Tag: agriculture

In The CSA Box

We are so glad you have joined us for this 2025 Harvest Season. We are having a challenging start. Last year we grew sweet bell peppers which weighed one pound each! This year the plants are doing so poorly in the field soil that we planted new seeds in the greenhouse on Friday. The soil tests and ph are good, but the texture of it is off. No doubt our soil is suffering from Helene Trauma.

Speaking of Helene, during the extensive cleanup process, Robert found a piece of engraved metal which was given as a “reward for distinguished service with the Farm Bureau.” With the help of the Fairview Town Crier Editor we tracked down the son of the man whose name was on the plaque. We returned it to the family this weekend. It turns out his father started the Farm Bureau in Buncombe County decades ago. How ironic that this little part of the award washed up onto a family farm during the raging waters of Cane Creek last September!

Curtis Wright (holding our Helene Find) and Robert Ploeger (on the right)

Robert has a new toy to mow the fields with this season. The lay of the land is extremely rough after all of the heavy equipment that was required for Helene debris removal. I would take a video of him mowing, but it might make one nauseous to watch as he bounces up and down!

72″ Rotary Mower on a PTO

Your choice to eat local, organic foods is a commitment to consuming nutritious, energetic foods! By joining our CSA, you are engaging in conscious eating just as we are engaged in conscious farming. Our choices make us all rebels who believe that all food should be local–or as local as possible!

This week we will add romaine, escarole, and possibly lettuce and kale to the Joi Choi, Ching Chang, and Asian Delight. The Tatsoi is over as it is a very finicky plant growing only under the best of conditions.

Our Current Situation

On Tuesday, October 29, I went to the meeting of farmers with all of the various agencies involved in attempting to help. A representative from one of the agencies reported it could be five years before some “programs” to assist farmers would be implemented.  Despite this, I will say I left that meeting feeling relieved that we no longer have to deal with animals and their feeding and housing as so many other farmers do.  Strange where one can find positive feelings!

Never realized how many houses were on the other side of that beautiful tree line we lost!

We did get the internet back on Wednesday, October 30.  And my very first phone call that came was from the USDA asking if they could come out and test our soil. Three people in three vehicles arrived on Thursday, October 31 at 9:00 a.m. and did just that!  We were told not to incorporate the MUD into our soil until we got the results back just in case further testing is needed. We still do not have the results of those November 5 soil tests.  One tractor has come back from repair and the second has been towed in.

The deposited layer is dense and cracked. This is what they are testing.

We do have a major rock field in a couple of the garden areas parallel to the creek (and water flow). We were told our planting methods allowed most of our top soil to be retained which is a very good thing! The fabric held soil in gardens perpendicular to the creek. Also, the dense staking of our peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes seems to have help retain the soil. Our deep-rooted cover crops did a good job of holding ground in our areas not tilled and those sections are “greening up” nicely which is a sign of healthy soil. Once again we are relieved, as apparently, it could have been worse.

Drip line and fabric are tangled within. The power pole and line has been replaced.

We and our neighbor have been concentrating on rebuilding our road to our houses. Robert has been doing some work in the gardens each day.  Interestingly, it was still quite wet and muddy even five weeks after!  We are going to need heavy equipment to remove debris and big trucks to haul that debris away. I will update as I know more.

More pieces of someone’s life; but in the distance, see how green the front field is!

This weekend we found this in one of our blueberry rows. Perhaps we can locate the owner! The 500-gallon LP tank which landed in the front field was claimed after three weeks, so there is hope.

I will send this photo to Milwaukee as a testament to the durability of their products!

Thank you for all of your well wishes. We realize Helene has been a stressful time for everyone and we are not alone. We all must look for the Blessings we do have during this upcoming Thanksgiving Season and be grateful for them.

Our spring garden at harvest time . . .