Welcome to new and returning members of Boulder Knoll Community Farm CSA:
We hope you have an enjoyable and educational experience on the farm this year. We hope you try some new vegetables, meet some new people and learn something new about nurturing food plants. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, but we also like to think of it as Community Building Agriculture.
CSA News
Our first CSA distribution will be on Sunday, June 19th or Thursday, June 23rd. We’ll send a contact list of all CSA members (with their chosen distribution day) so you can form pick-up groups or carpool. Please let me know if you notice that someone is missing from the email distribution list.
Our CSA membership filled up by March 1st and we have about 15 people on the waiting list. Thanks to those of you who joined Friends of Boulder Knoll when you became a CSA member. We have 2 non-working shares, 4 30-hour shares, 4 60-hour shares, and 40 12-hour shares.
If you have friends who are still looking for a CSA, I suggest they try Bodhichitta Farms in Prospect or Turtle Ridge Cooperative in North Haven, each of which may have a few CSA spots left.
If you signed up for a work share, I suggest you try to put in some of your time at the beginning of the season before it gets too hot. Remember, if more than one person comes to work, we count each person’s hours toward your share’s 12 hour work commitment. We’ll need a couple of members to split the member work coordinator job. It’s not that difficult and you can do it from the comfort of your home. Let me know if you’re interested in doing that job. As always we need enough harvesters and veggie prep people to get the produce ready on pick-up days. We’ll ask you to consider signing up ahead of time for at least one distribution day.
Details about what you can expect from your CSA membership are in the CSA handbook on our website www.boulderknollfarm.com/csa/handbook/.
Events Planned for This Year
Mark your calendars!
- Sunday, June 5: Farm potluck lunch and CSA orientation. Bring the family for great lunch, a garden tour and some fun activities. Get all your CSA logistics questions answered. Please bring your calendars so you can sign up to work a harvest day.
- Sunday, June 26th: A casual day at the farm featuring the Caseus Cheese Truck – a benefit event for the Friends of Boulder Knoll
- Labor Day weekend: Third annual Friends of Boulder Knoll tag sale on the Cheshire green (Start saving your good quality, salable items!)
- Sunday, October 9: A special culinary harvest event at the farm – Our friends at Caseus will do it up for this lovely benefit dinner!
Another Interesting Upcoming Event
Terry Walters will present a cooking demo based on her new book Clean Start at the Cheshire Public Library. Walters has really embraced sustainable living and eating, and this should be an interesting event for all. Register online here.
Wish List for the Farm
- metal trash can
- sheets of 2 inch foam insulation for a walk-in cooler room
- A couple of 30 foot hoses
- Printing services – signs, posters, colored stickers
- Digging forks (shaped like spades with straight tines)
- Good quality garden cart
Jobs that Need Doing in the Next Few Weeks –
Watch emails for available work times
- Clean up the hoop house
- Pull large weeds around the hoop house
- Box in flower garden in front of hoop house with landscape timbers
- Set up our little solar PV panel and batteries
- Laminate signs and put on posts
- Build shade house in back of the tool shed
- Help design and build insulated the walk-in cooler room
- Install faucets in the sinks in the hoop house (water source – a hose)
- Help construct some trellis structures for cucumbers
- Make tomato cages
- Put up our new deer fence and corner post assemblies
- Cover paths between garden beds with wood chips
- Weed strawberry beds
- Administrative work – We need 2 or 3 members to sign up for the task of work coordinators.
What’s Started in the Greenhouse
- eggplants – 5 different kinds
- peppers – 7 different kinds of sweet and hot
- tomatoes – 15 varieties
- scallions
- kale
- Swiss chard
- parsley
- shallots
- flowers
Boulder Knoll Farm-Based Education
Check out our website periodically for listings of educational offerings for children, youth and adults. Educator Julia Meurice is creating a wonderful array of workshops and experiences that will help participants connect to and understand the land on which our little farm is situated.
Important Contacts
- Brenda Caldwell, farmer, brenda@boulderknollfarm.com, home 203-393-1245, cell 203-645-1734
- Julia Meurice, environmental educator, educator@boulderknollfarm.com, cell 203-430-0224
- Dan Groberg, webmaster, dgroberg@boulderknollfarm.com
- Carol Goertz, treasurer and collector of CSA fees, cgoertz@cox.net, 203-699-0250
- Website/blog: boulderknollfarm.com
How to Use the Blog
- Contribute recipes and food tips including preserving and freezing ideas.
- Find out what’s coming up in your share for the next week.
- Refer to the monthly work calendar – sign up for work on-line.
- Read news and musings from your farmer.
- We welcome your contributions – It’s your farm.
Enjoy the Spring.
I’ll see you at the farm!
Brenda