Our greenhouse is full of seedbeds and seedlings awaiting transplant. Indeed, many, many hours are required in the greenhouse this time of the year. Broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbages, lettuces, and all the Asian greens are crops which we start from seed in our greenhouse. This greenhouse work is ongoing into the month of May. Each seedling will grow into a head of broccoli or cabbage or lettuce, etc. YUM!!! Other crops such as carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, peas, beans, squash, cucumbers, etc. will be direct seeded into the gardens later when the time is right and the gardens have been prepared.
We expect these plants to provide a crop of delicious and nutritious local vegetables. If you have been thinking about joining our CSA Community, but have not yet submitted your information, we strongly encourage you to do so now. We have openings at the Troyer and Frugal Decor pickup locations. We ask for your commitment to purchase your CSA Boxes every other week for as long as we have vegetables available from our farm. We trust the season will run from late-May through the end of September.
Daylight Savings Time Begins! We appreciate the extra hour of daylight as CSA Farmers. It has been too wet to do anything in the fields, so Robert has been helping me transplant seedlings from the seedbeds into their little, individual peat pots where they will grow safely in the controlled environment of our greenhouse until it is time for them to go outside to adjust to the “real world” of wind and rain and more direct sunlight.
In the last two plus weeks, we have filled the greenhouse with thousands of tiny plants! Time flies when is busy . . . We still have a few farm share openings in our CSA mostly for Thursday and Friday pickups. When these are filled, we will begin a Wait List for later in the summer if our crop exceeds our expectations. 2023 was a bountiful year. We are praying that 2024 will equal or surpass last season!!
The weather has been great for the first flowers of the season. We love looking out of our greenhouse and seeing this view. Welcome Spring! Sign up now if you want to receive our CSA Boxes.
We have daffodils beginning to bloom in our front yard. It is way too early and I fear they will be destroyed next week when the cold weather returns. In the event of nice days in February, however, they always try to grow! I pray some will survive to March which is a more realistic time for their arrival.
We have started two seed beds and another will be processed today!! It will not take long for the seeds to germinate into seedlings. When transplanting the seedlings into their small peat pots, I love looking out of my greenhouse windows and seeing a field of yellow daffodils.
We know many of our CSA Members are also trying to grow gardens of their own. We love this! Gardening and working with the soil is good for the Soul. If you want to have a garden, you must keep trying. Do not give up! There are many variables to growing a successful garden. So set realistic goals, and if one crop does not grow, try another. If that crop fails, try another. True farmers/gardeners never give up. They understand each day is an adventure into the unknown.
Our small, Fairview CSA Farm is our adventure! We never know from year to year or from day to day what will happen, what challenges we will meet (and trust we are able to overcome) and who we may meet. If growing your own garden is not your life plans, or if you just want to supplement what you are able to produce, join our CSA.
Farm shares are available for the 2024 Harvest Season from mid-May through September. We recommend every-other-week boxes for new members. Currently, we are planning for the upcoming adventure, so join now by submitting the registration and prepare for new, nutritional taste sensations!
See more photos of our past CSA Box contents at Our Farm Share Photos page!
There is a phrase we rather like here on our small, Fairview family CSA Farm. The phrase is Outcome Independence. It means Robert and I are able to feel successful regardless of the outcome of any given growing season. Another way to say this is the “doing” is more important than the “result.” This phrase applies so well to the many, many crops we attempt to grow each year on our CSA farm.
Of course, we always “prefer” to have every crop reach its full potential because this results in an exceptionally bountiful harvest season. We plan and prepare and do everything within our power to make this happen from choosing seeds to digging drainage ditches to monitoring for insect pests. Still, sometimes the best laid plans go astray and our harvest “preferences” are not met due to some factor beyond our control. This is when our Outcome Independence allows us to understand we did all that we could and enables us to feel successful none-the-less. This really is an excellent way to deal with the stress of all of life’s worst-case scenarios.
One of our beautiful 2023 Gardens!
If you have ever attempted to grow a garden, you know exactly what I am talking about. Sometimes the multiple factors over which one has no control are simply too great–too much rain, not enough rain (fortunately we have drip irrigation), cloudy days, extreme heat waves, late frost, early frost, fungus and bacteria (which are ever present in the air and the soil), wildlife (thank goodness for the seven-foot deer fencing)–the list goes on and on. Fortunately, by growing a wide variety of crops planted in “waves” of time, total disasters are usually avoided. However, when we do lose a crop, we just have to say, “It is what it is!” as rely on our Outcome Independence to see us through any harvest disappointments.
For Robert and I, filling our CSA Boxes with the seasonal, organically-grown (but not certified) vegetables we are able to provide any given week is a delightful and empowering feeling. We love sharing the flavors, textures, and nutrition of the seasonal vegetables which are created on our small part of the Earth! CSA Shares are available for the 2024 Harvest Season. We would love to have you join us on our seasonal gourmet vegetable journey! I have attempted to answer all possible questions on the website; but if not, please send your query to me in an email.
We received almost four inches of rain in this last episode. The gardens are now totally saturated, but Cane Creek did stay within its banks. It flooded a small, low section of the road, but just barely. Robert did move our tractors to higher ground just to be certain they were safe. (This was not our first rodeo!) We don’t mind these kinds of rains in January as the gardens are fallow. However, this volume of rain arriving in May through September could spell disaster!
There is a reason Cane Creek was flowing so smoothly and quickly today during this rainstorm. Check out the photo below! I took this picture while standing on the bridge. This mess was the result of many, many years of debris being washed downstream and collecting causing a “log jam.”
Funds were obtained by the State and County to clear this debris pile as well in other areas with waterway backup problems which resulted in flooding on roads, in neighborhoods, and fields. Special equipment and expertise were required for this project. We (and I am sure many others!) are very happy the work was completed at the end of December 2023 while the creek water level was low and the trash accessible.
Below is what we see now! Water flowing unimpeded. This means the water moves along quickly and stays within the banks of the creek instead of flooding our fields. Robert and I will rest a bit easier next Spring when we hear a weather forecast calling for a large amount of rain. This is not to say we could not be flooded, but now the odds are greatly improved that we will NOT be!
Happy New Year! This very day your CSA Farmers are working on “seed counts” to make sure we are prepared for the upcoming planting season. Robert and I trust the approaching growing season will be as bountiful as the last! We are currently accepting new CSA Members for our 2024 Harvest Season.
January is one of those months when I have time to delve into and share various topics. Here is an opportunity to consider one such issue. If you are so inclined, please share this with others and consider communicating with your state and federal lawmakers to raise their awareness on the subject which follows below.
In a landmark winning case that EHT and others brought against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, a federal court (the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia) ruled in favor of the EHT and plaintiffs finding that the FCC and the U.S. government had “completely ignored” the issue of environmental effects.
The court ordered the agency to respond, yet the FCC has remained silent on the issue. The Environmental Health Trust is taking a variety of actions to hold the FCC accountable. A new website is one part of EHT’s comprehensive wildlife program to support meaningful policy changes to protect wildlife. The proliferation of cell towers and 5G networks cannot be considered “safe” for wildlife as they create impacts to orientation, reproduction, mating, nesting, DNA, and survivorship.
The majority of studies (not sponsored by the telecom industry) found harmful effects and warned that insects were uniquely vulnerable to 5G frequencies. Protecting the wildlife will protect your food supply since the majority of the vegetables we grow depend upon pollination from insects.
Wildlife and Wireless showcases scientific studies regarding the impact to birds, bees, and trees providing references to direct concerned citizens to the published studies on the environmental impacts of cell towers and other wireless proliferation. It is important to note that safety guidelines for cellular phones and cellular tower radiation have not been updated since 1996.
Today our garden is dormant. This allows us a bit of time for reflection—time which is not as available during the planning, prepping, planting, harvesting and distributing, and again and again harvesting and distributing, and preserving, and cleanup times of the season.
As we approach the end of 2023, Robert and I want to express our deep gratitude for your support of our small, family farm. Providing local veggies for our CSA Members inspires us each and every day of the year! Your often expressed heartfelt thanks and words of encouragement empower us to continue our Mission of growing fresh, organic, Seasonal Gourmet Vegetables for our community.
Have a Blessed Christmas! And we are wishing a Happy, Healthy New Year in 2024 for one and all.
During this Christmas Season, I am seeing advertisements for “smart” bird feeders. These devices send pictures of the birds at a feeder directly to someone’s “smart” phone. Sounds cool–right? However, I cannot help but think about how dangerous this “smart” technology exposure might be for birds who come for birdseed. I trust that in their infinite intelligence, they will not go near them!
If you would like to see birds in the wild, I can recommend the YouTube stream? videos? site? whatever it is called . . . where a friend of mine shares the activity of his backyard bird feeders. It is called WNC Bird & Butterfly Buffet .
And if you are interested in reading more about environmental stresses that harm the birds (and indeed, every living creature), you might want to check out this Newsletter by the Cellular Phone Task Force. It discusses the plight of the wild kiwikiu released into the Nakula Natural Area Reserve, on the southern slope of Haleakalā volcano in Hawaii. Kiwikiu, a species of honeycreepers found only on Maui, are critically endangered. They are small, weighing less than an ounce. The birds released were fitted with transmitters for tracking in 2019. One bird, WILD7, removed his transmitter on November 8, 2019 and he was last observed, doing well, on November 12, 2019. Another fortunate bird, WILD1, succeeded in disabling his transmitter the day after his release, and he was observed, doing well, with the harness still attached to his legs, on November 24, 2019. WILD1 eventually removed the harness as well and was observed again, doing well, on July 23, 2021, or 632 days after his release into the forest reserve. You will have to read the Newsletter to find out what happened to the rest of the kiwikiu that were released. I cannot bear to relate the results here.
Robert and I are grateful that our health allows us to be physically able to continue growing seasonal gourmet vegetables for our local community on our small, family farm. Everyone deserves fresh, nutritious veggies!
We are grateful that the 2023 Harvest Season was a bountiful one. We were most fortunate this season!
We are grateful for the ability to laugh and be joyful in almost any situation. The weather changes daily and garden pests are just a part of life–don’t worry, be happy!
We are grateful for the thousands of people working in a multitude of ways to protect and preserve our country, its Constitution, and our Bill of Rights. We each have a small part to play.
We are grateful for the many small business owners who are still holding on to their dreams of independence. And grateful for the consumers who support these businesses.
We are grateful that you are a part of our CSA Family. We know you are dedicated to supporting local farmers, to healthy eating, to the local economy, and to keeping green spaces in Buncombe County.
The garden is all cleaned up and put to “bed” for the 2023 Harvest Season. This feat was accomplished by Halloween which is a record for our small, family-farming operation. As a result I have time to delve into the many projects I have been postponing. Hang on . . . here we go . . .
Stakes, poles, fences, fabric, ground staples and debris all removed for the winter!
Congress is currently considering 50 bills in both chambers that, collectively, would promote significant proliferation of wireless antennas and infrastructure across the country and in space, leading to higher levels of wireless radiation in the environment under the auspices of H.R. 3557: American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023. There are many reasons that we the public and our local authorities must tell Congress this and related bills are unacceptable!
As farmers, we feel these various legislation’s would encourage wireless radiation in agriculture, which depends on pollinators. As Members of a CSA, we trust you understand the importance of pollinators. All of the vegetables we grow for you depend on pollinator insects – bees, wasps, and butterflies. (This was one of the reasons for our decision to “opt out” of all “smart meters” on our property.) Fully three-quarters of our crops depend on pollinators to some extent, but only one-third of global crop production does. This is because many of the largest producing crops (staples such as cereals) are not dependent on them at all. WE like to eat vegetables from A to Z.
But let me get more “into the weeds” of these bills being written by the telecom industry lobbyists. Their entire construct is designed to strip all power from public, state, and local representatives as well as the general public (YOU) with regard to all meaningful discretion or choice on the placement, operation, and oversight of the telecom facility. Additionally, they want dispute settlements to be taken from the Federal Court and given to the FCC. The FCC which is fully captured by the telecom industry under BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES.
Telecom is NOT a public utility–it is a Common Carrier. Wireless is a commercial facility, but HR3557 (in particular) gets rid of restrictions in an attempt to make it a public utility. These bills speak to private wireless service, public wireless service, wired, and cable as well as all permits including land use permits, building permits, and all safety requirements. These bills are designed to swamp the local jurisdictions (City Council, County Commissioners, etc. with what they need to do under the Open Meeting Act) to benefit the telecom industry. In other words, things get technical and full of legality really quick.
Additionally, these bills represent an attempt of significant violations by the telecom industry of the Commerce Clause, Separation of Powers, and CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS of First, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Fourteenth Amendments!!
This battle is not hopeless! The public votes!! Everyone just needs to communicate with the House and Senate Congressmen we elected into office in order to defeat these deceptive bills–because right now they are only hearing from the telecom industry lobbyists. Please share this legal challenge with others!
For Fact Sheets go here. To see the status of legislation visit Congress.gov . You can also find NC Senators and Representatives here under “Contact Him” for email and/or snail mail. The main Capitol Switchboard Numbers are Senate: 202-224-3121 and House: 202-225-3121. Please do some research and “make yourself a bother” to your representatives to stop the telecom industry.
Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA 