WHAT'S NEW FOR 2012 AT BLUEBIRD GARDENS??

Nothing ever stays the same in life.  If it does, one isn't growing and changing.  At Bluebird Gardens, we are always learning from the previous year.  What can we do to make the next year better?  Our members are the rudder that guides our ship.  We take their comments and surveys very seriously and make changes.  This page will be divided into the two main components of our CSA, the box and the harvest events.

To make your life simpler, the first page that pops up for you on our website will have the information you need, once the CSA season begins.  It will have a TENTATIVE list of what should be in the next box.  That should make your long range planning easier.  That same page will also have current harvest event information.  So you will no longer have to play detective trying to find the information you need.  It will be right there. 

PRODUCE in the BOX!!! 

The focus of our CSA is offering traditional garden produce for our members.  Within that realm, though, we want to offer a wide range of diversity.  For additional  adventure, we will include some new items that fall outside of tradition.

Beans-  We will have seven varieties of beans this season which includes green, yellow and purple beans!

Broccoli ~ We will have six kinds of traditional broccoli.  Our members last year raved about the sweetness of the broccoli.  The biggest change for this coming year is we will plant enough for multiple heads of broccoli, especially early in the season when the heads are typically smaller.

Cabbage ~  Same as last year, we will have a number of cabbage varieties that have different maturity dates.  We will also plant enough to serve cabbage as a harvest event, just as last year.  The difference is your harvest event cabbage will be on the wind turbine field so you can make your kraut earlier in the season. 

Celery-  A few years ago we grew celery and found the stalks to be full of flavor.  So we are raising enough to put in the CSA boxes.  Careful how you store it at night.  No one wants stalkers!

Chinese Cabbage ~  We are raising three kinds of Chinese cabbage each quite varied.

Cauliflower ~  Cauliflower was a favorite in the box and will be back in full force. Of course we have the traditional white but we are including the purple varieties as well.  Cauliflower will also become a harvest event.

Carrots ~ We always plant varieties that are sweet. 

Sweet Corn ~  We are growing the same varieties as last year.  If it's not broken, don't fix it.  We are planning to raise more corn to accomodate for the harvest events.  That was a very popular event last summer.  We are getting a basket weeder for weeding the sweet corn, peas and beans. 

Cucumbers ~ We had wonderful response on the survey regarding the cucumbers!!  We will have a free pick of the long slicing cucumbers going on in the harvest event field (the wind turbine field) right beside the driveway.  Any time you come to the farm, you can help yourself to more cucumbers to add to what you already get in the box!!

Egg Plant ~ The battle with egg plant is that potato bugs like them more than anything.  Last year, we sprayed with organic sprays which did little to stop them.  We will try other organic sprays next year and begin the battle earlier.  We are planting the same large egg plant but a smaller version in addition.

Lettuce ~  In addition to the traditional romaine that you found in the box, we will plant summer crisp, iceberg and butterhead lettuce, giving you even more variety of lettuce this year.

Kohlrabi ~ The CSA feedback was very positive on kohlrabi.  We will have it in the box less often but will give you more of it at those times.  We will also make sure it is a harvest event more often for those who really like their kohlrabi.

Mushrooms ~   Mushrooms were a big hit last year and we are expanding our plantings.  the winecaps were great to raise.

Cantaloupe and Watermelon ~ They were a hit last year and will continue to be high on our list. 

Peppers ~  We are doing many varieties and many, many peppers are being planted.  My goal is to have enough peppers in the box so you can have a meal of stuffed peppers.  Peppers are amazing in salads and in stir fry.  The new basket weeders we are getting should bring about better production.

Peas ~ The early crops of peas did very well and so did the harvest event.  We had wonderful and needed heat in June and July which shortens the pea season.  We are planting the same great varieties of regular, sugar snap and snow peas as last year.

Turnip-  Turnip is a very mild, great textured  bulb, with a flavor similar to a cross between radish and cabbage.  We will also plant rutabaga and parsnips. 

Pumpkins-  We will continue to plant a grand array of pumpkins for the fall harvest event.  We will also plant our pie pumpkin.  It makes the best pumpkin pie and bars!  It will be a hit once again in the CSA box.  More and more are realizing they can make the BEST pumpkin pie with these easy to bake pumpkins.

Onions-  We will have the same sweet onions as last year.  We are planting more storage onions that will still be sweet but have a better storing ability.

Spinach-  We had many positive comments about spinach from the CSA survey especially adding spinach to the fall harvest.  We are also getting a basket weeder for all the small-seeded crops.

Radishes-  The German Giant and Easter Egg radishes had the best quality.  We will leave our French Breakfast for next year.

Zucchini-  Zucchini was a hit again this year.  We will continue the wide variety of types.  We are also adding zucchini as a free continual harvest event so any time you are needing extra zucchini for bread or hotdish,, they will be right beside the driveway in the wind turbine field!!

Winter Squash-  We are adding more varieties to the winter squash line-up.  Celebration, sweet lightning and delicata were CSA favorites this year.  We will make sure they are planted in abundance for the harvest events as well.

Tomatoes-  This was a great year for tomatoes in the box and in the harvest events.

The biggest problem that seemed to surface in the survey for a small number of people was being able to use all that was in the box.  We will once again try the switch box idea.  We tried it briefly last season and in a few cases, it appeared some thought it meant the chance to take from other member's boxes.  This year, we will make a box with loud and clear directions about how to use the switch box.  If you get the items you like and don't take home the ones you think you don't like, it should make usage of our produce easier.  The drop off hosts who continued the switch box idea on their own had great success.

WATER

Water??  Why is water listed on a page with food??  As water has become more polluted, many molecules of water clump together.  This would be fine, however, water is important for many functions within the body.  Big clumps of water, for example, have a hard time sliding in and out of our cells to accomplish their many jobs.  We bought a machine that structures the water and clumps of water with 21 atoms become clumps with five or six atoms.  What does that mean for the human body?  It means the water can actually do its job.  Studies show amazing things happen with plants and animals.  But how about you?  I have found nutritional supplements work better and I have more energy.  Our hard water now tastes soft and very wet!  As a CSA member, you are welcome to come and fill your jugs with water anytime.  Use the left faucet on the west side of our house.  Drink...to your good health!!  Some took advantage of this in 2011 and I am hoping more come for water the next season.

Harvest Events-  Although the box is the core of our CSA, the harvest events are definitely the icing on the cake.  Stocking up for winter is the primary purpose of the harvest events, but it becomes much bigger than that.  It is a connection with the farm, a memory maker, an experience of walking in our shoes and a chance to bring back old traditions of canning and freezing.  The joy of being self-sufficiently ready for winter is a great feeling!!  I hear it from our members all the time.

From the surveys and from experience, we plan to make them even better this year:

~The majority of the harvest events will occur in the wind turbine field right beside the driveway.  We will have a sign-in kiosk halfway up the driveway where you sign in and deposit your tickets.  Since this will be so much more manageable for us, harvest events should be able to continue any day of the week. 

The most exciting change in harvest events is that we are adding a number of free ones that don't require a harvest event ticket.  Any time you come by the farm and want to take part in those, you can. 

~They include the flower pick, same as last year.  The great difference is they will be so accessible, right beside the driveway!!

~The long slicing cucumber is another free pick.  Maybe you want to make refrigerator pickles or you just want more for that salad.

~Basil and other herbs will be included in the free pick!!

~We are so happy to see kale gaining such momentum in popularity and it will be a free harvest event all summer!!

~We have the request for more zucchini often and that will be a free harvest event.  We will have all the types we raise in rows right beside the driveway so you can get the ones you want.  Maybe you just want the zucchini flowers to fry.

~Grape tomatoes are a monster for us to pick for the box, but I ordered some really sweet ones to be in the free harvest event right beside the driveway!!

~Brussels Sprouts are another monster to pick for the box but we will plant many to serve as a free pick.  They typically get ready later in the season.

 

The following harvest events still require tickets.

 

  This year, we will continue the idea where you can divide your harvest event ticket.  In other words, you could get a half event of squash, which is six squash and a half event of pumpkins, which is four pumpkins.  You can do two half events to equal a whole harvest event.  This allows members to harvest a smaller amount of more vegetables.

~The list of harvest events is growing.   Harvest events hinge on the bounty of the farm.  Since the harvest events have their own field this year, they won't be competing with our filling of the boxes.  This means many harvest events won't have to wait until the end of the season.

 

~If you are really into a certain vegetable, you can also do more than one harvest event of that one.

~ Following are the amounts we are planning for this year:

Peas-  Unlimited amount of regular peas, sugar snap peas and pea pods!!

Broccoli- One five gallon pail

Cauliflower- One five gallon pail

Beets- One five gallon pail

Carrots- One five gallon pail

Sweet Corn- Ten dozen

Cabbage - Ten heads

Potatoes- A hundred pounds (four five gallon pails)

Tomatoes - A bushel (Two five gallon pails)

 Onions - One five gallon pail

Green Beans - Two five gallon pails

Spinach- Two five gallon pails

Kohlrabi - One five gallon pail

 Winter Squash - Twelve of your choice!

Pumpkins - Eight of your choice!

Fall Decoratives - Two five gallon pails.  We are adding Indian corn to the fall decorative package along with corn stalks.

Pretty much anything we raise can be a harvest event.  If I have forgotten something, let me know!