Ultra-Fresh Chemical-Free, with emphasis on heirloom varieties (for taste), and varieties with deep color (for health).

Highly recommended reading:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life  by Barbara Kingsolver.

From The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Minny is trying to teach Miss Celia how to cook):
"One thing you got to know, things is best when they in season...You can't find it selling on the side a the road, it ain't in."

Any CSA is subject to Mother Nature.  This is how it has unfolded so far.  (I won't mention the mulching and the weeding, the picking and cleaning of produce, the egg collection and chicken maintenance which go on and on.)

June 29: Finally some dry weather.  Planted more beans.

June 19: Planted more butternut squash.  Made black raspberry jam.  Rain continues.  Problem with deer not honoring electric fences - lost some pepper plants.

June 16: Lots of cherries this year; made jelly.  So much rain lately makes picking difficult and planting impossible.  Corn was down but has managed to stand up again.

June 9:  Jacques, our Cuckoo Marans rooster, finally succeeded in terminating our other rooster Elwood after weeks of bullying. Jacques next target appears to be our outdoor cats.

June 3: Planted Butternut winter squash.  Good rain this week.

June 1: Made strawberry jam and froze last of the spinach.

May 29: Planted small gourds and Delicata winter squash.  Set out eggplant and pepper plants.  Cut garlic scapes.  Snap peas are ready to pick.

May 20: Planted cucumbers on trellis.  Gentle rain this afternoon.

May 18: Planted summer squash, more bush beans (some rows were replants due to cold wet weather following the earlier planting), and pole beans.  Moved the chickens to fresh pasture.  The new chicks are almost ready to make their debut on grass in the "chicken tractor".  This year's mystery chicken has been identified, a Golden Polish, probably male.

May 17: Asparagus isn't producing very much, especially compared to April; probably the cold weather the first two weeks of May.

May 16: Set out tomato plants - many plants, many kinds.

May 15:  Set out more cabbage plants.

May 11: Too wet to work in the fields after 3" of rain.  Planted some tomato seedlings in the hoop house.  Beans and corn are coming up despite the cold air temperatures.

May 6: The first CSA share distributed today.  Looks like a rainy week ahead.

May 5: Planted more arugula, lettuce, and spinach. (Probably too warm to be planting spinach.)

May 4: Planted one of the garden plots to "green manure" (buckwheat, alfalfa, etc.) to improve the soil and harvest for chicken fodder.

April 30:  Another heavy rain, 2", too much too fast.  May have to terrace some of the gardens before next year to stop errosion.

April 29: Soil temperature is just over 60F.  Planted bush beans and sweet corn.  Potato plants are coming up.

April 28: Planted more radish and lettuce.  Moved the baby chicks to the outdoor brooder.

April 27: Treated lettuce, spinach, and broccoli to some liquid kelp fertilizer.

April 26: 2 inches of welcome rain this week.  Planted onion seedlings and more shallot sets.

April 22: Planted annual flower seeds (cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers) and planted out dahlia tubers saved from last season.

April 18: Planted onion seedlings.

April 17: 27 day-old chicks arrived from McMurray's via US mail, including one mystery chicken.  They are now in a brooder in the basement and doing well.

April 14: Planted more chard, beets, and snap peas.

April 10: Spread composted chicken bedding around the broccoli plants.

April 9: Planted dill and flat leaf parsley seed in pots.  Ground is still too wet to work.  1.5 inches of rain this week; normally a good thing but this came mostly in one heavy burst, causing some erosion.

April 5: Planted chard (red and magenta), beets, and snap peas.

April 4: Asparagus is starting to show.  Pete repaired the solar-powered electric fences around the garden plots; lots of deer damage over winter.

April 2: Planted seed potatoes (Carola and Reddale).  Nice rain in the late afternoon.

April 1: Planted more spinach and lettuce mix; also radish and arugula in the hoop house.

March 30: Even though the air is very warm, 75F at 3pm, the soil is still cool, 50F, an inch or two down, (55F in the hoop house.)  The seeds planted outside on the 19th are starting to show.  Seeds started indoors on the 17th are all up.  Started "warming" the seed potatoes in the sun before planting in a few days.

March 29: Long range forecast is for two weeks of frost-free weather so planted out broccoli and cabbage seedlings.  Some rain would be nice.

March 28: Moved chickens to new pasture.  Planted lettuce mixes in the hoop house.

March 27: Raked winter mulch off strawberry plants.  Covered old asparagus bed with compost from the bin.

March 26: Seed potatoes arrived today from Maine; spread composted chicken manure over the area where they will be planted.  Planted escarole and shallot sets saved from last year's crop.

March 25: Pete did routine maintenance on the roto-tillers (new plugs, oil, gear lube, and air filters.)  Old as they are, they still work.

March 19: Planted radish, spinach, lettuces, arugula, and kale.  The ground is still cold and stiff but that's ok. Egg production has picked up dramatically with the return of the sun.  Started hardening off the broccoli and cabbage seedlings outside on the deck.

March 17: Started tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds indoors under grow lights.

March 16: Turned the chickens out of the coop onto pasture; they are giddy with relief to be eating grass and worms again.  With Pete's help cleaned up the perennial beds; daffodils now visible.

March 15: Returned from winter vacation to find the snow melted away, green grass, and daylight savings time.  The garlic sets saved from last year's crop and planted at the end of October are up and going strong; a sure sign of spring but always astonishing.

January 19: Started broccoli and cabbage seeds indoors under grow lights; also some annuals and herbs.

January 1: Ordered seeds, mostly from Johnny's.