CSA Fall Season, Week 12 (Final Week!)

Christmas Winds

Never mind that October was the driest on record. Forget that November has been one of the hottest and most humid in memory. The Christmas winds are coming. In fact, they might already be here.

One of our seedling benches we've had out since May, now heavy with the bulging weight of trays and trays of new starts for the winter season CSA, lost its clear plastic roof to the increasing gusts. Even as we got a soaking rain last week, it seems dry already. This is the time to get those seedlings in the ground, and we are moving fast to do so. 

Before our farm manager Patrick leaves on Friday, he is finishing up our irrigation upgrades as we open up 4 additional acres for  winter plantings. New Managers jim and Claudia have been busy raising their new crops and before we know it we will be in the most productive cycle in Ridge to Reef or VISFI history! 

CSA Winter 2013 Memberships are selling like johnny cakes in our first round of member renewals, as we have finally figured out all the daunting logistics of getting our food across the territory. So far, just under half of last year's 78 different members have renewed, and with additional commitments made, we hope to get at least a 75% return rate before the registration period ends Dec 31. It is time now to go to the waiting list, so if you want to renew, please do so soon, because once it's full, it's full, even if it's before the 31st:)

We have officially one more week in the Fall season, only to St. Thomas since we had two weeks canceled in the season due to boat issues. Then we will get a nice little break before launching into the winter season on Jan 31st! 

The winds bring change. They stroke the hills and lands with pure energy. They carry us through the interval between the seasons. This year, they carry us through not only an annual seasonal change, but a monumental period of celestial events surrounding the cycling of the Mayan calendar. What kind of affect will this have on our new legions of food crops? We don't know, but we are open for changes, and we surelywelcome the blessed winds!

Sincerely,


     Nate
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From the Field...

Hello CSA members!

We’ll be your farmers at Ridge to Reef Farm for the Winter 2013 Season. Our names are Jim and Claudia – we just moved to the island from Santa Cruz, California. We’ve spent the last 3 years learning how to farm. We’re excited to be in St. Croix, and have lots on our plates to prepare for a season full of delicious fruits and vegetables!

A few months ago our fields were sown with a nitrogen-rich cover crop, Sunn Hemp (Crotalaria) to provide nutrients to our soil. Now, with the yellow flowers of the Sunn Hemp in peak bloom, we’re preparing the field with a tractor to get it ready to plant our young seedlings. At the same time we’re sowing seeds like heirloom tomatoes, genovese basil and sweet pepper in trays where they’ll stay under the protection of a hoophouse until they’re old enough to be put in the ground.

We hope you continue as CSA members, and we look forward to meeting all of you!


Claudia Seixas & Jim Marzluff, R2R Farm Managers

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FARM WISH LIST

Got some things laying around we can re-use in the CSA?

Last season we got egg cartons, more reusable bags, a blender, some garden hoses, a trash bin, and other great things that we use and were saved from going to the landfill or rotting in a shed. THANK YOU!

• shallow, sturdy plastic trays
• milk crates
• plastic bags
• coolers
• zip-locks
• popsicle sticks
• tarps/canvas/sails/rope
• any working garden tools
• chainsaw, weed-eater
• carpentry
• sign-making, any plywood or wood we can use for signs (non -treated)
• your CSA bags
• egg cartons
• feedback
  

M2M (Member to Member)

We invite you to take part in the creation of our weekly newsletters.

Email us your recipes and pictures, your experiences with the R2R Farm or your thoughts on sustainable farming matters.

We then will fit it in and share it in one of our upcoming newsletters.

We look forward to your responses!



Ridge to Reef Farm @ the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute
PO Box 2903 - Frederiksted USVI 00841 - www.visfi.org - 340.220.0466 - info@visfi.org

This Week's Harvest

Green-leaf Lettuce

Red-leaf Lettuce

Fall salad mix

Chaya

Bananas

Bok Choy

Moringa Leaves

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FARM RECIPES

Bok Choy Stir Fry

Dennis just whipped up this deilghtful dish for us after we all returned from the beach last weekend.

Stir fry dishes are a simple and easy way to use up your leftovers and farm produce. For this meal, we used some extra veges left over from the Slow Down Dinner the night before, along with fresh bok choy and peppers. We encourage you to be creative and make it your own with what you have available!

Ingredients

Bok Choy
Seasoning peppers
Onion
Ginger, freshly grated
Soy Sauce
Olive oil


Preparation

Chop onions and saute in olive oil. Add seasoning peppers, ginger, and soy sauce. Allow flavors to meld together. Peel and wash bok choy leaves and add to stir fry. Cook until they are tender and wilted. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Want more inspiration?
Look through our recipes database compiled from over 20 weeks of CSA in 2012!

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We need your help, we need your hands: Volunteer at Ridge to Reef Farm!

Farming with a small crew trying to provide organic and local food for a big community isn't always easy. You can help us by joining our VOLUNTEER days every Saturday from 7:30 am to 11:30 am. A group cooked lunch with mostly ingredients from the farm will be the reward for hungry farmers and gives the opportunity to lean back and relax.

Bring your family, bring your friends and enjoy spending time in nature, having fun by being part of a great vision. We gladly welcome every person who finds the way up to the farm!

You'd like to come up another day of the week? Just contact us at 340.220.0644.

THANK YOU HOSTS!

Polly's at the Pier
Frederiksted, St. Croix 3:30-5:30pm Wed

Barefoot Buddha 
Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 11:30am-1:30 pm Thurs

Miriam's Restaurant Christiansted, St. Croix
4 -5:30pm Sun