The Benefits of a Satellite Garden

Last year we experimented with satellite gardens in the backyards of a few of our shareholders. Initially the main reason for this was to conserve our growing space for the more complicated and labor intensive crops. However, the benefits of this experiment proved to offer much more than just extra cultivated ground. After a site survey and bed prep we planted the seeds of four different varieties of winter squash. Winter squash is a sprawling plant that grows best in a mulched environment. With the addition of some timely watering the plants were left to do their thing. The four varieties of w. squash that we offered last year were grown in four separate locations.
By isolating individual varieties of squash we were able to save "clean" seed for future planting. This isolation is necessary for retaining genetic purity. Most seed saving requires isolation and/or protection of some sort. With your help we hope to expand our seed saving in the future.

Besides the practical benefits of the satellite gardens, those folks that offered up the space and nurtured these crops became directly involved in producing food for themselves and others. Now, we all spent time together in the main garden here on the Little River and we all had a hand in on what was produced last year. But growing a crop in your own backyard really takes things up a few notches. For one, the possibility of a crop failure is ever looming, so the pressure of getting the crop to the table was shared by more of us than just one of us. The anxiety related with producing for others is the price paid for the feeling of accomplishment once the crop matures and is ready for distribution.
The one comment held in common by last years satellite gardeners was that the squash grown on their land was the best squash they've ever tasted.
Not surprising!
If you have some garden space and would like to be involved in this part of our project let us know.

FFT '2008 Subscriber Information

Hello Folks,

Although we haven't heard from everyone that participated in last year's garden, we need to get rolling on this year and sort out some of the details regarding finances, participation etc..

Call it what you will, but as I write this, the topic of this morning's "On Point" program is "The rising cost of food - will the price come back down this time?"
From someone who is more or less a wonk when it comes to food related issues, I'm not sure it will.

For one, China is eating twice as much meat as they did in the 80's. What this does to grain prices has yet to be fully realized. There is also bound to be great pressure on edible grain production from the biofuel sector.
The long term prospect for our modern carnivorous diet is highly tenuous. Producing and consuming animal protein is not a right but a luxury. As a group we need to think critically about this part of our diet. We should all prepare ourselves for the inevitability of it costing substantially more to produce and therefore consume meat. We are realizing that it is not at all realistic to expect that animals could be raised humanely and sustainably and at the same time "on the cheap." While we will continue to raise livestock for as long as it makes practical sense, we should not take it for granted.

Last year we set our price based on direct input expenses alone. We did not take into consideration the already acquired infrastructure or our labor, and could not anticipate the increase in grain costs. If we did not use the available pricing for quasi comparable items, no one would have been willing to become involved. The idea of a low impact farmer setting prices based on the true cost of production, including a living wage, continues to be taboo. We would like to start a migration toward abolishing the current system of comparison price setting. What we are undertaking with this project is going to be a long process. It is going to take cooperation from producer and consumer alike. As producers we have been, and will continue to be, willing to make the sacrifices necessary to help redefine the way we think about food production, distribution and consumption.

The cost of participation this year will better reflect the actual costs of operating a diverse, small scale, low-impact farmstead. And so, the cost of participation this year for a share including animal protein will be $1125.00 per adult per family. That's less than $25.00 a week. If you utilize all that becomes available to you, you will find this to be well worth it financially, environmentally, communally and even spiritually. We are requiring a $165.00 deposit per adult per family by April 1st to take care of the start up costs etc... 8 Monthly payments of $120.00 per adult per family will be fine for the balance unless we have agreed upon another arrangement.

We will also be offering vegetarian shares that will cost $500.00 per adult per family for the year. These shares will include extra legume-based protein as well as the regular assortment of vegetables (including processing and storage crops). For these shares we are requiring a $100.00 deposit per adult per family by April 1st and 8 monthly payments of $50.00 per adult there after.

Most single adult shares will provide enough food for 1 adult (plus). A family with two adults can expect enough food for 2-3 people. This should allow for small children and occasional guests. This is true for both the vegetarian and animal protein shares.

We offer a 10% price reduction per adult share for a 4 hour-per-month labor exchange above and beyond our "First Saturday" workdays. For a family with 2 adults that works out to 8 hours per month. This is a 6 month commitment, May through November.

Along with last years offerings we hope to add grass-based beef, a laying flock for eggs and stew birds, as well as more of those things that you asked for and some that you did not.

We would like to hear from you one way or another by email or phone as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, bob

Local Food-The Inconvenient Truth

Hello Folks,

Welcome to our new FFT web blog. We will be using this venue to communicate information and chronicle and archive the activities related to our farm project. This format will also be a great way for you to communicate ideas and thoughts to us. This site will be interactive and all inclusive. We will continue to communicate via email when it is appropriate. We appreciate your responses to our year-end email and we will try to address the issues that arose in your responses. Before getting into the nuts and bolts of those issues, I would like to rewind a bit and restate the history and goals of our project and acknowledge the shortcomings and accomplishments of our inaugural season.

As most of you know we have been involved in food production for some time now. And every year about this time we take a look at the past season and evaluate what worked and what did not. Really, this process is no different if you are growing your own food or food for others. We just happen to be doing both.

As our farming skills have evolved, so has our understanding of the social and environmental issues related to eating. It was not too many years ago that we grew a summer garden and then went to the supermarket for our food during the remainder of the year. Relatively speaking we were doing more than most, but yet it felt incomplete. Upon moving to the North Country we noticed the difference between those that were homesteading, essentially trying to feed themselves for the whole year from our short growing season, and those that were farming in order to sell fresh produce during the same growing season. It became clear to us that we no longer wanted to participate in the commodified distribution of food. This system inspires competition amongst growers, leads to compromised production methods and uses a subsidized price structure as its baseline. The path we chose was one that required us to learn how to feed ourselves first. We spent 3 years adjusting our production to take the non growing months into account (i.e. grow enough of the storage and processing crops for future consumption). Once we did this we would be able to liberate ourselves for the most part from those imported food stuffs that we had come to rely on. Well, this was easier said than done. We did not take into account that we are not only producers, but also consumers. And by simply adjusting production to meet our goals without being prepared to adjust our diet (consumption) we would find ourselves back at the supermarket purchasing out-of-season and imported foods once again.

Here lies the inconvenient truth, the symbiotic relationship between adjusted production and adjusted consumption is what will make the local food movement or any other locally based movement work. This cannot be overstated. For too long producers have been led to believe that they need to alter natural production methods (ex: heated, plastic hoop houses to grow greens in the winter) in order to feed the desires of the consumer. Nothing substantive has ever been asked of the consumer, until now.
And so with this in mind, we have mindfully adjusted our diet to include as many of our home grown ingredients into every meal year round. This is not to say that we are purists by any measure. We do not feel bad about those things we still buy. On the contrary, we feel very good about those things we no longer buy. Our glass is more than half full and getting fuller.

What does all of this mean to you? Firstly, as you found out this year for better or worse, we asked a lot from you. Not only did you pay us, but you actively became involved in the production, processing and storage of your own food. This type of activism has the potential to inspire many an emotion. The experience was different for each of you, but you all shared in effecting change. I think we are onto something. National exposure for the simple act of chopping cabbage speaks volumes!

Regarding some of the practical issues that arose this season, such as what was seen as excess produce, one should look at the bigger picture. We are not operating like a standard farm. What we are doing is providing an opportunity for our group to take direct action regarding the thoughtful planning, production and consumption of their own food. As a group we can use our sustenance to make positive change.

Now we can understand how the quantities and varieties of produce you received this season was a bit overwhelming. Especially if you are not accustomed to eating seasonally and putting food up. Any garden big or small will provide either not enough or a surplus. It's just a matter of how you deal with it. After all of these years we still get caught up in the rush of processing. But if the goal is to grow and store, grow and store, only on the rarest occasion is the quantity truly over the top. (Zucchini, though, is a good example of enough already!) This is not to say that we have our production numbers dialed in exactly. The garden needs to be planned with the bare minimum in mind in case of a poor growing season. In so doing, when you have a good season there is a surplus or bounty. Extra food - not a bad problem. In those situations where you just have too much; perhaps you are going out of town, or you have put up all that you think you might need, you can and should pass on the extra to a neighbor etc.. just as you would if it were your own backyard garden. Every family's needs vary. All we can do is distribute the shares and expect that you will do what needs to be done to make sure the food is utilized in the best possible manner.

A couple of questions come to mind - How much of your diet this winter is coming from FFT? With better planning and more experience, could you have put up more food? Last but not least, are you still buying vegetables at the supermarket? The answers to these questions will tell us if it was too much food to process or too much food to eat. Some of you have requested an " a la carte" type of plan. We can certainly grow more of some items when there is general consensus. However, tailoring the distribution to meet the varying tastes within the group would be unreasonably complicated. As far as the root and storage crops go, it needs to be understood that if we are to eat in season and from within our local environs, these crops play a crucial role because they require no processing, have no unnatural storage requirements and provide us with much needed raw food during the winter months. These crops are a true carbon neutral part of our diet. We will not stop growing or distributing root and storage crops. We will however, continue to fine tune quantities. For this project to be fully realized, there needs to be a willingness on your part to process the food as it becomes available and more importantly, be willing to introduce new items into your diet and meal planning. The transition to a more sustainable relationship with our food need not be overnight. And it is not necessarily important where we are on this path individually, but it is crucial that we are all on the path together. It is the collective energy and flexibility of the group that will help prepare us for the uncertain times ahead.

We were not without our shortcomings and setbacks this year. For the first time, we had a garlic failure. A reminder from Mother Nature that nothing is certain, not even garlic. We did plant 1,500 or so cloves this fall, so we should be in better shape this summer. Another bee sting event and an overnight hospital stay reinforced the need for a back up plan to deal with chores in case of future emergencies. Thanks again to those of you that stepped up in this time of need. We will also need to take a better look at your ability to store veggies through the winter. Most new home construction and remodeling has turned a blind eye to this important asset. We are more than willing to advise you on what is possible and necessary for your particular location.

We plan on continuing to do livestock in one form or another. The prices for grain went up throughout all of last season, greatly narrowing the already thin margins, and so we are looking into more pasture based species to compliment our existing offerings. Ruminants require significantly less off-farm inputs.

The financial reality of our operation relative to other industries still falls in the category of "a labor of love". We look forward to creating a core group of shareholders to delve deeper into the economic , social and practical realities of food production and consumption.

Wow! You may be thinking, "All I want to do is eat good food and live my life. All of this other stuff is not a priority for me." If that is the case, then please think carefully about your participation. Because as we continue to challenge ourselves as producers and consumers, the same will be asked of you. With this in mind, please let us know if you would like to continue to be informed as we plan this coming season.

thanks,
bob and valerie