Wood Duck Farm

December 6th, 2011 

With last few days of wet cold weather preventing much work in the fields, the prospect of throwing out office clutter became a reality. In doing so, I came across last year's seed catalogs and was startled with the thought that tomato seed sowing for next March's field plantings are due to begin in just a few weeks.  (Can you believe that another year has almost passed by.) That having been said, Thursday morning our area is forecast to have temps. reach 25F, which means the farm may touch 22F or so.  Yikes, Sunday a week ago, the last freeze killed all of our green beans, eggplant and tomatoes.  So with tomato seeding for next Spring to be on the agenda, we've still got to get through winter.  Incidentally winter  does not officially begin for another two weeks or so.  

SlowMoney: Last Friday afternoon I drove up to Austin to attend a SlowMoney Austin Event where Farmers and food Artisans networked with local consumers wishing to invest back into their local community. Guessing that there were about 150 attendees, so I was really impressed with the organization and turnout. Realizing that that they all have been working hard over the past  year or so, the environment reminded me of a "happy hour,"   where interested consumers networked with farms, dairies, ranches etc. (Holy Green Jeans, I haven't been to a happy hour since my oil trading days; thinking maybe 14 yrs.?) One of the prerequisites is that the farm/ranches practice/maintain environmental, social and cultural sustainability.  So why am I telling you about this? Just so happens that some local friends are trying to get a like minded organization organized here in Houston. Incidentally, they are having a exploratory meeting this coming Friday at 4pm in Montrose.  Please reply to this email if you are interested in hearing more. (For those of you that emailed me last week with interest, I'll forward you the info later today.) To get an idea of what type we are talking about visit Visit this link Slow Money Texas     

Farm Open House,    We are guessing we had about 85 attendees at our Open House last Saturday. The weather was a little warm for December, but breezy, so no one was too hot. Some folks left after the tour, but those that stayed were entertained by the kids jockeying for elbow room at the campfire. Why? Well marshmallow roasting was the "thing to be doing!"  In the interium most of the adults made their way back to the pot luck buffet where they found green bean casserole, pasta salad, assorted desserts, smoked turkey, baked sweet potatoes, persimmon bread and much, much more. For a link to see photos of our Open House visit  Fall Open House, 2011 

Winter CSA Program:  Our Winter CSA registration has begun.  The winter program will consist of ten weeks that should ideally begin the first week of February and go to first week of April, give or take.  Our anticipated winter harvest will include cold hardy crops such as cauliflower, spinach, brussells sprouts, carrots, beets, collards, onions, kale, purple kohlrabi, cilantro, radishes, mustard greens, salad mix, broccoli, potatoes, stored winter squash etc. Winter fruit? Hopefully we'll have citrus and strawberries too.  More info to follow.  Visit this link to learn more Winter/Sprng CSA, 2012 

Holiday Turkeys:  Interested in acquiring our Smoked Turkey's for one of your holiday events? Visit  Holiday Smoked Turkeys They are fantastically moist, with a subtle taste of smoke; a great addition to your table/buffet centerpiece.

Fall CSA Shares:  In your shares this week: spaghetti squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, mustard greens, cauliflower (full shares only) and more.    

Until Next Time,

Van   

Cell 713 876 8645

www.woodduckfarm.com

csa@woodduckfarm.com

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