Dear Friends,

             Here we are the last hurrah!  The leaves have changed, the fields we’re not still harvesting from are cover cropped, and it looks like the first real freeze is on the horizon.

             Sometimes when we’re in the thick of it (August) the season feels so long and November seems so far away.  Then we arrive at the last share week and it feels like the season went by so fast.  This time of year it is nice for us farmers to stop, take a breath, and think back to last winter.

            From December to April, among other projects, we spend countless hours analyzing the past season going over things we did well or not so well.  We do a lot of critical thinking and formulate a master plan to hit the ground running with when spring calls.  If the farm were an etch a sketch winter would be the eraser, a white blanket giving way to a new beginning, a fresh start. 

            It is not only insightful but actually entertaining to think back to January of this year when all this food was just and idea, a plan, lines on a spreadsheet.  When we are in winter mode anything seems possible.  The excitement of a new season drives the creative thinker in us.  We say things like, “Next year we’ll do such a better job with our u-pick section” and then go on to present volumes of action plans to each other or to ourselves of how we’ll realize each of the probably over-enthusiastic goals we set for the farm. 

            Some of these goals we accomplished and were pleased with the result, others we never got to, and still others we accomplished but weren't happy with the result.  Now is the time to go back to the drawing board.  I like to think about our off-season mindset and in-season mindset as a little bit like the struggle between the architect and the builder.  Our winter spent drawing up the plan, going over the details, contemplative, slow, and cerebral.  The season hits we smell fresh dirt and it flips our internal builder’s switch... out comes the action guy, hammer in hand, ready to put the plan into motion.  The builder knows how to roll with the punches dealt by the season, when to stick to the architect’s master plan and when to say, “What the heck was the architect thinking here… well forget him he’s not out here fumbling around in the dirt, what does he know?”. 

            Looking back on it now with the season coming to a close the ambitions of the ever optimistic architect are almost laughable.  The builder has done what was possible with the resources at hand, made compromises, made improvements, given the architect new ideas and things to think about around the stove for the long winter ahead.  Above all the builder hopes to have done the architect proud.

             This season was challenging, fraught with disappointment but also accomplishment.  It’s humbling work this farming thing.  It is with great pleasure that we stop, take a breath, and look back over the season or even just at this week’s share and think despite the difficulties we were dealt by mother nature… look at the bounty we were able to coax from the earth!  We hope you enjoyed this season as much as we did.  We look forward to seeing you all next spring!  Thanks for your support!!!

On behalf of our all-star farm crew Max and Sue

Your Farmers,

Rob and Meghan

BULK SHARES STILL AVAILABLE !!!

Don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy Riverland Farm vegetables into the winter!! We haven’t yet hit our capacity for bulk storage crop shares so we’ve decided to extend the sign-up deadline to Nov. 14th (or until we sell out).  Tell your friends and neighbors!  The bulk share will be a 1 day distribution Sat. November 21st 9am-1pm

SHARES FOR 2010

We’ve recently had a lot more new shareholders sign up (earlier than usual).  As a result we expect to sell out of shares for 2010 earlier than in years past.  If you haven’t yet renewed your share don’t wait until it’s too late!!

SHOUT-OUTS and THANK YOUS

Just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the folks who have come out to volunteer this year.  We had lots of help especially with our potato harvest.  A special thanks to the crew of students from Deerfield Academy, led by shareholder Tim Trelease, who continue to help us twice a week with various projects.  Our core farm crew lost a member earlier than expected this year and as a result we leaned heavily on Max and Sue to pull us through the year.  Max will be back again next year after a well deserved vacation in New Zealand.  Sue is applying to grad school and may be  back on a part-time basis next year. Thanks so much to both of them for their hard work and dedication!!!