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Our greenhouse is full of seedbeds and seedlings awaiting transplant.  Indeed, many, many hours are required in the greenhouse this time of the year since we start all of our plants from seed–well, except for the crops which are directly seeded into the ground such as carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, and beans, for example.  Even our kohlrabi are started from seed in the greenhouse as we have found this method to provide us with the best final crop. This greenhouse work is ongoing through the entire month of May.

At the same time, the garden soil must be turned and fluffed.  (Well, they were fluffy–until the rains lasts night.)  This step is done with our tractors.  The remainder of the season is all manual labor.  The ground cover which we plant on must be laid down.  The drip irrigation lines must be laid as well.  Only then can we begin putting our plants into the gardens.  Producing a veggie crop is a long and labor intensive process which begins the first of March so that we can have vegetables for our CSA Boxes starting in late May.  We trust Mother Nature will cooperate this season . . .

If you have been thinking about joining our CSA Community, but have not yet officially joined, we strongly encourage you to do so NOW.  I trust that by listing the many steps required to grow veggies for our CSA Boxes, you will understand why it is imperative that you make the commitment decision NOW.  Each seedling will grow into a head of broccoli or cabbage or lettuce–and if you want us to grow for YOUR FAMILY, we need to have that knowledge NOW during the planning and preparation time of the 2020 season.

One thing is for sure–our plants are growing!  And we expect these plants to provide a crop of delicious, local vegetables as they have every year in the past.  The garden is NOT closed!  And we are certain the weeds will grow and the insect pests will abound as usual.  The possible frosts and rains and droughts will either come or they will not.  Regardless, as your CSA Farmers, Robert and I will solider on.  Uncertainty, anxiety, and stress is OUR way of life on the farm!  However, we have never asked our CSA Members to share these risks.  What we ask for is your commitment to purchase your CSA Boxes for as long as we have vegetables available from our farm to fill those boxes!

We are working in the greenhouse this week transplanting lettuce from the seedbeds to their individual pots. I cannot wait to eat lettuce again! This a spring time ritual for us.

The fields have been dry enough to get started on turning over the soil. This is done with a tractor. There is one more step with the tractor which makes the soil soft and fluffy. Then, it is either covered with ground cover which we then transfer theses plants into; or it might be seeded with a cover crop so that ground covering plants can grow. We rotate our various gardens each year in an attempt to outwit the insect pests!

We have CSA Farm Shares available for the 2020 Harvest Season! The garden is NOT closed. Everything will be okay . . . Happy Spring and Go Well . . .

We are working from home–as usual. As we know, a lot can happen in a week. For example, take a look at those tiny seeds that were just starting to pop up through the soil one week ago!

From the above photo, you can see they have grown tall enough to undergo the first transplanting into their individual pots where they will stay until they are large enough and sturdy enough to be undergo their final transplanting into the field gardens. Meanwhile, even more seedbeds are being planted and other seedbeds are awaiting transplant to individual pots. And so the manual labor process of CSA Farming begins!

Even these first baby steps require hard work and dedication, but it can be a “zen experience” where one gets “into the flow” of the work. Music helps me. Our plants like all kinds of music–from classical to classic rock and everything in between. Happy Plants equal Happy Vegetables!

CSA Farm Shares are available for the 2020 Harvest Season. Join us!

It is interesting how things have changed since we first started farming in the Cane Creek Valley over twenty years ago. There are more businesses dotting the surrounding landscape. There are many, many more houses in the area. And the traffic along Cane Creek Road has increased exponentially!

There are new and constantly changing vegetable varieties as well as changing Produce Safety Rules and requirements. Marketing has even changed. Today we see a shift to e-commerce and online shopping—what is being called the “Amazon Effect.” Our customers are getting younger—or perhaps, we are simply getting older!

On the flip side, much remains the same. The soil still smells sweet in the spring, the creek still flows, the daffodils still bloom in early March, the birds still build their nests, weeds proliferate, and insect pests abound! We continue to operate our small farm as a wildlife sanctuary and do our best to attract the beneficial insects and bees required for pollination. Robert and I are still growing vegetables on our family farm—just not asparagus, but that is another story entirely. We still have various CSA Box pickup sites located around Buncombe County and make home deliveries to various areas. Some of our families have been with us for fifteen years–but we are always looking for more new CSA Members.

As always our CSA Members are concerned about sustainability of food supply chains and knowing who, where, and how their food is produced. Today this is called “traceability” and the word “blockchain technology” is being tossed about. One thing for sure is when your family eats from our CSA box, there is no question about the source of the vegetables your family is eating!

Right now everything on our small, Fairview farm looks perfect! Seedbeds are being started in the greenhouse and transplanting the tiny seedlings will soon begin. The fields are a bit damp at the moment, but there is time for them to dry out before we begin direct seeding and transplanting into the gardens. We don’t know what Mother Nature has in plan for us this 2020 Harvest Season, but we are on our way with our ever present bright and optimistic outlooks.

We have farm shares available for the 2020 Harvest Season. Robert and I would love to have your family join our veggie lovin’ tribe!  Please submit the Join Our CSA form on our website or give us a call if you have questions not yet addressed.

CSA Shares are available for the 2020 Harvest Season!  We will be starting our first seedbeds just after this weekend so we can start filling our CSA Boxes in late May.

We don’t use a lot of pressure, hype, or pomotional marketing to get our customers.  We simply rely on our many, many years of CSA Farming experience!  We get most of our customers from word-of-mouth advertising.  We think the fact that some of our families have been with us for ten to fifteen years speaks highly with regard to the quality of our produce and our customer service.

We would love to have you join us!  Fill out and submit the form on our website, please!

You can control your destiny with your food choices. Preparing and cooking whole foods at home does require time, but your health is worth the investment.

With plenty of resources available, one does not need even to grow a vegetable garden in their backyard to eat in a healthy manner. Grocery stores carry fresh vegetables and frozen vegetables and fruits and nuts and many other foods which are not of the junk food variety. There are farmers markets. There are U-Pick farms. And there are CSAs where your family can have their own Personal Farmer!

Robert and I would LOVE to be your Personal Farmers! Join our CSA now for the 2020 Harvest Season!

Seed catalogues cover the counters and tables as Robert attempts to decide the best vegetable varieties for us to plant for the 2020 Harvest Season. It seems every company has some of our “must haves.” Therefore, we are placing multiple seed orders.

We are not going to “target” our potential customers with any “special marketing ploys” to get you to join our CSA.  But we do need to order and plant enough seeds now so that we are prepared to begin filling our CSA Boxes in mid- to late-May.

Robert and I have twenty years of experience in operating a CSA farm. Some of our families have been with us ten or fifteen years!

We grow using organic inputs, but we are not certified. We plant many different crops and varieties in “waves” in an attempt to always be able to fill our CSA Boxes with a good variety of vegetables each week.

We have various pick up locations and several limited delivery routes.

We are doing our best to make it easy for your family to obtain and eat fresh, local, seasonal food. Please let us know if you want to be a part of our CSA Community in 2020!

Faith rules our belief that we can plant microscopic seeds in our greenhouse which will grow into seedlings which we will be able to transplant into the gardens where they will survive the many elements of nature to grow into beautiful heads of broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower, etc. It may seem early, but if we are to have veggies to fill our CSA Boxes in mid-May, we must begin the work now.

On our family farm we start investing time and money without having “CSA payments in the bank.” Our decision to totally assume the financial risk sets us apart from most CSA Farms. We used to worry about selling enough farm shares to use all of the vegetables we grow. However, over the years, we have learned to let that same faith rule and believe:  If we plant vegetables, CSA Members will come!

Many of you told us last fall you wanted to be included in our 2020 CSA Membership.  We have your space reserved.  We always have room for new members so spread the word Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA is planning for the 2020 Harvest Season!

Robert was able to get the fall garden clean up accomplished much earlier than usual.  With all of his extra time and energy, he has been cleaning up the fence rows and tearing down climbing vines from the trees.  He is making huge, random piles of refuse in the process.  These piles will not be burned, but left in place for the wildlife to enjoy.  Two truckloads of trash were also gathered.  It seems the back country roads of Fairview are often mistaken for landfills. We much rather see a truckload of vegetables!

Interestingly, Robert did discover an old campsite deep in the cane section of our farm.  It appears one or perhaps two people were either living or hiding out there at some point in time.  Of course, this is concerning to us, but does prove just how dense the growth of cane is!  This property cleanup will not be finished in the near future, but it is a start on a job which will provide many days of vigorous exercise.

Now that the holidays are over we can all take a moment to catch our collective breaths.  I trust you and your loved ones will have a Healthy, Happy New Year in 2020!

Robert and I traveled out of state to visit my parents, extended family, and friends in December. We also found it necessary to replace a couple of major household fixtures. It turns out hot water and refrigeration are items one cannot easily live without in modern life!

My favorite Christmas gift this year (other than the hot water heater and refrigerator!) is this niffy little kitchen gadget. It will totally scoop up the used coffee grinds from a French press in one fell swoop and will work equally well with a blender or mixer.  I can say with a degree of certainty Santa found it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, in case anyone is interested in obtaining one.