The ReFarmery ReView, Winter Edition

The ReFarmery ReView

Occasional dispatches from your local farmer

Winters in the valley…

These coldest days of the year are passing so quickly on the farm. Each day the earth around us is warming, drying and coming to life. Another early spring is approaching and our team is gearing up for early plantings and projects.
In 2022 the farm will be growing more food and flowers than ever before. To make sales of all that produce easier, we have integrated our farmers market stand with our online store. Members and customers will soon have access to a real-time inventory of farm foods on our online order page. Starting this season, pre-orders for market or farm pickup and in-person market purchases will all be possible from any device.
We are aiming to resume construction of the physical farm stand as well this year. It will be nestled in the planned flower garden expansion and will make for very pleasant farm pickups. We would like to see it completed soon and are applying for small grants to aid us in this, so wish us luck!
As humans who must work in the sun, we are also looking forward to completing some much-needed repairs to the packing and processing station. The shade structure over the area was mostly destroyed in the windstorms of 2020 and replacing it makes washing and packing veggies on hot summer days much more pleasant. Plus, it is just a nice central location to relax for a moment out of the sun.
After the last couple years of isolation, we are most excited to see the farm cleaning up to welcome our members and supporters as soon as possible. More than anything, we hope to see you at the farm soon.

Sincerely,
The ReFarmery

Why the CSA?

There are two major ways of funding a farm these days. The conventional way is to take out substantial loans, with the real risk of bankrupting a farm should disaster strike (an increasing likelihood as climate change advances). The second is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program such as ours.
As a CSA-funded farm, it is only through the backing of our members that The ReFarmery can continue to exist. The shares purchased by our members directly fund the power, seeds and soil amendments required to rehab this land and pull fruit from it. We are not trust fund farmers, there was no family farm to inherit. Jon found the parcel of land he could afford and together with childhood friends and adulthood colleagues he built a community on it. Blessed by the California sun and the rich valley soil, our farm family harvests sustainable produce of a quality matched in few places on earth, a small share of which can be found weekly in the homes of our members.
The CSA returns in April and with it all the special delights of the season. Early shares contain tender spring greens, precious early-season berries, and sweet ripe citrus fruits. Grapefruits and lemons, mulberries, snow peas and their greens, microgreens, lettuce, bok choy, kohlrabi, radishes and baby onions will (nature willing) grace CSA members’ plates. We hope that you will choose to invest in our little farm this year and bring home a share of The ReFarmery’s CSA to your own family.

If you have any questions about the CSA, please contact us. We would be happy to answer them for you. We also have an About the CSA and a CSA FAQ page.