2012 CSA Update

2012 CSA update 

The 2012 season is already here. We have the planting program set up and most of the seed is on the farm and ready to go. To have crops ready in May, we have to plant in January and February so our season is on the move.

This year we are going to have 3 types of beans, the Green Pole, Purple Pole and the Red Yard Long Beans. Snow Peas are back in the spring , being a cool season crop their time is limited but they are also well liked. The winter cabbage will be back this spring. We have it growing now with the Lettuce and hope to have it available for the first and last weeks of the CSA. 

This seems to be the year of three's because we are planning on 3 kinds of Cucumbers. The wrapped English Cucumbers will be joined by the Mini Cucumber and the Asian Cucumber. The English Cucumbers have to be wrapped to preserve the moisture and taste, plus they will have the longest shelf life. The Asians will need to be eaten first but are really sweet. The Mini Cucumbers are in between the other two in taste but being smaller, they can be eaten all at once. So there is no extra to put back in the refrigerator. 

Following in the tradition of three, there will be 3 kinds of Grape/Cherry Tomatoes. We will have the Red Grape, Yellow Cherry and Black Cherry. We will try to have more of the rainbow assortment in the CSA this year. They did well last year so we hope it does well this year too. Peppers did well last year so we will continue in an assortment of Peppers. Some will be sweet and then there will be the hot ones as well. We haven't decided on the Cherokee Purple Heirloom tomatoes yet this year. For the Beef Steak we will continue on like before, just a larger planting this year. 

We have three types of Strawberries this year. We hope to keep berries all season this year in the CSA program. Our goal is still to have strawberries in every CSA. Sunshine plays a big part in the strawberries ripening. Maybe with the warm winter we are having, we will also have more sunshine in the spring.

This will be our second season for sweet, red and white potatoes. Due to the damp conditions last fall we were not greatly impressed with our crop. However we are willing to try again in the true farmer spirit. Summer Cabbage and Zucchini will be outside as well. We do plan on zuchinni in the greenhouse this year so we should have some early in the season. 

We are working on adding some additional Lettuce varieties. We are still trying to find more heat tolerate lettuces. However some heat tolerant lettuces do not taste as well as the standards we have peviously set. 

You can tell from the line up we are still staying with the staples of vegetables. Hopefully by adding some different kinds of produce in the lineup you can see the different kinds of tastes within a food group. This also helps spread the risk of growing because different varieties thrive under different growing conditions. Even in a greenhouse certain crops do better some years than others. The greenhouse gives us the early start plus helps to reduce disease and bug pressures on the crop. We are proud to say with our new standards we have set with our disease and bug control we did not have any disease problems last year. On that same note our beneficial insects controlled all of our common pests as planned. With proper fertility we hope to maintain maximum flavor and keep a good yield as well. 

We will continue the current CSA format this year. We are again set up in ten week blocks. For those of you with a garden our CSA will be in before a normal garden and will last longer. You can choose the first and last sections to eat from us and your own garden for the middle set. Some are still doing the 30 weeks with us and planting different vegetables than our CSA in their own gardens to get a bigger variety of overall vegetables.

The size of the share is the same as last year. The scaled down version of our CSA went over well last year, so we will continue that this 2012 season. The price will remain the same. A ten week block is $250.00 and you can buy all three blocks for $750.00 which averages out to $ 25.00/week. We still have our on-line sign up for the CSA on our web page , www.vanscoyfarms.com . Just go to the CSA drop down window and look for the on-line order form. For those who want to do all three parts just remember to check all three boxes from the list. An invoice will be sent by e-mail and you can send a check or you can send your credit card info for payment that way. Pick up locations are on the order form as well. We can add new sites of pickup but we need at least ten CSA subscriptions per drop site to add new ones.

The member referral program is still in place for 2012, you get a free additional week of produce for every 30 week paid CSA referral. We had several that used that program last year. You will have to let us know when you will want the extra produce!

The CSA membership is limited so do not delay too long for sign up. Since we are planting now we cannot change or add much to the program once we commit our plantings to our space. We hope to complete the sign up some time before mid March. You will also get a new carry tote bag so we need time to print the next batch!!

 Hope this helps to explain the new season! Special thanks to the early birds who have already signed up. We look forward to seeing everyone again this year. There are some events planned in the Columbus area in the future and we will keep you up to date. Our first event will be Wednesday, February 1st at House Wine from 6:00 - 8:00. We hope to see you there. 

Sincerely,

VanScoy Farms

Bill, Sonie, Wesley, Matthew, and Phillip