Survey Results

If you are shopping for a CSA for 2010 please see a previous post entitled Eener's 2010 Preliminary CSA Details (posted in November). More details on 2010 sign-up to be posted here soon.

Check out our new puppy, her name is Mabel. We figured Maynerd, our orginal dog, could use an assistant in his garden/critter protecting duties. He's working on training her in. She's half springer and half hound...seems pretty smart. We've been enjoying her company.

Thanks to all of you 2009 members who filled out the Eener’s Farm Survey! The results were very interesting and I’ve been taking them into account as I order seeds and plan for the coming season. If you haven’t yet filled one out it’s not too late, send it on in if you’d like. Here are the questions and results:

1. Was there anything you would have liked to have seen (or seen more of) in the boxes?
Lettuce/salad mix received the most votes with spinach coming in as a close second. I’ve been researching varieties of lettuce that will retain good flavor as summer temperatures rise. I struggled last summer with the salad mix getting bitter as we got into July. Obviously I need to plant more spinach! Cucumbers, tomatoes, melons and egg plant also received a fair amount of votes. All of these were crops that were not happy campers last year, especially the tomatoes which were hit with a bad blight. I’ll be investing in a hoophouse this year so hopefully we can have better success with these heat-loving veggies. Sweet corn, carrots and broccoli got a few votes too so I’ll plant more of these.

2. Was there anything you found in your box too often?
Turnips were the overwhelming winners for this question. I’m not surprised, every single turnip seed I planted must have sprouted, they really enjoyed themselves last summer. Beets also received a fair amount of votes with summer squash, swiss chard and tomatillos bringing up the rear. I’ll be planting a lot less turnips this year and also plan to scale back on the zucchini and tomatillo production. I’m only going to plant half as much swiss chard this year and I’ll introduce kale which is something many of you suggested I grow.

3. Do you think you got a fair amount of produce for the price you paid for the share?
All of the survey participants said yes to this question except for one who was undecided. I was glad to hear this since it was my first year and I wasn’t certain on how much should be going in the boxes. My goal is to provide members with an amount of produce that is equal to the price they paid for the share, but ideally I’d like to give them more. Of course this isn’t always possible since farming is so tied to the weather. I’ve heard that many CSAs north of here were unable to produce an amount of produce that was equal to share price due to drought. This happens…being a part of a CSA is a gamble and the very same thing could happen here.

4. What was your favorite box item?
We were all over the board on this one… pie pumpkins got the most votes; I would agree they are one of my favorites too. Spuds received a lot of votes. It was a very good year for potatoes and we had a nice crop…don’t worry I already ordered red seed potatoes for this year! Pretty much all of the other candidates in this category got only one vote, obviously a matter of taste. In response to this question one member wrote, “…my absolute favorite box item was dirt. It is absolutely wonderful to wash dirt off of veggies, and not to have to worry about chemicals and wax”. Well put I think, this is a box item I didn’t expect to see mentioned.

5. What was your least favorite box item?
Turnips won here too and rutabagas were not very far behind. I’ll be severely limiting the amount I plant of these two crops. Beets and brussel sprouts also got some votes although many of you said these were on your favorites list so I’ll not cut production back much.

Many of you had some great suggestions! Here are a few I’ve really taken to heart:
More recipes in the newsletter – good call!
Fruit - We’re really working on this. We put in a strawberry bed and a bunch more rhubarb last year hopefully we’ll see some return on that this year. We will continue to plant more fruit but most fruit takes a fair amount of time before you actually get to eat it. Several of you mentioned blueberries….hmmmmm (that was me trying to figure out were I can start a blueberry patch).
More meat – Another thing we are interested in doing. Lamb and goat meat may well be available next fall depending on how the lambing and kidding season goes. We are seriously considering getting some pigs and offering up pork for sale this year.
More herbs – Another good call, I’m expanding the herb selection this year.
Cauliflower – Exactly what I was thinking! It’s on the list for this year.
Cheese – This could happen…but not this year.
Asparagus – I planted 100 of these last year. We may see some this year but really they won’t be at full production until 2011.
More winter squash – I agree and have had a lot of fun picking out some new varieties.