Bittersweet Conclusion
Well friends, we’ve finally reached the bittersweet conclusion of a dynamic opening CSA season here at Morckel Meadows, and it sure wasn’t boring. We’ve gained heaps of knowledge and valuable experience and while the winter break is happily anticipated, we’re anxious to incorporate everything we’ve learned into next year’s crop plan and shareholder program. We’re looking forward to the process of incorporating hard lessons learned from our failures while we build on our successes.
It’s officially time to call it, to acknowledge that we’ve reached the end of the road whether we like it or not, to clear the field. For better or for worse, we must accept what is suitably mature and available for this week’s final share. The good news is, we’ll have some yams and sweet potatoes for everybody. The bad news, however, is that broccoli is sparse, as well with kohlrabi and rutabaga, having been slower to mature than we’d hoped and planned.
We feel lucky to have had this group of shareholders participate this year. You’ve been supportive, engaging and encouraging. This season was not only an effort and experiment in a small community sharing in agriculture, but small agriculture genuinely supported by community. True to the CSA model, y’all have directly and intimately shared in the successes and failures of our growing season.
We’ve had crop failures we can attribute to acts of god or bad luck, and crops failures we can only blame on farmer error. We’ve had some crops grow according to plan, some exceed expectations, and here and there, we’ve caught some good fortune. Your participation has been incomparably motivating, expediting the learning process and tightly concentrating valuable, irreplaceable experience into these past 24 weeks.
The following crops are left to be cleared from our garden beds. We will do our best to distribute what is available or mature, with home delivery shareholders being first in line for scarcer yields:
Sweet Potatoes/Yams- shares for all
Beets- shares for all
Peppers- milds & hots available
Lettuce- mixes & heads to be distributed
Kale- shares for all
Swiss chard- plenty for all
Radish- plenty for all
Turnips- plenty for all
Broccoli- low yield, home delivery prioritized
Japanese Parsley- will share if time allows
Oregano- will share if time allows
We are two weeks beyond the average first frost date, still frost-free. We could have never anticipated picking fresh flowers, okra, and peppers on Halloween in Central Ohio. It’s been a welcome surprise but disorienting. This week, we will be including bouquets of our survivor ornamentals. We pulled our sage plants a few weeks ago, leaving them hanging to dry in the hoop house. With the dried herb, we’ve assembled smudges to assist folks in managing the leftover spirits of spooky season.
While wintertime certainly slows the pace on the farm a bit, there is still plenty going on at the homestead during the cold season. We’ll been clearing out the barn and piling up compost. We’ll be gathering, chopping, and splitting wood for the wood stove. We’ll continue keeping livestock happy and healthy and safe in the cold months. We’ll be incubating and hatching new generations of poultry. By February, we’ll have newborn lambs jumping around and the seedling nursery will be back in operation germinating onion, pepper, and herb seeds all over again. Keep in touch and follow our Instagram accounts for off season updates and stories.
It’s hard to believe the season has officially wrapped. We look forward to visiting with everybody this last pick up/delivery of 2021. Thank you all again, humbly and sincerely.
Happy Halloween!
Erin & David Morckel