Big Picture Thinking
Greetings CSA Members!
Two weeks ago I wrote to you about a series of big picture, “next generation of Featherstone Farm” type decisions that we are contemplating. Among those are (a) renewed investments in and opportunities for long term employees (b) a big push to purchase and protect 100+ key acres of vegetable ground with a perpetual ag easement, and (c) experiments with “value added processing” (just one example: making carrot juice out of the thousands of pounds of misshapen carrots we compost every month in the winter).
But among the strategic shifts we are most clear on at the outset of 2023 (we start the greenhouse in less than 2 weeks!) is a renewed focus on the CSA program: summer, winter and potentially spring shares alike. Understanding what this will look like requires just a bit of backstory.
Readers of this newsletter 8-10 years ago would recall me writing something along these lines: “the CSA program as it is currently constituted is unsustainable; it is too much to expect any one grower, any one piece of farmland, any single farm to produce 60-80 different varieties of fresh vegetables well, from asparagus to zucchini.” At the time, I attempted to re-set the program (particularly the summer shares) as a “bread and butter crop” CSA; we would focus on basics such as cucumbers, sweet corn and tomatoes, and encourage members to shop for unusual crops at local farmer’s markets. This strategy worked well for a time, but I now believe it has run its course.
What happened to change my thinking? Well, two things, basically. First, the transition to the Harvie and eventually CSAware systems that incorporate member preferences and choice into box plans. In short, it is no longer necessary or desirable to produce enough, say, fennel, to fill every single box (big challenge, and part of the old problem). Better for a percentage of members who actually like fennel, for example, to opt in rather than waste the crop on shareholders who can’t stand the stuff.
Second- and more importantly, I believe- we have simply gotten a lot better at managing more diverse crops, juggling more ping pong balls (small plantings of specialty crops for CSA) as well as beach balls (large plantings for CSA and wholesale customers, both). Up and down the line, the Featherstone Farm team has become really good at producing many more of the countless crops previously lost somewhere between asparagus and zucchini. So much so, that I am revising my thinking that hyper crop diversity is automatically the enemy of sustainability.
So here are the changes that we now envision coming up in 2023:
Gradual re-introduction of more crop diversity into summer share plans. The early focus here will be on the early summer (late June and early July) boxes. But we will be aiming to provide more/ different crop options in September and October as well. More details on this soon, once our final crop plan is in place.
More communication and community engagement with members, beginning with the “Jack’s Kitchen Journal” pilot and augmented social media, and extending to more on-farm events (return of the annual fall party, post pandemic?)
Working with CSAware to make critical algorithm changes that will allow us, for just one example, to distribute key crops like green beans more evenly among members who want them. May not seem like a big deal, but if you like beans (or other super-labor intensive crops like shoshito peppers or edamame soybeans), this will be a big deal!
More focus on our “local community” of CSA members, from LaCrosse to Rochester, Winona to rural Rushford. Perhaps more dropsites in some/all of these communities(?)
Construction of a second large “gutter connect” high tunnel at Featherstone Farm this summer, and a re-focus of much of the crop planning inside these critical “enhanced growing” environments, away from tomato monoculture (summer production) and toward diverse CSA crop production (spring, summer and fall). Way more fresh spinach for winter shares this coming year. More on High Tunnel construction coming soon, with the rollout of our first ever Spring CSA Share Pilot (March announcement?)
All of us at Featherstone Farm are excited about doubling down on our CSA program in these ways. And this is just the start; we are also beginning research and development on 2-3 year initiatives on everything from cut salad mix to carrot juice, from frozen pesto to ground polenta/ cornmeal. We would not be exploring all of these ideas were they not part of a significant strategic shift here, one that we hope will guide and inspire and keep us all flourishing well into our next generation together at Featherstone Farm.
As always, we are delighted to have you along for the ride!
Gratefully, Jack