February News
/Summer CSA Information:
We are adding back in an Earle Farm pickup this year. Tom and Ruth have generously allowed/encouraged us to add a pickup back at their farm. We are slowly re-energizing as the kids are getting a bit older. Phew! Please see the pickup options and details below as well as on our website. We need a minimum of 10 to sign up at Earle Farm so tell your friends!
February News,
We took down two big ash trees this year, one by the barn, and another by the house. The one by the barn was the easier decision, its top had struggled to leaf out for years and several of its large top branches were clearly dead filling with woodpecker holes and starting to randomly break off. When it finally came down, the whole inside center was hollow, been rotting away, invisible to us for years. The other tree was a harder decision. It was a gorgeous, straight, tall, with elegant symmetrical branches, its canopy arching over one side of our house. I felt a stubborn defiance about not cutting it down for years, counter to the general thinking that all native Ash trees are slated to die from the invasive Ash-Borer beetle. This tree was so thick, so tall, so strong, maybe it could be one of the few that weathers the storm. But then woodpecker holes started showing up in the lower branches, and last summer it didn't leaf out quite as well as years past, a sign indicating its overall declining health. Kyle and I went back and forth about if we should limb the branches that overhung the house, and I spent many hours staring at it deciding which way it would fall and if that would mean it would crush our house. Windy nights started to keep both of us awake and worried, as all creatures', human and pet, sleep on the tree side of the house. The other ash, on the property and in general, are showing more obvious signs of wear from the borer, the outer bark flaking off leaving bright brown streaks, a sure sign of death to come. Last March we finally did it, hired a man to come cut it down. It took him a few hours, skillfully tying ropes to pull it away from the house as it fell. I disappeared to the woods for the day not wanting to witness its death firsthand. Kyle said as it fell the ripping wood make sounds like gun shots going off it crashed thankfully away from the house but through the branches of several of our small apple trees. And there it sat all summer, us being too busy to clean it up until fall. Joni and I counted the rings and were surprised to find it was only about 70 years old, it was deceptively large, but I learned Ash are fast growing, and it had a prime spot with no competing trees nearby. The look of the house without its tree was disturbing at first, but we've gotten used to the change, and have a collection of saplings coming this spring in an effort to replant the ones we've lost and will continue to lose.
CSA 2025 Details
Pickup Location Options:
Hosac Farm-Cornish Maine -Thursdays - 4-6pm
Earle Farm-South Conway New Hampshire- Thursdays -4-6pm
We chose to raise our prices this year because of our rising input costs, thank you for understanding and choosing to support our farm, we are grateful for all of our members
Share Options:
Full Share Cost: 525.00 for 14 weeks Late June-October Hosac Farm ONLY
Summer Share Cost 325.00 for 8 weeks July-September Hosac Farm ONLY
Earle Farm option Cost: 400.00 for 10 weeks Mid July-September Earle Farm ONLY
Flower share 250.00 for about 8 to 10 weeks of a weekly fresh bouquet. Hosac or Earle
If you are picking up at Earle Farm, we will be sending out a produce list by Tuesday of each week and ask you email us your item selection by Wednesday night, or we will make a random selection. Shares at Earle Farm will be pre-boxed. We are experimenting with how it feels time wise for us to add back in the Earle Farm pickup this year so have made the decision to shorten it to 10 weeks. If you are selecting the Earle Farm and would like to do the whole share that is fantastic but will need to pick up the first and last 2 weeks of the season at our farm in Cornish or arrange a drive share.