We’re back at it this week, and WOW. What a beast February has been, and what an amazing group of people you all are out there. I cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of understanding and kindness that flooded my email inbox and popped up all over social media after we had to close up last week. If your faith in community needs restoring, look no further than the people who are bagging up their farmshares alongside you this week. Thank you for being a part of this CSA.

While the weather was busy being unpredictable last week, we were getting the Spring & Summer CSA Signup info posted online and preparing for the arrival of 75 additional day-old-chicks, hatched on Valentine’s Day <3. We’re already thinking ahead to this time next year, when we hope to be a little less tight on eggs. If all goes according to plan (ha), these girls will be a JV or second string of players for team Wild Hare. Winter time leaves us contemplating many of the “coulda, shoulda, woulda” scenarios like these, given that much of what we’re experiencing in the here and now was set in motion a year or more prior. In spite of the fact that he spent so many days shaking snow from them, Mark is going to crunch the numbers and see what it would take financially and structurally to get a bit more leafy green stuff under hoop houses a year from now as we try to become more and more self sustaining with every year. We have to make changes gradually and affordably, but thanks to your extreme patience and support, we have every good reason to consider what year-round farming looks like for us in 2020 and beyond.

If it didn’t catch your eye on social media, Ashley Rood of Rogue Farm Corp interviewed Mark and I for an article that is part of a series called “Changing Hands” for Capital Press —A Full Root Cellar, Hard Earned: Wild Hare Organic Farm. This week, we’re going to pull something truly lovely from that root cellar—vibrant and delicious Purple Daikon Radishes. I’ve been holding onto these bright and beautiful babies for when the depth winter had really set in, knowing that they’d provide a much needed pick-me-up at some point. The snow finally disappeared over the weekend, revealing the snowstorm’s damage to the first round of harvest on the Purple Sprouting Broccoli. Meltdowns come in many forms. Gorgeous radishes help. Sunchokes do too—you can read on about them below, along with this week’s recipes.

With several inches of snow covering our fields as of noon on Monday, and an uncertain forecast at hand, Mark and I have decided to CLOSE the Farmstand this week and CANCEL CSA pickup for February 12th and 13th, 2019.

There is an assumed level of risk involved in being part of a CSA, particularly a Winter CSA. However, Mark and I are very interested in minimizing that risk where we can, so in order to make up for the missed week of Winter Share pickup, we will defer and extend the Winter Share by one week into March, borrowing a week from Spring Share. It means we’ll have a week of lost revenue on the farm, but our Winter Share members will get their full value. So to recap, the revised CSA Calendar for the remainder of 2019 is as follows. As promised, I’ve adjusted and opened up registration for Spring & Summer online. Happy registering!

Winter Share - runs through March 6th
Spring Share - March 12- May 29th
Summer Share - June 4 - September 28th
Fall Share - October 1 - December 18th

Registration for Fall Share, and the Three-Season (Spring-Summer-Fall) Share will be up by the end of the day. I’ve got some desk time ahead of me. As I write, the fields and our driveway are still enrobed in several inches of snow, and the flakes continue to fall. We have witnessed some gorgeous scenes in the fields, but being a worrier as I am, I’m having a hard time with all of the fluctuations in forecasts and electricity. (On a scale of Holiday Inn to The Shining, I’m at about Groundhog Day). I’m extra grateful for Mark, Luis, Jade & Joshan (and Hazel too) who have spent all hours of the extended weekend looking after frost-prone pipes, puzzled hens and snow-laden greenhouses filled with tiny little plants that are hanging on for future harvesting and planting. The overwintering brassicas in the field look like they’re wearing snow helmets—we’ll check them out after things thaw.

Thank you for your understanding. I hope that this comes at somewhat of a relief to a handful of you out there. I know I’ll sleep better knowing that you’re not putting yourselves in harms way in the name of root vegetables!

Many Thanks,

Katie

WILD HARE WEEKLY WINTER #5/8

Today is a serious snow day at the farm. Okay, there have been snowball fights too, so not too serious. But for the past several hours, the temps have been in the twenties and flurries continue to fall in varying sizes. The guys have been shaking snow off of the greenhouses with some regularity, because if the snow gets too heavy, it could bend or break them. The snow that blankets the fields right now doesn’t appear to be going anywhere—it is breathtakingly gorgeous and a whole lot of fun to play in, but it presents some challenges for our day-to-day ops around here. Here’s what you need to know/what we’re keeping in mind at the start of week five