Wood Duck Farm

September 14th, 2011 

 Several weeks ago I had the good fortune to travel to the mountainous area just east of Santa Barbara, California, aka the "Central Coast." While there, I had the pleasure to visit some very good friends, as well as see first hand several market farms.  Some of the farms were huge and some were small, but they all were quite impressive, cast amongst the beautiful scenery between horse farms, wine vineyards and rolling terrain. (Is it possible that the "Garden of Eden" was actually there in the beginning?) Ironically, it seems as though their growing conditions are a little similar to ours, at least this year, as they grow in desert conditions for the most part. In fact, nothing growing was green unless it was supplemented with irrigation. Whether it was alfalfa, grapes, cut flowers, salad greens, tomatoes, sugar snaps, broccoli or whatever, they all relied on irrigation. While we are about 90% irrigated here at WDF, (actually 100% of late) we have grown accustomed to receiving a little rain every once in while to supplement our growing. So what makes that area so special? While we too can irrigate, they are about 30 miles from the cold temperature Pacific ocean. This allows their night time temps to drop into the 50's and everyone loves that, including the plants. Gosh folks were buying firewood at the grocer in August?  Oh yeah the caveat! The price of land out there is about $3,000,000 for 100 acres or about $1,500,000 for five acres, and then you have to pay the property taxes. While nice, it would take a lot of "home grown" tomatoes to pay that mortgage. My travel companion and I were thinking that perhaps one day we could retire out there. We jokingly ask "... can you say 'Double-Wide Trailer?'"           

What's Growing:   Arugula, Green Beans, Spaghetti Squash, Cucumbers, Mesclun Greens, Sugar Snaps, Eggplant, Summer Squash, Tomatoes, Strawberries, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Winter Squash, Zucchini, Parsley, Fennel, Basil and most anything else that we can transplant from plugs.  Some items not yet planted are those that are direct seeded varieties such as beets, carrots, and turnips.  

In Case You Are Wondering?  There is some "silver lining" to the ongoing drought here in SE Texas, the fire ants are really hurting, the weeds are having difficulty, and fungal diseases are a lot less of a problem. Now if we can get the temps south of 100F, we'll be "doing just fine."    

Fall CSA:  We are hopeful to begin our first harvest and deliveries in two to three weeks; about the beginning of October.   While it is likely that a lot of our crops may not be ready, we are optimistic that we can add to our shares by buying from other local growers such as Knopp Branch Farms, Gundermann Acres and others. For those of you that are interested in participating and wish to register, please click this link Fall CSA Sign-Up   Interested, but ask where do I pick up at? Select this link CSA Pick UP Location Map & Times   I need to mention that we recently began requiring all CSA shares holders to register their contact information online via our website. Why? This way it helps reduce the possibility of us making mistakes via typos etc. You can still pay with a check or cash by selecting the "manual payment" option vs "credit card/PayPal, during your check out process. If you are splitting your share, make sure you provide their email info as well.  Lastly, when you register, make sure that you receive a confirmation email.  

Farm Expansion in the Works?   Hopefully next week we'll have some good news to share with you; .... and no we're not going to be expanding via a "Double Wide" here at the farm. 

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions. 

 Everyone "Think Rain" Please,

Van Weldon

Cell 713 876 8645

www.woodduckfarm.com

csa@woodduckfarm.com

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