Introduction

Farm Notes are written for our Veggie Coop Members. This is the buying arrangement where people pay a seasonal membership in advance in order to reserve a weekly delivery of vegetables. The Farm Notes, listed in order of date below, provide a list of the vegetables in the bag each week. This season, we are offering a large bag and a small bag option. The packing slips indicate this. Make sure to click on the packing slip below that fits your membership arrangement. Although this is Week 7 out of the 15-week membership, this is the first set of Farm Notes for the 2007 Season. As you may know, Weeks 16 through 18 will be added in October for those who missed some weeks or wish to purchase additional weeks. Also, items available for special order are usually announced in Farm Notes.

Farm Notes is a networking tool to promote interaction among our members. It has short pieces on What is Happening on the Farm, e.g. when the first cucumbers are expected to be picked, whether or not the caterpillars have been successful in moving into their townhouses in the cabbage field, the new raspberry project, the Latah tomatoes - reputed to be the World’s earliest tomatoes - and/or the latest saga in the development of the irrigation pond. Over time, it will provide profiles of the people who work on the farm, along with hints and other ideas. If you have something of interest that you would like to see included in the Farm Notes or posted elsewhere on our Website, send it to: organicfarm@nl.rogers.com (Subject: Farm Notes.)

Mike, my husband and Co-Owner, manages the Veggie Coop and sends weekly e-mails to our members. Most feedback goes to him and is shared with me for the Farm Notes. His day job has been with the Psychology Department at Memorial University. He retired from the full-time position after thirty years, but continues to teach part-time and work with a number of graduate students. I retired from Daybreak Parent Child Centre, an agency that provides services for children and families, three years ago but remain involved in a number of organizations as a volunteer. One such organization is GEMMA, A Society for the Promotion of Infant Mental Health. See the Gemma-NL Website by clicking here (www.gemma-nl.org).

The CSA of over 80 families and the regular customers at the Farm Store is an expanding network of people who support our values and efforts. Being able to share the how and why we do this and getting feedback from our members/customers is what keeps us going. Even though we are posting Farm Notes on the Website for the first time, we look forward to the same level of comments and feedback that we have enjoyed over the past several years.

Who writes Farm Notes?

“I do.” said the Little Red Hen. You will soon realize that we do not have an editor. I was never good at catching typos, spelling errors and when to use or omit commas. It doesn't help that I am trying to meet a time deadline, with a dozen other things going on at the same time. Last season, one of my writer friends, pointed out that I spelled the word “Haricott” three different ways within three successive sentences when referring to the little town near Mt. Carmel, where we sent our son for hay. Although I am more self-conscious now with the Farm Notes being posted on the Website for the entire world to see, as my mother would say, “You pay your money and you take your chances!”

Thanks for joining us this season. Sit back and enjoy your mint lemonade while we grate our carrots to make a carrot cake.

--Melba Rabinowitz, Farm Notes/ 2007

(Side note:The farm website is updated by me, Pauline Hollett, Farm Administrator. I didn't think twice about editing Melba's work until I got to this last paragraph, but I think I've caught most of those typos Melba mentioned anyway...this time.)