Tag: cane-creek

Triplets Tree Tag

Passing by a second-story window the other day, I noticed this shaggy tree-bush (on the right behind the bird feeder) violently shaking. My mind raced!  What is the cause?  An impending storm?  A possible landslide?  A Brevard Fault earthquake? I took a deep breath and then noticed no other trees on the mountainside shaking.  Averting my eyes downward, I observed our Resident Mama Bear lying on the ground with the bird feeder tipped into her opened mouth!  One of her three (yes, she has triplets) cubs lingered nearby looking upward into the shaking tree-bush before joining his two siblings playing a game of Tree Tag!  Just another day on our small, family farm Wildlife Sanctuary along Cane Creek.

Tree-bush on the right–once a bush, shaped into a tree allowing for easy climbing access!

We received measurable rainfall almost every day during the month of June.  Actually, this began in May.  What a year! Robert and I think it is the worst year for gardening we have ever experienced.  Just to show how much rain we are getting in this part of Fletcher/Fairview, check out the photo below.  The crane in the picture is frequently seen in Cane Creek.  This day she seems to think she might find a fish in the “lake” at the end of the road which leads into our gardens!  Perhaps she is correct?  Maybe I should put a worm on a hook and drop a line into this “puddle” to see what I can catch!

Crane confuses our constant road puddle for a lake!

I went back into my farm notes and records to see if in the last thirty years we had ever experienced a season as wet as this one.  LOL, as it turns out we have twice before found it necessary to skip one or two weeks of CSA Boxes. This time we are facing an entire month! Still even in those bad years, we were able to pull off some reasonable vegetable boxes.  This is exactly why we collect payments in the unusual manner in which we do!  We are grateful to be able to do so.  And we are grateful for your understanding.

Now we are are past the July 4th Holiday. I trust you were able to see some fireworks celebrating the Freedom for which our ancestors risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor! There has been no rain in the last few days. Robert says the soil is actually getting dry! However, this does not negate the excessive rains of May and June. Our CSA box deliveries remain on pause until the recently replanted summer vegetables can grow. All of our CSA Members should have received a personal email from us regarding this break. We trust we will have veggies again by August. Stay tuned, watch your emails, and enjoy the heat and Vitamin D-3 from the summer sun as best you can!

Stay Tuned

We are almost one month into 2025. Not much has changed with respect to our farming situation except that one tractor is back for the second time from the repair shop. Robert has continued to removed what debris he can from the tree lines. All three tree lines plus 1100 feet of trees parallel to Cane Creek were collection sites for debris meaning there has been no shortage of places to work! One big difference is our view from the fields. Prior to Helene, it was impossible to see our gardening area. Now we can see lots and lots of neighbors–more than we ever realized existed!

We have spoken with the people who are going to repair our irrigation system. However, that work as well as the heavy debris removal will require soil which is dry and not frozen. All of this is to say, we are still uncertain as to what the 2025 Growing Season holds for Cane Creek Asparagus & Co CSA. Certainly, we will not be starting early in the season with spring veggies as these seeds need to be started in the greenhouse by the end of February or first of March. Perhaps a late summer garden is in the cards? We hate disappointing our CSA Members–some of you have been with us for twenty years or more! All we can say at this point is to “Stay Tuned” for future progress on our CSA farming situation!

Twenty years ago someone labeled Robert and I as “businessmen” and not ” farmers.”  We say we are “business people who farm.”  Bearing this in mind, it is necessary to increase our CSA Box price to $70 to continue being successful CSA Farmers. With our typical every-other-week CSA pickup, this would be $140 per month.

A reminder of the past and of the future we are visualizing!