The Local Harvest

THE LOCAL HARVEST   The Newsletter of Honey Brook Organic Farm CSA, July, 2020  

CSA’S THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY IS CERTAINLY HISTORIC! by Sherry Dudas 

Months ago, we thought we would be planning pot lucks and a farm-to-table dinner to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary, but now we’re forced to put these plans on hold, as well as some others.  What a difference a few months can make! 

We decided back in January before the pandemic was on anyone’s radar, to offer home delivery of CSA shares this season. Throughout the month of February, sales of home delivered shares were steady, but underwhelming.  However, by the third week of March, sales of those shares were brisk and requests for home delivery to start immediately, before we even had our own produce to harvest, came flooding into the farm office. 

We responded by designing a program where we combined organic produce, cheese, eggs, sauerkraut and popcorn from Lancaster County farmers and producers with other grocery items such as organic Spanish olive oil, locally-sourced meats, prepared foods, soaps, salsas, Bloody Mary mix, even wine, then boxed them up with the help of a software program designed for farmers and their customers.  We hired some new drivers, which included a college student, financial consultant and a phone systems technologist, cleaned up our delivery trucks and took off down the road, pedal to the metal in typical Jersey fashion!  And what a wild ride it was!  

We made some new customers and served long-standing members in new ways.  We hit some bumps in the road, ticked off more than one customer with some of the clunky features of the Harvie platform (the software program we were using), but generally felt we were doing meaningful and necessary work during the first phase of NJ’s Covid-19 outbreak when there were widespread worries about the reliability of the commercial food distribution network.  We were sad when we had to put the brakes on that program to reorganize for the opening of our CSA program in May, but look forward to bringing this program back in the fall. 

Preparing for welcoming our members back to the farms as well as implementing the home delivery program, while changing some things about our group boxed drop-offs proved to be a challenge, especially while our office staff turnover was high.  Jim and I, in the first stages of the pandemic, encouraged office staff to work from home, but when we needed to train new office staff, this was not practical, and there were stresses and anxieties we needed to work through with office staff working in our new office in Chesterfield.  We needed to upgrade phone and internet services, find a new office cleaning service and move office furniture during the pandemic, just to name a few of the challenges bestowed on us. The increased customer service needs were overwhelming for new staff, contributing to two leaving without appropriate notice, and increasing the workload of staff who steadfastly remained with us.  We apologize, but we were not able to plow through the hundreds of emails sent to the farm during this time period, and we still remain short-staffed in the office, though we have hired a new membership coordinator who will begin the second week in July. 

As has been reported in several media outlets, the demand for CSA shares throughout the country exploded during the early phase of the Covid-19 outbreak.  Many CSA farms have now sold out of shares.  Software platforms like Harvie, which serve farms, were overwhelmed and found themselves short-staffed, and are now increasing hires, at a time when it is difficult to find workers willing or comfortable with working during the pandemic.  We are gratified to be serving more members than last, which allowed me to finally replace the circa-1970s harvest gold electric range I have been cooking on for ten years now, which came with our old farmhouse and probably was the former farm wife’s pride and joy.  Over the years, burner after burner failed and Farmer Jim replaced with old stock he found on eBay, but my last remaining burner finally fizzled in April, coincidentally at the same time we received our federal stimulus check, so now we’re living the small farm dream and cooking a buffet of farm bounty on my brand-new induction range! 

Despite having relatively average weather for the spring, since we were short-staffed in the fields, we had setbacks in our transplanting schedule.  Some days Farmer Jim was faced with decisions like whether to harvest kale or lettuce or let the harvesting go one more day so the summer squash could be planted or, should we eradicate poison ivy (extremely difficult to do in on an organic farm) in the PYO fields or harvest the first basil? We are extremely grateful to our greenhouse team, a mix of new and return employees, who remained reliable in their passion to grow the finest quality transplants for the farm this year, and to our field staff who are working long hours to transplant those crops.  

In fact, most staff at the farm are working incredibly long hours, while wearing face masks in the heat of the summer. Until recently, Farmer Jim and I worked every day of the week since March. Staff who have opted to work through these unprecedented conditions in this historic year have far exceeded our expectations and are, frankly, the cream of the crop, the most essential of the essential workers working in America today.  We are humbled by their incredible work ethic and sheer stamina, and we hope you will join Farmer Jim and me in appreciating the team at Honey Brook Organic Farm, the people assuring you and your families are healthily nourished during these unsettled times! 

PICK-YOUR-OWN AND TREE FRUIT CROP UPDATES by Sherry Dudas 

The weather this season has been thankfully drier than the past two years and slightly warmer.This is excellent weather for growing, and we were thrilled with the quantity and quality of our strawberry crop this season at both our Chesterfield and Pennington farms, and hope you were too.  Many members remarked on the exceptional flavor of the strawberries as well, and the longer season. 

More good news is that the blueberry bushes are just laden with juicy, big berries again this season!  We are one of just a few farms in NJ that grow certified organic blueberries, and they are super delicious this year!  While we can’t offer PYO blueberries in Chesterfield (the use of our shuttle van is impractical during Covid-19 restrictions), we are hand-harvesting and providing them in the Distribution Center and the delivered boxed shares.  In Pennington, we have begun offering them as a PYO crop, and expect to have them available for at least three weeks. Perennial herbs are available for PYO at both farms as well.  

Other crops like flowers, okra, sauce, cherry and plum tomatoes and hot peppers will be available for picking later in the season than last year.  We have not been able to recruit as many farmers this year as last and our priority has been to plant all of our summer and early fall (non-PYO) crops before moving on to transplanting the pick your own crops. We plan to work through the holiday weekend in order to catch up with planting and get back on a comfortable track. In the past, we have also offered peaches, Asian plums, apricots, figs, persimmons and pawpaws either for purchase or as part of the share crops. This year, we had an orchardist prune back many of our fruit trees to maintain their future health and vigor, so the yields will be way down this year.  We anticipate having figs, persimmons and pawpaws, but other fruit trees will not be bearing fruit this season. 

FARM INCREASES ASSISTANCE TO PRODUCE RECOVERY GROUPS by Sherry Dudas 

During the pandemic, when the need for food has increased demand placed on local food recovery organizations, the farm increased the number of groups we partner with to get our produce to those in need. We now are working with long-time partners, such as NJ Farmers Against Hunger, as well as new friends, including Share My Meals in Princeton, the Faith Action Ministry (FAM) at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing and Eastern Service Workers of Trenton, a group Farmer Jim Kinsel is working with directly. We also are in our second year of partnering with Arm in Arm in Princeton.  Our produce is used either as ingredients in meals prepared for individuals and families, or given to families to use in meals they prepare themselves. This is another area in which Farmer Jim and I feel especially gratified to be able to contribute time and produce. We are sad to say our donation coordinator has recently submitted her resignation, so we’re hoping we’re able to continue the level of support we have been giving these food recovery groups without a donation coordinator. 

UPDATE REGARDING OUR TENURE AT THE WATERSHED INSTITUTE’S FARM by Sherry Dudas 

As many of you know, we are interested in staying on as the farmers on the farmland owned by The Watershed Institute (TWI) on Wargo Road in Hopewell for another term. We are in dialogue with TWI regarding our future at that farm, and they have also asked us to discontinue farming a portion of the acreage on Wargo Road (some members have remarked on the decrease in farming activity on this farm). TWI has not yet gotten back to us with regard to our future on their farm, but we have access to the farmland there until December 31st under our current agreement. In any case, we currently also manage forty acres of the Chowdhury farm in Hopewell Township, a permanently preserved farm where the strawberries were being picked in the spring, so know we will continue to have a presence in the Hopewell Valley for as long as the Chowdhurys would like! 

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE UNWANTED CARROTS by Sherry Dudas 

Here is some wacky news from the perspective of an essential farmer! Before we opened our CSA this spring, we freshly harvested some carrots but were unable to sell them (due to a logistics issue). I called The Rescue Mission of Trenton as they are one of the few non-profits that will accept produce donations at nearly any time of day, so it makes it easy for me to drop them off (I've been doing this for over 10 years with them). The man who answered the phone heard I wanted to donate carrots and is incredulous that I want to donate produce as they are not accepting donations of anything due to Covid-19. I received no thank you, and there was perceptible irritation in his voice. I think to myself, "Well that seems odd", but go about my day, which includes shopping at a natural foods store in Princeton. They, of course, have a sign on the door window that indicates masks must be worn while shopping. OK, I'm masked. I notice they have boxes of disposable gloves sprinkled conveniently throughout the store, but there is no mandate to use them. I go into the produce department and see they are selling loose onions, bananas, potatoes, mushrooms, etc. just like they always do. So....loose, unbagged produce can be bought by those who choose to take the risk by shopping at a small local store, ok, got it. I still have the carrots in my car, decide to have them put on our delivery van and brought to Maplewood, where a friend tries to donate them to  a food pantry, but the pantry was closing before they would arrive. 

The carrots did find good homes, though, when my Maplewood friend cleaned them up and offered them to friends and passers-by from the porch of her home. She advertised them as perfect for carrot cakes and breads and the townsfolk of Maplewood put them to good use.  There was a silver lining: the number of members we’ve recruited in the Maplewood area is up this year!  As the Grateful Dead once sang, “One man gathers what another man spills…”