Hi Everyone,
On the occasion of the beginning of a new year, we’d like to thank each of you for your commitment to our farm and for the privilege to have been chosen to be your “local farmers.” Your support of our farm—and some of you have been here for all of our last 13 CSA seasons—has allowed us to learn how to farm, how to improve in our goal of serving our growing CSA community, and has enabled us to be examples for the many other organic and sustainable farms that have grown up in our area. It is amazing that on just our road, and within a span of one mile to the north, and one mile to the south, there are now ten organic produce farms where twenty years ago, when we first came here, there were none. It didn’t happen overnight, but it is happening!
Wendy and I are on the eve of a well-deserved break from the farm. We’re packing up, or I should say, we will later tonight be packing up all the books, articles, and seed catalogs we can (we leave at 6:00 in the morning, and it’s only 10:00 the evening before now!). I think maybe almost more than the sun, we’re looking forward to catching up and moving ahead with our chosen, agrarian life. Times of reflection are important. We are also looking forward to some leisure, and we won’t just spend all our time reading and thinking about farming. But farming is a good life, and although we’re weary just now, we’re not burnt out. We just need a break.
There won’t be another newsletter for a while. I did, however, want to remind you about two things: the upcoming Winter Session of our CSA, and the 2009 Summer Session.
Our six-week Winter Session begins on Wednesday, February 4th. This year more than ever we have planned ahead for our Winter Session; we will have more crops from our farm than ever before for Winter CSA members. We will again this winter be including a weekly update both identifying what’s in the box and making suggestions for how to use it. These off-season Sessions have grown in membership a great deal since we started them, and have come to be very important to us. We hope that many of you will join us by signing up now at www.jubileefarm.org. It’s a good investment in your health and in supporting local, organic agriculture!
Summer Session 2009 looms ahead, and after the first few days of doing nothing on our vacation, Wendy and I will, I’m sure, start “the conversation.” As we gain more experience in farming and more input from our members and staff, we have more material to integrate into our planning. It’s really pretty exciting and it’s gotten to where it almost requires a retreat just to try to clarify the vision for the upcoming growing year.
We are hoping that all of you will be a part of our Summer CSA. You can sign up now, as many of you already have, on our website. This year, like last year, we will be offering a limited number of shares in our Summer CSA. Last year we received many applications after we had reached our limit, and although it was hard to do, we had stand by our decision to hold to the limit. Based on the number of memberships we already have processed for 2009 Summer Session, I expect the same to happen this year. So, if you want to be a part of our Summer CSA—and we hope all of you do—please get your applications in at your earliest convenience. It’s not hard to put people making their first inquiry about our farm on a waiting list. But it’s really hard to have to do that to past members. Please don’t make us do that; if it’s your intention to be with us this year, please sign up on-line soon.
Wendy and I would again like to thank you all for your support over this past year. We feel blessed to have such a large and caring community of people who, like us, call Jubilee Farm “our farm.” We believe that “to whom much has been given, much will be required,” and we take great joy in seeing our farm meet various needs of various people in various ways.
Our best to you all,
Erick and Wendy Haakenson
Jubilee Farm