CSA Newsletter 9/30
Well the time finally came; I pushed the clutch down and it never came back up. It might be a hydraulic cylinder line thingamajig or it might be the entire clutch, but either way, Old Blue is off the road for a bit.
Old Blue is an old friend. She came to us from the farm we apprenticed at called Rippling Waters Organic Farm on River Rd in Standish, right on the Saco. There, Old Blue was the market truck for the Bridgton Farmers Market. Marina would drive it alone over the winding hills and down into Bridgton and set up a stand much similar to the one we set up now, using the same metal stands and wooden boards for tables.
When Richard Rudolph decided to retire and sell the farm and move to Portland he sold us the truck for a song, as Marina had grown to love it. We took the sign off it and made it our own and have loved it ever since. Old Blue is a 1995 Ford F150 with a lot of miles still left, so she might sit for the winter but she will be back.
In her place comes The Beast: a big old V8 cargo van. We have long needed a winter vehicle that can move the bulk of our winter CSA, speaking of which.
And here it is, the last share. We will put the vegetables into bags and load the bags into cars and wash our hands, another season in the books. The soil has been good to us this year, the weather too; for a bunch of bellyachers (farmers, that is) we have very little to gripe about this year. You, dear eater, have been good to us too and we thank you for coming along.
For all the carrots we pulled and potatoes we washed, for all the kale we bunched and the onions we snipped, for all the hard work you too have had to toil. Fastidiously and diligently boiling, chopping, roasting, planning, thinking, sizzling – all to turn what we do into what you do, which is feed yourself and feed your family. So here’s to you, cheers, for all your work, for deciding that your diet is important, and for taking action in a world where it is so easy to let these very important decisions go on autopilot.
Hopefully we see you next year, any suggestions on how we can make our CSA program more enjoyable, more delicious, please let me know. We are always striving to be better in our farming and our business.
