Mendocino Organics

Jen Dalton, Market Analyst of the Strengthening CSAs by Building Capacity and Expanding Markets Project is doing a short survey of Mendocino County residents:

I need 3 minutes of your time to take a very, very short survey. Mendocino farmers, current and future, will appreciate and benefit from your help.

A grant-funded, community service project that I’m working on called Strengthening CSAs by Building Capacity and Expanding Markets, requires a survey of people in Mendocino County so that we can share the general ideas and actions regarding CSA opportunities in our County.

For small-scale, diversified, and direct-market farms, CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) offers an alternative economic model. Through a direct farmer-consumer relationship, farmers and CSA farm members provide mutual support, sharing the risks and benefits of food production.

Please take few moments to fill out this anonymous survey (about 2-3 minutes should do). The information we gather will help support Mendocino County farmers by enabling them to understand the decisions people make about why they participate in CSA opportunities, or why they do not. We also hope to find new access points to providing this healthy relationship to people with low-incomes.

Thank you so much for your time and please feel free to send this to your network of friends and colleagues.

In case you are unable to click on the link, please cut and paste the following into your browser.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/22HJNL3

Also, if you are interested in joining a local CSA, now is the time! Please check out the new CSA Directory for a farmer near you!

In good food,

Jen

Did you know that March is National Nutrition Month? Incidentally, National Ag Day is March 19. So, what better time is there than now to sign up for this year’s Vegetable CSA!

The connection between local agriculture, fresh vegetables, good nutrition, and good health is salient and part of why we chose to farm. We’re excited to make that connection more palpable to the community by partnering with Ukiah Valley Medical Center and offering their campus as pickup/distribution site this season. Many thanks to the hospital’s Head Chef, Jim Stuart, for advocating on our behalf for a distribution site there!

Earlier this week, Tuesday, we received quite a “March miracle” as it’s often called – a big rain, and big wind to boot! We had just moved our sheep from the rangeland and into the vineyard and weaned about fifty lambs from their mothers, putting them in a separate pasture. Wednesday morning, one of the pig huts was flipped over, but the pigs were smart enough to find a tree to huddle under.

We were a little nervous when the Ford 5600 tractor – our main tractor was having problems a couple weeks ago. One of the tires needed a patch, and sometime soon, we need to just get new tires. We also had to get a new starter, but it has been working well since then. In late February, we were able to spade a few areas of the Coyote Field at Heart Arrow Ranch. Before Tuesday’s rain, we were able to seed spinach in the Coyote Field as well as transplant some early lettuce in the high tunnel.

Some exciting news: We are proud to be part of the FarmShorts project regional campaign, a fundraising drive to create up to 15 short, engaging web videos that tell the stories about the farms and people at the heart of the healthy food movement. This is a big, fun project, and we need the support of the whole community. The FarmShorts project video is short and sweet. Check it out and support the project today! Feel free to share the link, too!http://www.igg.me/atFarmShorts

Please spread the word that we are taking new members for the 2013 season. In our surveys, we discovered that most people find out about the CSA through word-of-mouth, so your contribution is probably greater than you think. Thanks for all your support – we can’t wait to do more planting and growing for you!

As of today, we have 17 shareholders signed up, but we need 50 to 75 to have the capital necessary to properly grow vegetables this year. Don’t forget – sharing shares and payments in installments are OK. If you’re planning on joining our farm this year, please don’t delay in signing up for the CSA.

Relishing the over-wintered & stored produce these last February days.