera (quite a feat). Sitting to her left is Kenji. For a photo presenting a wider view and to read a quick explanation on how the transplanter works, go to Transplanting, an April 11 post.