From the market garden.

On a whole we feel it’s been a great season for the market garden.  

We have had some stunning crops throughout the season with some of the favorites being the late carrots, dill, sweet corn, Chinese cabbage and the consistent crisp salad mix.  

The long dry period late summer and autumn gave our autumn and winter crops a bit of grief such that our cabbages, Japanese turnip, broccoli and cauliflower yields have not been so great.  As a testament to the diverse CSA seasonal veggie box model, we have still been able to provide a great value and a  range of veggies each week.

Winter boxes will be a little less abundant for the last few weeks and the last box will be on the 24^thof July.  As hard as it is not to see our crops reach their full potential and make it to our valued customers place , we have to accept that we can't “win them all” and plan to improve for next time.  

In terms of box numbers, demand continues to increase and at times we have had a small waiting list.  More and more people are seeking out farm direct veggies from the Jing Clinic in Lilydale and Upwey food hubs which has been great.   

A massive thanks to all our members and special acknowledgement to our members who made the time to come to help out on a Tuesday and for the hands on the land days. This connection and participation is at the heart of our CSA model and it really warms my heart and gives me a boost to see big smiles on our member’s faces getting out on the land!  

Thanks again for playing your part of the CSA and we hope you can join us next season when we start back up again in late December.

Spring news from the Veggie Patch

Wow! What a spring! It's been a very challenging start to the growing season with the wet conditions making work out on our clay soils very difficult.  Not to mention the odd hurricane or two to cause a bit of havoc also!

A large portion of our first plantings have been done mostly by hand tools to avoid damaging our soil with heavy machinery. This has been bloody hard work!  On the upside the regular rain has been great for the crops once in the ground and the following crops are looking good for spring boxes; spring onions, coriander, silver beet, spinach, stir-fry mix, luscious salad mix, radish, Japanese turnip, parsley, kohl rabi, kale. Crops that haven’t faired so well have been the first plantings of broad bean and peas (however we expect a decent harvest early summer.  Summer crops are going in this week and we are all looking forward (all going well), to an abundance of zucchini, tomato, eggplant, capsicum, celery, broccoli, cabbage, onions, pumpkin, cucumber, potato and leeks just to name a few!

We are very grateful to have a team of Market Gardening interns Monique, Tamzin and Justine who have put in some serious hard work battling wet clay to get our crops in. I figure if they still want to market garden after a spring with us then they will be unstoppable to fulfill their dream of running their own enterprise!  We are also grateful for the help of our work exchange crew and active members for your help in getting the crops in the ground.

 

Spring onions and greens doing well in the ground

From a business perspective we really are at the make or break time this season. We must make enough return this year in order to justify the labor and expense in growing food the way we do- by hand and with love and respect for our mother earth.  You have to be very passionate about this type of farming. Luckily I am, which is why I’m having another go this season.  Behind the scenes of the hard work, I have a solid belief that by changing our food eating behavior and supporting local farms directly by both purchasing and participating we meet ALL the challenges of our times; climate change, reigniting our local economy and building a strong and connect community where together we meet our fundamental human needs.

Remember when you participate in our CSA your not just buying veggies, your actually part of an environmental,  social and spiritual transformation.  

We are almost at capacity with the first few weeks of boxes and we hope to take on another 10-15 more members as the season progresses. If you’re interested please fill out our online form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/171DpCvURiW-q5jx4WrX6qJzc77LVIBzqI1SNyr6XC-w/viewform?edit_requested=true

Thanks to all our existing members for your ongoing support and feedback. If anyone has any testimonials we would love to hear from you and share your story with potential new members.

With gratitude,

Farmer Trav and the PEACE Farm growing team!

The beauty of organic farming

I took so much pleasure in picking the silverbeet and rainbow chard this morning for our veggie boxes. I had to search through the mandala gardens to find the chard amongst so many other herbs, veggies and weeds . 

 It made me appreciate the amazing wild confusion and vibrant colors that nature gives us in our beautiful organic garden. The perfect imperfections of slightly chewed leaves and finding tiny snails and slugs under some of the stems. For me it's a sign of all the elements working together beneficially without the need for chemical control or forced neatness. 

This is nature at it's best. One thing that  has stood out for me as a participant in PEACE Farms first PDC (Permaculture Design Course) is a quote from Bill Mollison's  PERMACULTURE A Designers' Manual: 'Order is found in things working beneficially together. It is not the forced condition of neatness, tidiness, and straightness all of which are, in design terms, disordered. True order may lie in apparent confusion'. 

Helping with the veggie boxes is also a way to truly connect with the veggies that we eat and enjoy. 

Thank you to our active members Rachel and Angela for helping with today's pick and pack, laying out our gorgeous multicolored beetroots.

Some more perfect imperfections...