from the farmers

Hello CSA members. I've been reading over the blog posts here and I think the food is presented well. All that good cooking! Now I'm hungry.

Reading Dena's account of roasting a chicken for the first time reminded me of the first time I attempted the same thing. I too had to cook it for longer. Everyone's oven is different and you really have to figure out how your oven cooks things to know the right time and temperature. That chicken sure was good once I had it cooked long enough. I'm sold on pasture raised chicken. The Osmunds work with nature and it is proven out by the results.

We thought it'd be nice for us to give you some more background on us, why/how we got into this career and our viewpoint on being sustainable and eating locally.

Like everyone, we're concerned about the environment and how our food is being grown. As children we all had professions we dreamed of becoming. For both of us we realized early on we wanted to be farmers. Maybe we didn't quite understand what that meant, but there was something about farming that we found attractive. Neither of us grew up on a farm, so our options were limited. Clare got her education at summer camps where she got a chance to experience the wonder of the outdoors. Somewhere in there I managed to detassle corn for $3.35 an hour.That taught me more about farm labor than growing food.

Both of us got through our twenties and into our early thirties and we had each managed to build good careers. Clare worked her way to Education Director of a museum and I was a computer programmer for a nation-wide retailer. At this point we each had an ah-ha moment and decided it was time to pursue something that we really believed in.

As far as to why we farm like we do, it really comes down to our belief that all life is sacred and thatmodern industrial agriculture is doing great harm to life. We all know the great contribution Michael Pollen has recently made to the national awareness of our food production and the need to transform it. We agree with him that it needs to become sustainable. What does sustainable mean? Well, we're working through that ourselves andwelcome any feedback from members on this issue. For us we're starting with organic production, no-till and on-farm generated fertility. Conversations with other farmers, CSA members, food activists as well as active reading shape our thoughts on this complicated topic.

To have a sustainable planet we need to eat locally. When you know your farmer, then you can make sure the food you're eating is healthy. To grow healthy food year after year a farm needs to employ sustainable practices, else they have to rely on fossil fuel based fertilizers and herbicides. That's cheating and shows they don't understand soil fertility. Kind of like a do-over, or sweeping dirt under the rug. When you buy local from sustainable farmers you help nurture the knowledge and farming expertise we're going to need to get back to working with nature. In conclusion, I'd like to say once again how much we value our CSA members. We're honored that you participate in this with us. The season is long and farming can be a humbling experience. We're thankful for your support.

We look forward to meeting you again. It has been a while since the last potluck and I'm thinking we need to get the next one on the calendar!

[This post submitted by Mike]