I just wanted to touch base on the topic of our 2015 year, before we release our plans for our 2016 year.
Looking back on my last few posts I see a spring-posting trend. Mid-summer I have lots of reflections and thoughts while working in the field but don’t feel I have time to pen them once I’m done training cucumbers or weeding carrot beds – tasks that allow my mind to sift and sort all the action of my days.
We just set up our Twitter account and hope that is a good way for us to stay in touch with you as well, a few words at a time (find us on Twitter at abundantacre@familyfarmm).
This summer was certainly hot – a bumper year for tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelon. We sure did enjoy the different varieties of watermelon we tried and were super-thankful for this refreshing treat. Summer CSA harvest days would find us out early harvesting greens before they wilted and then quickly tucking them away into the root cellar to stay as cool as possible. Andy was kept busy monitoring and moving irrigation lines to make sure our vegetables got the water they needed. We would water ourselves on particularly hot days when we had no choice but to continue on despite the heat. A wet head clears the heat-dazed mind slightly.
We started at the Abbotsford Farm & Country Market in April this past year and were there almost weekly till mid-November. Having our 10 year old daughter helping out there most days was a treat.
She also learned some on-farm work this year like seeding and transplanting. It was fun to discover that our 5 year old son could also transplant with his trowel. I remember a couple spring days we were pushing to get cabbages in and we were all out there planting together.
Thank you to the volunteers who came out to our Potluck & Pitch In evenings in May and June. It was great to share a meal and work together. Thank you to our regular volunteers Dad A., Lee and Amy for your time and enthusiasm about what we do here.
We made 70 CSA boxes weekly for members in Chiliwack and Abbotsford, from mid-June till mid-September. Our Autumn box served a total of 45 weekly families and ran from the middle of September to the middle of November.
We were happy to partner with two local restaurants again this year and provide them with a weekly CSA box as well. Restaurant 62 and Seasonal 56’s creative chefs worked with our weekly surprise box of vegetables with eager hands and an appreciation for quality vegetables grown locally. I was told many of our cucumbers were turned into pickles, in Aldergrove, at Seasonal 56.
We are thankful for your support this past year and look forward to the coming year. We hope to serve you better, through our CSA and at the market!
Registration for our 2016 CSA will open later this week…stay tuned.
~Cara, for Andy and I
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