|
November 21, 2005
Dear Shareholders,
Another season has come and gone at La Vista. The oil has been changed in the tractor, next-year's garlic mulched, and I am busy cleaning up and cleaning out, preparing the farm for the new farmer - Kris Larson. This
will be my last communication with this amazing community and I will miss so many of you!
At the end of each season I write a short review of the past twenty-seven weeks. During the harvest season, I have a spread sheet in which I record the quantity of produce harvested each day. Here are the total
numbers for year three - the year of the DROUGHT!
Our La Vista membership has increased over the years from 66 in 2003 to 100 in 2004 and then 141 in 2005! We started with two acres and have increased production by about one acre each year. This year Trish and Amy
were our part time farm assistants. Our total production for 2005 (excluding all the PYO crops which are impossible to keep track off) was approximately 42,000 pounds; that's over 21 tons of produce that left our
little four acre operation. Our first year we produced 26,000 lbs and last year 29,000. So it was an excellent production year despite the drought (and one can only imagine the numbers if we had had some rain!!) The
average cost of organic produce is $1.50/lb so the total value of produce grown on the farm equals $63,000. This year we were able to donate 1,271 lbs to the Alton Food Crisis Center, which is on par with our
donations from previous years. The farm was able to offer 12 Community Outreach Shares in comparison to 6 and 10 the two previous years. This season, every family member received on average 11 lbs of produce a week
or nearly 300 lbs this season. Single shareholders received half that. These numbers line up well with other CSA averages.
Here are a few other fun numbers: we harvested 8,040 lbs of tomatoes (the most ever off the vine!!); you all ate 4,080 heads of lettuce (that's a lot of bunny food!!); 3,420 lbs of summer squash; 3,680 lbs of
potatoes; 1,410 lbs of carrots; 2,500 lbs of sweet peppers; and 300 lbs of hot peppers (more than the consumption rate in Mexico!! just kidding!!).
Finally, the farm began its community outreach early on last year starting in February when I was asked to be a presenter at the largest organic farming conference in the country. More locally, I participated in a local farmer's panel on KDHX 88.1 FM radio, an Alton newspaper article, several
presentations given to local community groups and finally I was a member of the board that helped organize the first Sustainability Conference held at Lewis and Clark Community College and the farm grew all the
produce for the evening meal. This season, for the first time three classes from Principia College came out to the farm for a presentation, tour and help in the fields. Thanks to Chrissy McCallister for organizing
these trips!
In regards to building the farm community, this season many volunteers helped this project move right along - from barn cleaning and construction to website maintenance and book accounting as well as all of you who
volunteered out in the fields whether once or faithfully every Friday - thanks to all!! We celebrated everyone's hard work with several potlucks held throughout the season culminating in our end of the year harvest
party.
This has been one of the most challenging growing seasons and it will go down in my memory as the Dry Year of 2005 - something I am sure my grandkids will tire of hearing about in future decades. This year tried the
soil, the plants, and this farmer, but the farm came through it shining! If this is as hard as it gets, then I think we would all agree that CSA's are worth it. This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I got to know
each and everyone of you and become a part of your weekly routine. I am thankful for your friendship, for your encouragement, and for always remaining positive even when there were only a few things in your share. I
am thankful for the new scars I have acquired this season, both physically and emotionally as I know they have made me stronger and wiser! Have a wonderful holiday season and I will miss you.
Sincerely,
Amy Cloud
|
