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Hello and Happy New Year!
I hope you all are healthy and well, and have enjoyed meaningful time with loved ones this holiday season.
I write to share a few exciting updates on renovation projects at the barn, developments on the land, and ideas for how to deepen our sense of community at the garden, but first, here are some words of inspiration from journalist and CSA writer, Steve McFadden:
" Like reeds in a basket, human life is interwoven with the life of the earth... [All of life has rhythm, cyclic processes]: the waxing and waning moon, the earth's revolution around the sun, our in-breath and out-breath, and even our digestion... One gift that CSA [farms] give to individuals, to families, and to culture in general, is a vehicle for re-establishing a conscious connection with the rhythm of life, the rhythm of the seasons, and the rhythm of the farm that gives rise to the food which eventually becomes the molecules and cells of our bodies."
The Barn|
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Before the ground froze a crew laid electrical lines - now we have heat in the milk house and the capacity
for better cold storage.
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As we were washing the last potatoes, wrapping the last irrigation lines and hoarding up bags of leaves for next season's mulch, electrical crews were digging up the yard, stringing lines and lights in the shed and installing a heater in the milk house. A water heater is also coming to the barn, the north side is getting metal siding, a cracked septic pipe was replaced and we are drawing up plans for other renovations for better washing and packing space, community activity space, and cooler and storage space. Needless to say, by the time you all are out at the barn again in June, we'll have great new spaces to welcome you into and call our garden home. And please remember, your support of the garden, and the financial boost from our fundraising efforts make this all possible. |
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We now have light in the shed -
that's where we store our tools.
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The north side was the last to get metal siding - an important step in preserving the barn.
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The Land
When you walk around the garden next spring you will also notice some changes. When visitors come in the spring they often ask "is it bigger than last year?" The garden looks bigger when the plants are smaller, but this year the answer will be "Yes!" Before we spread our fall compost we also tilled up another ¼ acre of garden
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Our neighbor farmer brought the
big tractor to help us spread
compost and do the fall till.
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space. Yes, we plan to grow more vegetables, but the extra space also makes our garden quadrants equal in size which will help our rotation plan and give us more space to build soil health through cover crops. As usual I'm thinking about a few new veggies to try out, but I'll wait to make those announcements until our February newsletter.
The Community
Time and again we hear from work share members, student and community volunteers and student gardeners of the profound impact time in the garden has on them. They feel renewed by being with the land, and treasure it as a gift. They gain a deeper understanding of the effort and time that goes into the food they eat. They build friendships as they share work, ideas and goofiness together. They feel like a farmer for a day (or an hour), like the garden is their home too, and that their efforts make healthy food available to people around them.
We also hear from you, our garden members that you treasure time at the garden and wish you could be there more often. Your children like foraging for fresh snap peas and doing garden crafts, and you wish you could come to more potlucks and educational events. We hear you and want to help you benefit even more from being part of the Common Ground Garden.
We also know you are gifted people, with skills and dreams to share, and that you have busy lives. Through conversations with the Advisory Committee (yep, the garden has one!) and inspired by other CSA farms,we are going to ask that garden members make a commitment to contribute 3-5 hours, at some point over the course of the season, of sharing your gifts and getting involved. When you sign up for a membership you will also select an involvement option like "garden work," "send three recipes," or "serve as greeter," from a list of options. Later in spring a member of the Advisory Committee will call you to get you on the calendar. For example, Betty, a St. Cloud pick-up, might sign up to serve as greeter at St. Cloud distribution on Thursday, July 21st. Or John, a St. Ben's pick-up, might sign up for work in the garden on Monday, June 27th from 5-7 p.m. That's it! The Advisory Committee and I are really excited to watch our community bloom -- the land and the people together! Please call me (262-339-7737) if you have thoughts or ideas about this initiative.
And stay tuned for our next newsletter in early February. We'll have more updates from the barn projects and the kick-off to signing up for membership.
Peace,
Kate
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Common Ground Garden is a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, where members purchase a share of vegetables and each week during the farm season receive a bountiful box of fresh produce. We pride ourselves on producing fresh, clean, healthful food picked at the peak of flavor and nutrition. As much as we are able, we grow our vegetables without the use of any chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. We use cover crops, rotations, compost and ingenuity to produce your food in a way that's healthy for you and for the community. When necessary for pest control or to combat disease, we use only products approved for organic gardening.