Bullrun Farm CSA

[jtyler]

Hi,

This year is my first time participating in a CSA, and I decided to go with Bullrun Farms.

Below is the weekly newsletter Leigh sends out. Shares are still available as apparently many people dropped out this year for economic reasons. Just thought I would post, just in case someone is still looking/interested in a CSA. Again, I haven't done this with Bullrun or any farm, but have enjoyed the weekly newsletters and offers of farm tours, seedling pick-ups, and u-pick weekends. So far very happy, but the actual CSA doesn't begin until 6/8.

EMAIL BELOW: (contact is farm@bullrunfarm.com)

Whose poodle is that anyway?

That was Wenonah's Thursday morning thoughts as she was leaving the farm on her way to work.

She had just driven her Prius to that place, you know it if you've been to the farm, where the road quickly makes that crescent drops down to the creek, Catlett Branch, right where there is that one time beaver pond.

The poodle, or whatever it was, was trotting along the road in front of her for maybe a minute when suddenly it stopped at the top of the hill, turned, and stood up on his hind legs.

Have you ever seen a large, maybe 200 pound, black poodle stand up on its hind legs, and then glance over its shoulder to give you the once over?

I guess that's when Wenonah decided that her poodle maybe wasn't really a poodle after all. Maybe, in fact, it was something quite different than a poodle.

Maybe a bear.

Actually, a black bear. A cub, she guessed. A very skinny cub that was really in need of putting on some weight after its long winter fast.

And with that I'll get down to the farm news which is "What to expect on delivery week."

Deliveries start the week of June 8th.

That means if you get your vegetables at the East Falls Church spot the vegetables will be there at that little parking lot between 5:30 and 7 on Monday the 8th.

16th and P on Tuesday

1701 Quaker Lane Wednesday

3rd and D SE on Wednesday

Manassas train station Thursday

Farm pick up on Friday.

The hours and directions are on our webpage

Next week I will send out an e-mail to you confirming which spot you are signed up to get your vegetables. There is no need to send me out an e-mail now asking for that information. Right now I am double booked trying to catch up on those three weeks of rain that kept us behind on planting (though Memorial Day's rain waiting until 5 pm was much appreciated, allowing us to plant 12-15,000 plants between 7 am and 5 pm).

Here is how the pick up will work.

The night/morning before you get your vegetables I send you an e-mail with the subject 'Today's vegetables' which will list the vegetables in the week's share.

Then underneath 'the day's vegetables' are the electives. These are things that are part of your share but aren't things that everyone might want. These will have a heading of something like

'by noon request' Meaning? I'm asking that you e-mail back by noon to tell me which of these you want that week (if in fact you want any). This way I will know how many to pick.

Now for the time of pick up. I usually get there about half an hour early so I can set up. What this means is I drive up in our white delivery van and unload the bins of vegetables. We do not pre-bag or pre-box our shares.

I set the bins out in a row. First week should be something like--

A bin of Pac choi

A bin of broccoli

A bin or garlic scapes

and so on.

Then I take out my large white erasable board and down the left side list the days vegetables.

Along the top is written 'share size 1 -2-4'

( the 1-2-4 represents the share sizes. one person, two person, four person)

And underneath those numbers and across from the vegetable name will be another number

Let's say pac choi 1 -2-4 or maybe 1-1-2

scapes might say 4-8-16

for the mizuna it might say ayce

(ayce in Bull Run Mountain CSA speak means 'all you can eat in a week without giving any away')

or it might say handful. (handful in brm CSA speak means what you can pick up if your hands were my size).

There are probably other brm csa speak terms but you will learn them as we go on.

Now for the process of getting your vegetables.

The first several week I will have a check off sheet with your name on it. You line up and when you get to me I check off your name, give you a tote bag and you file past the vegetables taking your vegetables out of each bin.

While I do provide a large well made canvas totes to each shareholder to carry their vegetables home in I do not provide separate bags to sort the different vegetables . That is your responsibility. (this is a way to reuse those grocery bags, if you want, bring extras for others to use).

And that's basically it. If you get an egg share it will be marked on the check off list and I will have eggs for you in cardboard egg boxes boxes. (recycled egg boxes are appreciated).

If we have extra eggs besides those for the egg shares I will announce it. You can buy them at $2.25 per half dozen. First come first serve.

When the time period is over I pick up the empty bins, load them in the van, Clean up, and drive home. Since it takes me as much as an hour and a half to get back to the farm I appreciate people not being particularly late.

And that's the process in a nutshell.

Other news?

Plant give away went swimmingly. It didn't seem we had more that fifteen cars at a time but that was constant. Somewhere between 150 and 200 came out and took home over 2500 seedlings.

We'll most likely have another seedling giveaway on Saturday, June 6th.

More about that next week.

Open shares.

We have openings. This year we have an unprecedented number of people who signed up but later changed their mind (lost their job, because critically worried about their financial condition, etc)

We have openings at the Dupont, Alexandria and Manassas pick up.

thanks,

Leigh