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Our Plant Sale is here!!!!!
May 22 & 23.    Saturday and Sunday.     10am - 4pm.     both days

Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful!! We have been getting ready. We have a new tent. We have other farmer friends joining us. We have a great team of family volunteers to help with the second annual event, which is a major fundraiser for our young farm.  it should be a pleasant buzzing atmosphere, we hope to see you there!

The sale will be at the site of White Barn Farm's roadside stand - in the field across the street from the farm (458 South St., Wrentham, MA 02093),on 1A between Wampum Corner and Wrentham Center (5 minutes from the outlets)

Swing by and pull right into the grassy parking area in the field (not on the road). Please be cautious pulling on and off of busy 1A and observe the "Enter" and "Exit" signs  

Details:

Pricing: Cash or Checks Only.
4-inch pots are $3 each or 2 for $5
6-packs are $5 each or 5 or more for $4 each

You will be able to ask to mix-n-match 6-packs. (3 and 3 of two different varieties).  We and our volunteers will have scissors and labels.  This will allow a much greater range of choices.

We will be here to help guide you through choosing the best plants and to give you tips on how to make them grow! In fact, our friend Kristin Lewis of Rabbit's Dance Farm, who has transitioned from farmer to yoga instructor and garden consultant will be on hand for the first two hours of the sale on both days. Check out her website.

Other Great Stuff: RADISHES, SPINACH, EGGS, PORK, RHUBARB, HONEY, SOAPS!
In addition to plants, we will have a couple of other vendors this year. So bring along a cooler! Our friend Floyd from Burnshirt Valley Farm in Barre will be down to sell pork from heritage pigs that he raises outdoors, rooting around in the woods as they should. He will bring down his freezer full of different cuts for you to choose. He will also bring rhubarb and free-range eggs. Also, our beekeepers from Franklin Honey will be there selling their limited quantity of local raw honey and their great selection of bee products, including a hand salve that has saved my gardening hands! Finally, on Sunday we'll be joined by Ann at Rosasharn Farm who has a beatiful array of goat soaps and balms and goat milk based laundry soap. She will have eggs to sell so get those wheels turning about what to be cooking. A sneak peak of White Barn Farm's earliest crops will be for sale, too: Cherry Belle Radishes and Renegade Spinach. Yum!

Look at www.whitebarnfarm.org for the complete inventory.
 
Please tell a friend that you think might be interested. We have a pretty grassroots marketing network and everyone must know a few gardeners! 

Our Plant Sale is here!!!!!
May 22 & 23.    Saturday and Sunday.     10am - 4pm.     both days

Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful!! We have been getting ready. We have a new tent. We have other farmer friends joining us. We have a great team of family volunteers to help with the second annual event, which is a major fundraiser for our young farm.  it should be a pleasant buzzing atmosphere, we hope to see you there!

The sale will be at the site of White Barn Farm's roadside stand - in the field across the street from the farm (458 South St., Wrentham, MA 02093),on 1A between Wampum Corner and Wrentham Center (5 minutes from the outlets)

Swing by and pull right into the grassy parking area in the field (not on the road). Please be cautious pulling on and off of busy 1A and observe the "Enter" and "Exit" signs  

Details:

Pricing: Cash or Checks Only.
4-inch pots are $3 each or 2 for $5
6-packs are $5 each or 5 or more for $4 each

You will be able to ask to mix-n-match 6-packs. (3 and 3 of two different varieties).  We and our volunteers will have scissors and labels.  This will allow a much greater range of choices.

We will be here to help guide you through choosing the best plants and to give you tips on how to make them grow! In fact, our friend Kristin Lewis of Rabbit's Dance Farm, who has transitioned from farmer to yoga instructor and garden consultant will be on hand for the first two hours of the sale on both days. Check out her website.

Other Great Stuff: RADISHES, SPINACH, EGGS, PORK, RHUBARB, HONEY, SOAPS!
In addition to plants, we will have a couple of other vendors this year. So bring along a cooler! Our friend Floyd from Burnshirt Valley Farm in Barre will be down to sell pork from heritage pigs that he raises outdoors, rooting around in the woods as they should. He will bring down his freezer full of different cuts for you to choose. He will also bring rhubarb and free-range eggs. Also, our beekeepers from Franklin Honey will be there selling their limited quantity of local raw honey and their great selection of bee products, including a hand salve that has saved my gardening hands! Finally, on Sunday we'll be joined by Ann at Rosasharn Farm who has a beatiful array of goat soaps and balms and goat milk based laundry soap. She will have eggs to sell so get those wheels turning about what to be cooking. A sneak peak of White Barn Farm's earliest crops will be for sale, too: Cherry Belle Radishes and Renegade Spinach. Yum!

Look at www.whitebarnfarm.org for the complete inventory.
 
Please tell a friend that you think might be interested. We have a pretty grassroots marketing network and everyone must know a few gardeners! 

Hello Everyone!

Hi there farm followers!

I figured it was about time to tell you what has been happening at the farm.

Progress! Lots and lots of little plant lives germinating in the greenhouse, graduating to the outdoors and finally landing themselves in the soil, poised to grow and produce food! We are also potting up lots of seedlings to six-packs and 4-inch pots to sell at our Plant Sale, which will be Saturday and Sunday, May 22 & 23. We hope all of our well-cared for little vegetable and flower prodigies will find a good home!

Here is an idea of what grows right about now in our greenhouse. We began with onions. They are grown up and getting used to the real sunshine, wind, rain and cold nights on the hardening off tables (uhh, pallets and cement blocks). We've given them a haircut and their growth is focused on the shaft. They will go into the ground this week. We have already transplanted our first crops last Thursday: broccoli (we're trying for a spring crop this year), Napa cabbage, bok choy, and small cabbages. Our first direct-seeded crops are in the ground and germinated: peas - snap and snow, arugula, radishes, salad turnips, and mustard mix. the carrot seeds are still waiting underground. we hope they show up pronto! Beets, spinach, kohlrabi, mizuna, and broccoli raab are all on the transplanting agenda for this week. Our rain barrels have been doing a good job of collecting rain to water our greenhouse and fill the water tank on our transplanter as well! There are lots of flowers for cutting started in the greenhouse, eggplants and hot peppers have already been potted up, tomatoes and sweet peppers are next. Basil, parsley, celery, lettuce, and more plantings of most of the afore-mentioned crops are all going too. It is a constant struggle to find more space to put all the plants! There is a certain relief when they are grown enough to move outside and finally into the ground.

If you are interested in volunteering in the greenhouse, please contact Christy at 774-210-0359 or respond to this email with your info. This is a very busy time of year in the greenhouse and in the fields. An extra hand for a few hours in the morning goes a long way in accomplishing the necessary seeding and potting up. It's pleasant in there, even when it's raining, particularly if you enjoy NPR and/or reggae tapes. 

We have been having very nice luck and generosity in acquiring organic matter to keep our sandy soil growing vegetables. We had two trucks from E.L. Harvey, each with two 30-yard containers in tandem, bring down compost from Brick Ends Farm (commercial composting). We used the black, magical stuff last year for our onion field and the fertility was quite impressive. At this time of year, they offer farmers free compost if we pay for the trucking, so it ends up being pretty affordable. We have also been getting in cow manure from Wright's Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, RI. My uncle generously lets us borrow his dump truck and even took the time to drive it himself and borrow a dump trailer to get us a really great stash of cow manure that we can mix with leaves (free from landscapers) and allow to break down a little more before spreading. Our refurbished manure spreader (thanks dad!) has been incredibly valuable for both making windrows for composting and for spreading compost on our fields.

We had an exciting delivery of Neptune's Harvest Fish and Seaweed Emulsion. We very specifically requested that the 275 gallon tote we ordered be delivered on a truck with a lift gate. Indeed, the truck had a lift gate - that had nowhere near the capacity to handle the 2550 lb load. And the delivery driver was in a hurry. We ordered the large container because we want it for collecting rainwater on a trailer to be driven wherever there is an irrigation emergency (to be pumped out with a solar pump is the idea). Anyway, the scramble began to solve the problem. Could we stack enough pallets to the brim of the truck and slide it. Could the pallet forks on the front loader of the Kubota, combined with the lift gate let it down easy? We ended up spinning the tote around so that the spigot faced out and frantically getting 55 gallon drums to fill. We had other farmer friends splitting the order with us, anyway. I bravely held the aluminum light fixtures acting as wide-mouthed funnels to allow a dribbling of fish juice to empty into the drum. Meanwhile, Chris and my dad, hurried to fashion faster conduits for fish sauce transfer. Finally, some PVC piping with the right configuration of elbows and caps allowed for a very quick transfer to 2 drums. That lightened the load enough to handle with our tractor forks. VERY EXCITING stuff!!! Now we can smell like the sea when it's time to "fish the greenhouse" and as we transplant our freshly dunked-in-fish-sauce trays.

We have a new storage area above our finally complete Wash Station. Now all those buckets, bins, and crates have somewhere to belong when they are not in use. We all want to belong!! This progress, combined with the organization of the "gas house" gives White Barn Farm hope that order will be the tune of the future!!! The root cellar and garlic room are next. So watch out, clutter!

The animal-free trend may be winding to a close this year. We finally cleaned up a brushy overgrown mess that wants to be a beautiful partial-shade herb and flower garden, wowing Grammie with its wonderous beauty. But bittersweet roots stand in our way! As Chris and I dragged debris to the burn pile, we simultaneously, independently concluded that pigs would do the best job of clearing out those roots. We are considering getting a pair of young pigs to raise for the season. We think it would be a great habitat for them and the fringe benefits on a veggie farm might be quite fine for a pig! We'll see. We are also on track to begin raising laying hens. We want to build a mobile coop that can be moved to fresh pastures or insect infestations in the fields. Chickens, too, really fit in to the natural cycle at a veggie farm. What fun to bring them all the trimmings from the wash station! Some fresh eggs would be a bonus! We will have several egg producers offering eggs at the CSA pick-ups/Roadside Stand. Get ready to frittata, scramble, and quiche! Don't rule out meringue, souffle, mayo, deviled, and sunny-side up! Nancy Rosenberg will continue to offer her rare and special breeds' organic eggs. Ken Oles and one of our CSA members will also offer their homegrown eggs. Finally, Ted at Brambly Farm in Norfolk will be a regular supplier of fresh eggs from real chickens doing real chicken living! White Barn Farm's egg producing has yet to be dabbled in . . . 

I must interrupt to apologize for the carrying on. Perhaps I should write less, more frequently!

Ha! But I have more tales to tell. We have been meeting all sorts of wonderful candidates to join me and Chris in the farm work this year. What an outpouring of interest!! This is a good sign, everyone. People want to eat good food AND people want to learn to grow it, as a job! The greatest obstacle is probably access to land. So we'll all have to keep that in mind as open space dwindles. Anyway, we have been having lots of work interviews and have met some wonderful people. We are down to the final few applicants - we've got to decide by May 1. This is another aspect of my work that did not enter my farm fantasies.

Finally, bedtime. SAVE THE DATES: our Plant Sale is May 22 & 23, Saturday and Sunday. 10-4 both days. My great artist friend, Heather Willey, from Plainville has made this year's poster and printed them. They are in the mail on the way here, so keep your eyes sharpened for them around and about. We will be selling lots of varieties of garden veggies and flowers for cutting. We will have some herbs, as well. I'll try to get a current inventory up on the website soon - it is constantly growing as we pot up more stuff. We are sure to have rare and wonderful varieties, as well as a larger selection of varieties good for containers for all you patio gardeners. Give it a try. There's not much to lose, and always lots to learn, growing a garden. Kids tend to eat food they pick themselves, too! It could be a cheap source of family fun :) As far as the sale goes, we are working on getting some other vendors to come and make it more of a spring fair atmosphere. For sure we will have Roger from Franklin Honey and Floyd from Burnshirt Valley Farm with naturally raised pork. We'll keep you posted. For now, try to resist the box store veggie starts . . . .

Thanks for reading, everyone. We look forward to seeing you all again (or meeting you for the first time!)

Keep your eyes out for cool woodland flowers when walking in the forests around here!

 

Hello there, omnivores!
If you have signed up to be on the mailing list at White Barn Farm, you may be the type to seek sources of meat that you can feel good about. We are Chris and Christy at White Barn Farm in Wrentham, MA. We grow vegetables and sell them to locals who sign up for our CSA or stop by our Roadside Stand. We don't have any domesticated animals here - not for pets and not for meat. Someday we want to graze some laying hens around the farm - they love to scratch and eat bugs and garden scraps etc - they fit right into the cycle. Anyway, the good news is that we do have farmer friends that can help you be a conscious consumer, in good conscience!! A little word about my philosophy on price: if you think you can't afford pricier meat, maybe we could all just eat less of it. Just like they say at yoga class: "each day try to give a little more and take a little less." Perhaps this is our global economic recovery plan?? At least a health plan?

CHICKEN
Nothing like a good bird, we like to say. A humanely raised chicken may seem to be outrageously priced compared to Perdue's "birds" but I think it is worth the money. Especially since you can roast a whole chicken for dinner (perhaps when you will be around for a while - a Sunday?). Pick it clean to have sliced chicken for sandwiches - go ahead and splurge on the avocado - we're never going to grow them so well here. Then make stock with the bones - throw in some veggie odds and ends, peppercorns, herbs, simmer, voila! You can freeze the stock or use it right away to make a soup or risotto or something. Delicious frugality.

Who's raising meat birds?
Our friend Floyd, who I met years ago at a NOFA winter conference. He is from Barre, MA and operates Burnshirt Valley Farm
He started out focusing mostly on raising heritage breeds of pigs in their natural environment - out in the woods rooting around. This year he is going to raise some chickens and ducks.

The short story is: He needs to order chicks from the hatchery by the end of March (one week). In order to reserve a chicken you need to first send him an email at stackingstones@aol.com. Make sure to include the quantity and type of birds you are interested in and your name and contact info. Then, make it official by sending a $2 deposit per bird (checks made to Floyd Kelley) to 685 Gilbert Rd., Barre, MA 01005. When they're ready, we will coordinate a pick-up time at White Barn Farm, likely during a Tuesday or Friday Roadside Stand/CSA Pick-up session. Floyd hopes to have the birds in the freezer by July. He says, "we will do our best to accommodate requested sizes of birds but the average weight for the birds will be around 5 lb. The Muscovy ducks are a new production project for the farm so please bear with us on our learning experiences to offer a wider array of products."

The long story, including the options - which you will have to specify in your email request, is this:
White Cornish Cross From Hoffman Hatchery
Meat chickens that grow fast and are great for pasture-raised operations. Do not have the leg or heart problems and are good grazers. At 8 weeks the weight is 5 lbs., at 10 weeks the weight is 7 lbs., and at 12 weeks the weight is 8 lbs. Very tasty. $3.80/ lb. Minus $2 deposit

Freedom Rangers From J.M. Hatchery
The Freedom Ranger day-old chicks are hatched in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The breeding stock is imported from the regions of Burgundy and Brittany (France). The genetic stock is derived from the American and European old heritage breed of chicken and was developed in the early 1960’s to meet the highest standards of the French Label Rouge Free Range program. Currently, the Freedom Ranger genetic stock is used by most non-factory farm production models (alternative) all across Europe and also by small pastured poultry producers in search of a traditionally raised farm chicken - just like the "oldies", healthy and with a succulent flavor and texture.

Since our Freedom Ranger Broilers are a slower growing breed, they are naturally better suited to the higher welfare and all true natural rearing systems (full pasturing, free range, organic, certified, backyard etc.…). In the United States most modern poultry industrial production models use fast growing breeds (hybrid white synthetic Cornish crosses).

Natural instinct and behavior is preserved in the selection and growing methods of our Freedom Ranger breeding stock. It goes without saying that our birds love foraging in pastures, free ranging outside, always looking for natural sunlight and fresh air, as well as ground scratching and dust bathing.

At J. M. Hatchery Inc. strongly believes in traditional, sustainable, and environmentally friendly farming methods, and are convinced that allowing the chickens to do what comes naturally ensures an incredible meal for your table!
  $4.25 lb. Minus $2 deposit

Muscovy Ducks From J.M. Hatchery
Muscovy Ducks originated in Brazil and were domesticated in Europe. White Muscovy Ducks are best suited for meat production and make up 90% of commercial production of duck meat. J.M. Hatchery uses breeding stock from France that has been genetically improved (through natural breeding) to produce birds that are 50% larger than other Muscovies. The males can weigh 12 pounds in 12 weeks. The meat is less greasy and with a lower fat content than other ducks. They are known to have a sense of humor, are intelligent, and love to fly.

By Dr. Dennis P. Smith Country Hatchery:
“Muscovy meat is one of the healthiest meats on the market today, being 98% or greater fat free. Many people say that the breast meat of a Muscovy is hard to tell from a Sirloin steak. Famous chefs know this and use Muscovy meat in a number of ways. They have become experienced at cutting and preparing the meat for various delicacies. It is even ground up and used as hamburger in a variety of dishes. Individuals who are required to be on a low-fat diet know that the meat is not only great tasting but very nutritious. And, being so lean, meat from the Muscovy duck is not greasy as is the case with other ducks. Some say that the meat tastes a lot like expensive ham. Others say it is hard to tell from other expensive cuts of meat.”
  $5 lb. Minus $2 deposit. 

How do you get pork from Burnshirt Valley Farm? Floyd sells at the Waltham Farmers Market once a week. Some of you may have met him at last year's White Barn Farm Thanksgiving Sale at the Episcopal church in town. We are trying to get him to come to this year's Plant Sale . . . . 

BEEF AND PORK

Those of you who have been on this list since it started may remember Chris' good friend from Green Mountain College, James Elworthy, a dedicated organic dairy farmer. Some of you have even purchased shares of meat from his farm (Liberty Farm) already. Well, James and his wife, Sarah, are in some awesome new digs in Poultney, VT (home of Green Mountain College, coincidentally).  With the help of the Vermont Land Trust purchasing the development rights, James and Sarah were able to buy a 126-acre dairy farm. No more renting out a barn and hauling all manure with a wheelbarrow! The place has a wonderful barn with nice lighting, more space, a working manure scraper system, a vacuum line that brings the milk right to the bulk tank (no more hauling 5 gallon buckets one by one up the stairs) and his herd is up to 30 milkers. The very first calf that they were given at the beginning of their farming adventure had just had her first calf and begun milking when we visited in early March. Full circle!
Anyway, he has beef animals and pigs in addition to the small certified organic herd of dairy cows.
He sells pork and beef to customers in Massachusetts and Vermont. There are regular deliveries to Cape Cod as well as to White Barn Farm in Wrentham, Mass. His father comes from the Cape fairly regularly to visit and help on the farm and when he goes back he brings the shares down.  All meat is slaughtered in a USDA inspected facility and is frozen when it arrives to you.
 
BEEF. Choose 25 or 50 lb share. Beef is $6/lb.
The beef boxes contain a full range of steak cuts, hamburger, ribs, and stew meat. Packages are usually about 1 lb each, so a 25 lb share would probably have 24-26 packages, for example.

PORK. Choose 25 or 50 lb share. Pork is $6.50 lb.
The pork has some really tasty smoked bacons, hams, shoulders, and well as fresh pork chops, ribs and sausage.

James says,"my wife and I work hard at nurturing the soils and ecosystem of our farm and we feel that this fosters animals with exceptional vitality, which equates to healthy food for all of us. If you have any questions or would like to arrange an order, call 802-989-9818 or email elworthyj@gmail.com 
Thanks! James and Sarah Elworthy at Liberty Farm" 

TURKEY
Brambly Farm is just getting established in neighboring Norfolk, MA. Ted O'Harte is a very experienced and knowledgeable Irish farmer. He is raising a wonderful diversity of birds, including chicken, different ducks, turkeys, and pheasant. He raises heritage breed pigs - you guessed it - outdoors rooting around like they should be. We expect to be offering Brambly Farm eggs at the White Barn Farm Roadside Stand and CSA Pick-Up site. We will also advertise sign-ups for Thanksgiving turkeys raised by Ted (and his family!). Hurray for new farms popping up in suburbia!

RAW MILK & GRASS FED BEEF AND VEAL
Terri Lawton is a young dairy farmer on her family's farm in nearby Foxboro, MA. Visit their website if you don't know about them already. They are doing Foxboro Cheese there, too!

GOAT MILK PRODUCTS & CHICKENS
You've got to check out Rosasharn Farm's beautiful website. I met farmer Anne at the annual Local Food Forum in RI a few years ago. She operates a vegetable CSA and a goat dairy (milk available for pet consumption) and makes cool soaps (I've been using her goat milk based laundry soap). I am including her in this "meatcentric" email because she will be raising chickens for meat this year. She had information about it at the North Attleboro winter farmer's market, although I could not locate it on her website. The flyer said the chickens should be ready in early September and will weigh around 4 lbs. Place a deposit on the chickens by June 1 and pay the rest according to the calculated remaining weight. Anyway, her farm is in Rehoboth, MA and is a good one to know about. You should be able to contact her through the website.

Well! That is all for now. Bless all your hearts for reading down to the end of this info-packed email!!!
We are proud to be able to support other small farms doing good things. We hope you appreciate this sort of info and decide to try some good meat directly from a small farm. It is amazing how obvious the quality of good meat is, once you know. Thanks again!
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Chris and Christy at White Barn Farm
www.whitebarnfarm.org
 
 

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for all of the interest and enthusiasm.

Our CSA is completely booked for 2010.

If you were already on the waiting list, I will put your name at the beginning of the list for 2011. If you want to be added to the list, just send us an email telling us so to: info@whitebarnfarm.org

We hope to make our veggies accessible to everyone at our Roadside Stand. So don't despair! We even added a day for the stand - Fridays will be a regular stand (not a CSA pickup only, like last year). We look forward to seeing you all. Introduce yourselves, we'll be pleased to know your name!

Happy Spring! The Vernal Equinox is today - even though it felt like summer with no leaves.

Thank you. The support has been amazing and means a lot to us!

Chris and Christy at White Barn Farm

Hi there everyone!

It is a beautiful sunny day and the speed at which are sandy soil has drained tells me it is not frozen down there anymore! We've had a heck of a lot of rain in the last week. But what a gorgeous, sunny day today! St. Patty's Day! The vernal equinox is right around the corner - it says  Saturday, March 20, on the calendar.
The days outlast the nights beginning very soon!

So. What's been happening at the farm?
We've begun seeding in the greenhouse. Onion seeds went into their flats March 4,5,6 and we have tiny green sprouts from all those little friends emerging as we speak. The transformation from a greenhouse filled with trays of dirt to a greenhouse filled with gorgeous, green, photosynthesizing seedlings is such a miracle every time! Yesterday we seeded all sorts of things - spinach, beets, bok choy, Napa cabbage, small, early red and green cabbages, and some broccoli (yep - we are hoping to do a spring harvest of broccoli this year). The hot peppers seeds are germinating on the heat mat, which should be a coveted spot as it's soon time to seed the eggplant, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and certain flowers.
The pump in the greenhouse is working well. It pumps water out of a long series of 55 gallon drums (all connected by PVC) that hold rainwater we collect off the barn roof.  The water gravity feeds through PVC piping in a covered trench all the way out to the greenhouse. Actually, we haven't hooked up the gutters yet this year, but as soon as the threat of freezing, exploding pipe passes, we'll connect it. For now, we just filled the barrels with a hose.
Our woodstove is doing an excellent job this year, with its new-fangled insulated pipe outside. Thanks to my dad who has been materializing to facilitate these projects just as they need to happen. We are enjoying the efficiency of our woodstove AND the comfort of knowing the backup propane heater is on a thermostat so our seedlings can enjoy consistent warm nighttime temperatures and grow, grow, grow! 
Most of our other work has been pretty sedentary. Planning, emailing, managing the waiting list, doing Quickbooks, organizing, blah, blah, blah.

Actually, one other interesting aspect of our work recently has been keeping our feelers out for sources of other food that our customers can feel good about eating. The prospects are looking good! There is a fairly new farm in Norfolk specializing in raising heritage breeds of pigs in a very natural way - rooting out in the forest and eating some grain the farmer brings in. He raises lots of poultry - laying hens, turkeys, pheasants, and ducks. He will be raising some cattle, too. The farmer is from Ireland and has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience. We are so glad that he contacted us. He is still pretty new - so this year we will probably just be able to offer his eggs to purchase at the pick-ups and you will be able to sign up for Thanksgiving turkeys. Beef and pork will be available through our friend James Elworthy, at Liberty Farm in Poultney, VT. With the help of the VT Land Trust, James and his wife, Sarah, were able to purchase a beautiful 126 acre dairy farm (with a good barn that James deserves so much!). His dairy herd is up to 30 milkers and he will still raise a few pigs and some beef cattle as well. He sells shares, in 25 or 50 lb increments (a mix of assorted 1 lb packages of all different cuts). Also, our friend, Floyd, in Barre, is still raising pigs and selling pork at the farmer's market in Waltham. He is also going to raise meat chickens and ducks this year. His customers just sign up ahead and send a deposit. We'll be able to arrange a pick-up here at White Barn Farm (same for the meat from Liberty Farm). We're also hoping to make our Plant Sale more of an event (pray for sun!!!) and have Floyd here with pork to stock your freezers with. Rosasharn Farm in Rehoboth is another farm I'd like to invite. Anne, the farmer there, does a veggie CSA. She has goats and goat products - great soaps and other stuff - laundry soap, even. She will also be raising meat chickens that can be signed up for in advance. I will organize a blog entry/email that includes all the fine details about these things. Just thought I'd share the positive news!

The daffodils and tulips are all poking up. I saw some crocuses this morning. I checked the garlic yesterday and it is poking through the leaf mulch! Yay!

Finally, a touch of business: Second payments are due if you chose the payment plan for this year's CSA shares. If you sent in a $100 deposit, $262.50 is due now and the final $262.50 is due by June 1, 2010. Thanks to everyone who sent theirs in already! If for some reason you can't swing it at this moment, just email and we will happily work something out. We certainly understand that it is hard times right now.
 
Thank you, everyone! We are happy to welcome so many new members this year and to see some great familiar faces from last year. Please keep introducing yourselves to us. We often know your faces and your names - but not always together :)

Take Care!
Christy and Chris at White Barn Farm
www.whitebarnfarm.org  

Hi Again Everyone!

Hope you've all been soaking in the sun! Our greenhouse sure has!

The 2010 CSA has been filling up.

Shares for Tuesday pick-ups are full.

There are five openings for Fridays left.

I am working my way down the waiting list and it is down to 26 names.

The latest batch of waiting list members has been notified and they have a week to get back to me.

I will make another entry when we are fully full.

Thanks for all the interest everyone!!

 

 

Hi Again!

Today is Wednesday, March 3. Snowing!

We still have a waiting list for the 2010 CSA. Right now 40 names remain on the list.

There are 9 shares available. Seven for Fridays and two for Tuesdays.

I have notified the latest members of the waiting list that these shares are available and given them a week to respond. As spots are declined, I notify the next person on the list.  When the CSA is full, I will make a blog entry (like this). I will keep any remaining members of the waiting list to roll over and become the start of the waiting list for 2011. If you sent your form and a check and the CSA fills before we can add you as members this year, I will return your check and keep you on the list for next year.

We are truly grateful to have such an enthusiastic community here. Thank you so much!

Chris and Christy at White Barn Farm

We have a waiting list for 2010 CSA Shares.

As of today, Tuesday, February 23, 2010, there were sixteen shares available. I emailed the first 16 members of our waiting list and gave them until March 2nd (one week) to accept or decline.

As soon as someone declines, I will notify the next member of the waiting list and so on. At one point I had claimed I would institute a free-for-all, but now we have a waiting list of 53 people!!!! So I am notifying folks in the order in which requests came in.

I will make a blog entry when all of the shares are filled. I'll keep what's left of the waiting list from this year and make it the start of the wait list for 2011.

If you mailed in a check, I will email you to let you know we have it and I'll add you to the waiting list (in the order in which they were received). We won't deposit your check until we definitely have a share for you. If the CSA fills up before that, we'll return your check.

Thanks so much for being so interested, everybody!!! It warms my heart.

if you'd like to be added to the waiting list, tell us so via email: info@whitebarnfarm.org