Dear Michaele Blakely,
Thank you for your interesting letter of 2/23/00
I like the fact that you have a CSA and also do markets.
How do you decide the share of each CSA member?
I raise this question because years ago I had a share in a CSA. They
were having trouble selling enough shares, so I purchased a second share,
but I also suggested that they make up the short-fall by doing a farmer's
market. They did not want to do that. I was told, in that case a share
would no longer be an equal part of the harvest. This puzzled me, for I
felt a farm should be able to do both. And you are doing both.
I am most interested to know how you balance the harvest between your
CSA members and the markets. What deal do you make beforehand with your CSA
members?
Someday, when you have the time, you should consider expanding your
letter with more details. It would make a very good guide for others to
follow.
Anyway, thank you again for your letter.
Donald Davison
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From: "Michaele Blakely" <mjb@premier1.net>
To: <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Re: How can micro-farming possibly be as productive as claimed?
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 08:44:48 -0800
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Lion Kuntz <lionkuntz@email.com>
>To: <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
>Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 8:16 PM
>Subject: How can micro-farming possibly be as productive as claimed?
>
> How can micro-farming possibly be as productive as claimed?
> Essay by Lion Kuntz, March 22, 2000
>
I must say, both of your essays have called to me. I farm on less than five
acres (on a total of 47) simply because I feel it wasteful to use so much
land to achieve what I feel is necessary to make a living. I share this
world with many individuals and feel that just because I have the power to
do so I should not take away their livelihood.
My work week is planned to be no more than 40 hours a week and I make a
great net income from my production fields. I use no heavy machinery. I
differ from your plan in that, I have a 50 member CSA, and do three markets
a week.
I have done this myself, but prefer to have people working with me, (at
least one). It shortens the work week, the enthusiasm of an intern is
catchy (it gets old after a decade) and I remember each year why I wanted to
do this in the first place. Plus I am passing on a method that I feel is
sadly neglected and looked upon as almost impossible to achieve.
I have a laying flock of around 400, and raise pastured broilers as well.
The laying flock is free-range, the broilers are in movable pens that start
out in the vegetable fields and then are moved to the boundaries of the
fields on pasture grass as the season progresses and I can no longer have
them in the fields. They become somewhat free-range towards the end of their
life as their need for more room becomes necessary. I am raising pigs this
season as well, and am looking into the beginnings of an aquaculture system.
I applied my principles to yours and find many differences in time,labor,
management etc. I'm wondering if this is because our end result we
determined is different, or because what you have proposed is a theory and
you have yet to experience practical application yet?
No matter, I would be interested in a dialogue, although at the moment I am
fast getting short of time, because after the work week is done, I'm a mom a
wife and a friend, so I probably would not get too involved with anything if
this was just surmise and theoretical discussion. But I would listen.
Michaele Blakely
Growing Things
Carnation Wa
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 05 2000 - 20:00:35 EDT