It’s March and you know what that means! Ordering all those lovely seed from the calalogs you’ve been getting in the mail for the past few weeks. Know why I like March so much? Because I loathe winter. One snow is all I need (preferably at Christmas) to get my fill of “Winter Wonderland.” Then I’m ready for 60 degrees or hotter so I can play outside all day. But there is one thing about winter that I love . . . SEED CATALOGS!!!
They usually start arriving here at The Little Half Acre that Could around the first of January. And that’s when it’s generally too cold to be outside digging in the dirt. So instead, The Happy Homesteader gets to sit by the nice, warm wood stove and page through the latest seed catalogs as if life itself depended on making the right selections. And, in a way, it does, doesn’t it? Do I choose heirloom seed or hybrid? Short season, fast growing seed or longer days to harvest? Determinate or indeterminate? The success of your harvest depends on what seed you choose so it is a matter of life and death — for your garden.
Okay, I’ll confess here — I’ve actually ordered some hybrid seed this year. Yikes! I’ve broken one of my sacred rules. Know why? The almighty dollar has finally won out over the “sustainable philosophy and principles” I’ve been touting here on this blog. Yep, I’m selling out to make some bucks. I’ve been playing “homesteader” for over a year now and making a bit of income from my organic microgreens business, but it’s time to make a real living and replace the salary I lost when I “retired” in 2015. I’m still gonna be growing lots of heirlooms, but there will be a few reliable, fast producing hybrids in there as well. Hey, come on, it’s just a few.
So, to earn some of those grubby bucks, I’m gonna run my own CSA this year on The Little Half Acre instead of just supplying microgreens for other CSA’s and farmer’s markets. That means that I had better put my produce where my mouth is and grow lots and lots of veggies to put in those CSA boxes. Why? I wanna do a good job and build a good reputation for what I do, that’s why.
But first, just what is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it has caught on big time over the past few years. Basically, a CSA member, or shareholder, is someone who buys a share of a farmer’s produce in advance. That shareholder is supporting their local farmer by investing in his – or her – crops before they’re even in the ground. The shareholder is partnering with the farmer by “advancing” funds for seed, feed, etc. The shareholder also takes all the risks right along with the farmer. If the farmer is unsuccessful due to weather conditions, pests or other factors that cause crop failure, then the shareholder loses out on all that lovely, fresh produce. BUT. If the farmer has a successful crop, the shareholder gets a goodly portion of that bounty in a weekly box of vegetable goodness. Now why on earth would any sane person take such a chance when you are virtually guaranteed a cart full of produce every time you walk into your local grocery store? Because, with a CSA, you are buying from someone you know; someone you trust. Because you are buying just picked, chock-full of nutrition, “I know how it was grown” produce instead of some grocery store’s two week old, grown 3,000 miles away and shipped in, pesticide laden, produce. That’s why. You know your farmer. You have a relationship with that farmer and with the food you are eating.
In our part of the North Carolina mountains, the concept of a CSA is not as well known or practiced as it is elsewhere. Just a bit further south, for instance, in Asheville, NC (a very food and farmer, hipster kind of town) CSA’s are quite common. Ditto for towns like Boone or Black Mountain. There’s an entire network of farmers, roadside farm stands, stores and CSA’s in the western side of our state that can be found by looking online at ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project). Their logo says it all: “Local Food, Strong Farms, Healthy Communities.”
So. Back to those seeds I ordered:
Not only will I grow the riskier heirloom vegetables, I will also plant some hybrid “insurance,” since hybrids tend to be more disease and pest resistant and they often mature earlier. I am going to accept two to three CSA members to start with here on The Little Half Acre beginning in May. The Little Half Acre will offer freshly harvested, naturally grown, in season veggies and (if I ever get my chicken run built) organic and – mostly – free range eggs. Income for me, nutritious food for shareholders. Win-win.
So this year? Some hybrid spinach, lettuces and tomatoes, mixed in with all the old favorites, should guarantee that I have bountiful crops of veggies. Unless we have drought. Or too much rain. Or too many pests. Or I fall and break a leg. Or . . . jeez, I can already feel the pressure mounting. Hey, cross your fingers for me and say a little prayer or two. Please???
