In This Week’s Box
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- Pink Lady Apples, Cuyama, New Cuyama, CA
- Navel Oranges, Hass Avocados, Olsen Organic Farm, Lindsay, CA
- Kiwi, Brandt Farms, Reedly, CA
- Ruby Red Grapefruit, Sundance, Oceanside, CA
- Golden Nugget Mandarins, Cunningham Organic Farm, Fallbrook, CA
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From Farmer Al
Dear CSA Members,
Rain in the forecast! OK, let it rain. We’ve got our “cots”. They’re on the tree and growing……some of them are already the size of my index finger nail. Plums? Still too early to tell. Some varieties are just now at full bloom, so we’re spraying compost tea to; hopefully, prevent the dreaded brown rot. Peaches and Nectarines, same story. So, we’re not out of the woods, yet, but we’re hopeful, if not confident, that our ‘good’ compost tea will work. We know our tea is good because we (Christophe and I) analyze it under an electron microscope before applying it and it’s got lots of good guys in it: beneficial fungi, bacteria, protozoa, amoeba, ciliates, and nematodes, all of which will compete with or consume brown rot spores.
Meanwhile, we’re also applying pollen to the blossoms using a specially designed blower which is mounted on an ATV, driving between the tree rows, blowing pollen up into the trees (we get the pollen from companies who gathered it by hand last year and kept it frozen for use this year. The fruits that require this cross-pollination are cherries, pears, plums, and some varieties of apricots. Historically farmers rely on bees to do this work, and we do have lots of bees here on the farm. The mechanical application is just that extra effort we take to insure good pollination. Now, it’s all about the weather. “Mother Nature” is still in Command!
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Join us on March 18th, 2012 for a Blossom Walk in the Orchards with Farmer Al!
2012 Blossom Walk at Frog Hollow Farm
Sunday, March 18th, 2012 (10:30am – 2:30pm)
FROG HOLLOW FARM
11435 Brentwood Blvd.
Brentwood, CA 94513
Farmer Al will be giving walking tours of the farm between 10:30am and 2:30pm. Bring your friends & family for this beautiful look at Frog Hollow Farm. The cherry, apple, and pear trees will be in full bloom!
Bring a picnic lunch for your group
Wear comfortable walking shoes! Shoes that can get muddy if it’s wet! We don’t expect it to rain heavily Sunday, and will likely proceed if it’s raining, because we don’t expect serious showers.
Call us for more information: 925.634.2845 x 206 or email csa@froghollow.com
CSA News
Next season’s CSA, the Beloved Spring/Summer season, is almost ready on happchildcsa.com! You can enroll in the Spring Season, which begins in May, shortly! Thanks for your patience and support.
As continuing members from one season to another, you will be eligible for a discount of up to %15 if you pay for the whole season.
Postcards! CSA postcards were sent in last weeks’ box. These are for you to enjoy and distribute to anyone you think might want to know more about the CSA. Some call it a Froggy Box, some call it a fruit box…whatever it means to you, please share fresh fruit with friends and let them know about Happy Child CSA. If you’d like to have more to give out, please let Melissa know.
We have a new CSA Community Outreach position, filled by Lael Gerhardt. We’ll formally introduce Lael to everyone soon, but if you hear from Lael in the meantime, be sure to welcome her to Frog Hollow!
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