[dominiquer60]

@CharlyBonifaz 13537 wrote:

Thanks for giving an idea……
how does the customer get an idea of what CSA is, especially since you said, some were in it with wrong expectations? Advertisement? Word of mouth?

Good Vs. Bad CSA customers
Bad CSA customers are those that treat a local food opportunity like a high end grocer with one on one customer service, and only want certain items. They want to leech your time from regular market sales because they want to argue about how much you owe them because they missed picking up a share. Good customers graciously accept all that you give them and enjoy the challenge of a new to them item. If they don’t want it, than it gets left for the food bank, if they miss a pick up they accept that a needy family ate well for a week. A good CSA customer will humbly ask for a substitution if they have a food allergy, they get it that they are part of the farm and when melons fail they take it in stride and accept that there is a surplus of greens instead.

Advertising and word of mouth are both important. The two farms that I worked on both had websites, this is a great place to send folks for a better idea of what to expect. Some people do contact after finding us on the website, but in the case of the smaller farm that I worked on, it was a better tool to further explain all that you didn’t have time for at the market. We also posted fliers, set out brochures, advertised at the market, went to a UU church to talk about local food, they invited us and turned out to be a great source of customers and a drop off site. Of course in small communities the word of mouth is a great unseen asset, we told folks “If you like our product/CSA program, tell all of your friends, if you have a concern, please let us know we what to be able to address it.”

We plan on starting a CSA in 2011, complete with free range seasonally pastured Dominique egg and meat shares. We plan to get most of our customers through the two markets that we go to and hope to drum up some local on farm pickup interest. We are still not sure how we want to design the share. It is easiest and least wasteful for me to decide and harvest what we want for them, but it is least wasteful for the customers to pick out exactly what they want and will use. One thing that is good about us deciding is that it makes the customers try different foods, but they hate waste and if they throw much out they are not likely to be retained as a customer. As of the moment I think we will keep the shares small so that there is little waste and it is a more affordable price ($300), only have a 20 week season (with possible fall option) and giving them some amount of flexibility with their choices (1/2 share chosen by us, the other 1/2 by them).

Just to share some numbers:
CSA share cost $300
discount given for membership 15%
So they will get at least $345 worth of produce, and most likely more
$345/ 20 weeks is $17.25 a week worth of produce

Members are expected to pick up every week or send a friend or relative.
If we decide what $9 worth of the share will be, than they have a $8.25 credit left toward purchases of their choice with hopes that they will want more than that. So we give them a quart of strawberries ($5), scallions ($1), 2 Kolrabi ($1), and a bunch of salad turnips ($2) then they have the rest to spend on salad mix ($5.25) and a bunch of carrots ($3) or what ever they want that we have on the table. I think that if no one comes to pick up, the $8.25 credit rolls over, but not the $9 of product that I set a side for them, that goes to the food bank.

I would love to hear feedback about my plan, is it something that you think is fair and would be interested in, hypothetically?

In the past the CSA membership agreement has been, that it is the farmers job to try to provide the best quality and variety of product given the forces of weather and nature, and it is the members job to put money up front, show up every week, enjoy and pass the word on. I think some CSAs tell you that a share will feed so many people and such, but I want ours to be a good taste of the harvest and if the member needs to buy more for the week they can choose between the farmers market or a less local and more global alternative. It is not fair to expect everyone to be able to afford all local, so I’d like to think that this less costly taste of local could be a good alternative for those that can’t have it all.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Carl, That last one sounded like it came straight out of the book “Listen While I Think…., I am a Vermonter,” pure Yankeese.

[dominiquer60]

I would love this item for my market garden, but cannot justify driving out to MN to pick it up. If any one is interested in a horse drawn 5 disc (40″?) grain drill, this one has a refurbished box and could be ready to go for pick up in MN. I can’t buy it, but I would love to see it go to a loving home. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220276719029&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This thread seems to help us enable each other to locate things that we need, or at least want really badly, I am always finding interesting buys and like passing the info on to like minded folks, if I don’t bite on the offer myself.

[dominiquer60]

I have a single horse Syracuse Chilled Plow, according to the 1899 Syracuse Chilled Plow Catalog, it is either for a very light to light horse given its 8″ measurement. We got it working well for being a squirrely single plow, I am having the point worked on and I can’t wait to have a pair of cattle old/large enough to use it at home. I am surprised that I don’t have a picture of it, but I know Carl has a picture that he took at NEAPFD when our plows were used for a workshop. Would you be so kind as to post that photo Carl? Thank you in advance.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Geoff,

“First – since soil microbial activity seems to be pretty important, do we know which groups or species predominate in “healthy” soils w/ good tilth? And, if so, how easy would it be to do an estimate of soil microbe presence or populations – instead of having an N P K soil test (probably better in conjunction with NPK)? Kind of like thinking of your soil like your compost pile – is it active? why or why not? what needs to change? ….”

The Nordells have used various soil labs in the continuous fine tuning of their market garden. I don’t have the issue on hand at the moment, but one of their SFJ articles compared 4 soil labs. One of them was Woods End Lab in ME. From what I recall they test soils for microbial health/activity by taking a fresh sample and measuring how much CO2 the microbes create from respiration in the course of a week. The more CO2 the higher the microbe activity and in theory the healthier the soil. Here is ATTRA’s list of alternative soil labs and the Woods End link.

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soil-lab.html
http://www.woodsend.org/

Erika

[dominiquer60]

http://www.percyschmeiser.com/conflict.htm
http://www.percyschmeiser.com/

[dominiquer60]

I am new to this too. I had success with being firm with the goad and simultaneous voice. Once they had this down I introduced the command “easy” to down shift them to a slower gear when needed. I also found that even just 5 or ten minutes each day brought them along at a good pace. I would lead them to pasture everyday or a tie-out along a tree line, so it was just part of their routine. I also started them at 6 months just because that is when they became available for me to fiddle with, so I don’t have any experience with younger calves.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

Carl, I would have lent him my 9 month olds, they are waiting for me to return home, bellies up to a full manger. I will be lucky if they are fiddled with once before I return home in April. It is interesting working a co-ed team, they are very different creatures steers and heifers, but in the end they pull together so I am happy.

I am not a woodswoman, but to answer the post, I am working in the Florida equine industry until the very end of March. Wishing that I was home working in the woodlot with my male and working calf companions.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I share your concerns Joshua, the only saving grace with Alfalfa is that generally it is best harvested before it blooms, but who lives in such an ideal world. Those that get to cutting it late or want to save seeds could have yet another financial/genetic burden to deal with. Did Monsanto assume or did they secretly test your corn for their genetics?

[dominiquer60]

I am sure that the NY Farmnet (a not for profit that helps any farmer/ ag worker with emotional, financial and legal assistance) is giving Gweneth a good deal of attention. Perhaps they can help her with a business plan or finding a displaced or young farmer that could help manage the farm for or with her. If I hear of anything else I will let you know, she is in good hands. I have received help from Farmnet and I am grateful that they have received funding for another year, they are a true asset.

Meanwhile here we are thinking that the public should be concerned for the dairy farmer that has been raised in a system where the price of their product is out of their control. Then ABC comes up with a poorly timed story about factory dairy farms and tail docking. http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/animal-rights-us-dairy-industry/story?id=9658866.
These large scale practices are something that I don’t support every time a better option is available for purchase. However the timing stinks and ABC failed to recognize that there are many farms that treat their cows better than that.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

It would be nice to see more reporters with the mind to bring such aspects of farming to to public eye. Thanks to Susan Barnett who was on the job long before I emailed her yesterday afternoon.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1603626

[dominiquer60]

A local rural paper ran a better article about Dean Pierson that did more justice to the circumstances that may have added to his personal issues. http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2010/01/24/news/doc4b5cde4aef7c7397804009.txt

Also today at the noon hour Northeast Public Radio WAMC will run a story about Dean and the dairy industry as well. There is likely to be a quote from a non-dairy farmer discussing the importance of infrastructure and services that the dairy industry creates and how vital it is to all other farmers, and that if dairy fails we will not be able to support all these other businesses and farming would get much tougher for us.

I find some comfort knowing that thousands of people listening to 18 stations will be challenged to think that there may have been significant factors beyond his control behind Mr. Pierson’s “personal issues.”

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Just a couple more points of interest.

This happened either Thursday or very early Friday when the footage was taken on my link. The large dozer and excavator in the shots are the neighbors burying the dead cows. It didn’t make the news until Saturday morning, and only one of the 4 local news channels aired it then. If a pitbull had been found abused or a politican found unfaithful to his wife it would be on every channel and they would be fighting for the best video footage, but only one station thought it news worthy after the fact. What does this say about our society?

That we value companion animals and sex scandals over the stewards of our land that have the potential to once again provide all the food that this nation NEEDS (we don’t need fresh tomatoes in March, but even that is possible without importing). It really just makes me sick, and I feel fortunate that there is a group like this that at least understands my frustrations with the deeper meaning of this suicide.

Another interesting fact was brought up by our market friends that went to Maine on a maple production tour. Apparently there have been at least 5 farmer/dairy suicides there already. So apparently you need to take the ship down (your herd) with you to make a national blip on the radar. I have know two people to exit life by there own hands. My beloved elderly neighbor, who didn’t want to be a burden, and the local feed store owner, who I assume didn’t want to loose his independence. In the end I think that they are the same thing, just worded differently, they make the last choice, therefore maintaining their independence.

I simply wish that the other 99+% saw this act as a red flag against the failing system that I/we see it as, and not just “personal issues.”

Erika

[dominiquer60]

With a name like Eryka and a cz in her last name, I am guessing Eastern Europe. Her actions stain a perfectly good name unfortunately 😉 I have been wondering what would drive someone to post such a poor example of horsemanship. Perhaps it was done out of revenge or spite, like when pleasure horse people play hate games and flag each others Craigs list ads to get rid of them. The real shame is that this horse is one fine athletic animal, and they most likely ruined it to driving.
Erika

I wonder if there intentions were to mimic the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOASLmT3OCc&feature=related

[dominiquer60]

Patrick,

You can make a living on a small scale, you just have to be smarter than the USDA and Ag schools. I know a guy with 12 cows that makes cheese, a gardener with 2 acres and so on. You just need to adjust your standards of living, marketing strategies and budget well with what little you make. If there is a will there is a way. Of course the less responsibilities you have the easier it is to do this, I wouldn’t expect most to do such, just saying that it is possible.

At the place that I call home they make a living on 40 beef, 2500 layers and a lot of hay and vegetables. In the future I sense that there will be a shift to less animals, and the addition of animal power, but this family has been making it work for 70 years and 3 generations. The saving grace of course is that they own everything debt free with the exception of one truck and tractor and those loans are only taken to increase credit score and line of credit, other wise they would have been paid for already.

Erika

Picture caption: Good diverse small farms still exist, we just need more of them.

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