Winter Is Here

7:27 PM Adrian 2 Comments

Hey y'all...it's getting cold, cold, cold...finally!

As you probably know, snow is here to stay this time, clinging to the ground and to the top of our greenhouses and cats, which may actually come in handy adding a little extra insulation. Yep, our vegetables are still alive and kickin'. No worries. In the past week, we have covered all and even double covered a few of our rows inside the cats and greenhouses with plastic and Reemay, giving them even more protection. If you don't know what Reemay is, it's a white, perforated, soft and cloth-like material that can be used to cover and protect plants from frost while still allowing them to breathe. Inside our greenhouses and cats, it looks like you're walking through a white, puffy tunnel!

We here at Echollective would like to send a big warm THANK YOU to our Summer CSA members for giving us such a successful season! We couldn't have done it without you, and we hope that everything has been tasty and nutritious. To those of you who are still sticking with us through Fall, and into winter...an even bigger thank you for your loyalty! To all of you, we hope to be growing for you again in spring!

Speaking of which, a reminder to you all that our 2012 season CSA signup will be coming soon....look out! We will also be putting together a survey for all of you, so we can receive some of your feedback to help us out in Summer 2012!

As for Fall CSA, unfortunately, there will be no CSA shares this week...farmer Derek is off to Colorado by train for a mini vacation. Expect him back in a week and a half. However, there's a chance that a little vegetable stand might just randomly pop up at a little festival called What A Load Of Craft...and there's a chance it may have something to do with us....oh, these are just whispers on the wind!

As it gets colder, the challenge of keeping our vegetables warm, happy, and alive will get harder. We're all bracing ourselves for tomorrow night, when it will get the coldest it has yet. All of us pull on a few layers nowadays before heading out, and most of us are wearing coveralls almost all the time. We heat big pots of water to put in with the vegetable wash water, so our hands stay nimble. Although we'll be starting our spring seeds real soon, the ground will be too frozen and temperatures too discouraging for little babies to want to sprout and flourish, even in the greenhouses. All we can do is struggle to keep the ones we're now tending alive as long as possible 'til spring. We're close to done with covering all our planted garlic with mulch. Hurry, before the ground and garlic freezes!

It's more than obvious with the ringing of shots from our woods that deer season has begun. A couple guys are out here on our property for hunting visits, trying to take down a buck on our much-frequented game trails. Local veggies are a boon, but so is local meat! A few of us here talk about making our own little hunting party. Venison for the winter would be wonderful, the thought of it makes all of us lick our chops. In the meantime, we've been slurping on our home-made stew with delicious chunks of goose-meat, from live local geese gifted to us from our neighbors at Hue Hill Farm. We thank the geese, who had long, happy lives, for feeding us. We also thank you, farmer Jean Donohue, for taking care of them and providing us with several scrumptious meals! Oh, and of course, thank yous to Will and Randall, my fellow employees, for doing the hard, challenging work that comes with meeting face-to-face with the living animals you decide to eat-- it is truly a deep, intimate experience, and requires much respect to do it properly.

Sorry, no venison or geese in our CSA shares! Yet.....? Stay warm and see you next week!