Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Preparing for 2018 Growing/CSA

January in Nova Scotia is a good time for planning the seeds we need, the projects and the growing we want to do for 2018.

So, here are some of the plans.

CSA. Unlike previous years when we've run a conventional CSA where you pay upfront, this year we're going to offer a Pay-As-You-Go Veggie Box. It's pretty much the same thing but instead of committing to us by paying upfront (which you can still do if you'd like to) we are going to offer a selection of veggies in season already packed in a box for you to pick up. You can order the week ahead to guarantee your box or take your chances and see if we have some still available at the farmers markets we go to. It's essentially CSA without the upfront cost. It does make planning a little trickier for us so we will potentially have more wastage but we're partnering with the Upper Room Foodbank in Kingston to take any surplus so it will go to good use.

We plan on being at the following venues for 2018 on a regular basis:

Saturdays     8am-2pm    Wilmot Frenchys in the adjacent community sale.
Saturdays     9am-1pm    Harbourville at the North Mountain Market
Thursdays     9-10 am      Annavale Country Store in Middleton at the Nursery
Thursdays     10:30-4pm  Greenwood Mall Farmers Market

We will have one pickup location in Lower Sackville near the Cobequid Bus Terminal if anyone is interested. And possibly another pickup location on Main Street in Bridgetown.

Starter plants will be available for pick up at the markets beginning in April/May and will be available for pick up during regular store hours Mon-Sat at Annavale in Middleton. These will include veggie plants, herbs, tomatoes and peppers, flowers and fruits such as raspberries, strawberries etc. We will post a list of available varieties early enough for you to reserve the ones you'd like. Please bear in mind that the rare and specialty ones are always snapped up early. We will have soft fruits, berries and fruit trees available also.

This year we're going to continue with our line of breads and soup mixes all year long at the markets. We will add plants, veggies, fruits and flowers as they come and we will have a lot more flowers this year so bunches will be available nearly every week.

I'm off now to plan the rest of my orders. Have a wonderful day.

Elizabeth