Spring 2009 CSA

Newsletter January 27, 2009

A week or so back I mentioned that the beginning of the Houston Rodeo has been historically greeted with lots of rain. While the trail riders were probably grateful, the dry kick-off for the rodeo was not good news for local growers/ranchers as we were all hoping for some rain, if only a little bit. With the prospect of drought in the southwest US getting worse, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced last week that it will not provide water for agriculture to at least 200 local water districts in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Municipalities and industrial customers will receive half their allotments. For the first time, water districts in the Sacramento Valley will receive a 0% water allocation from the Bureau of Reclamation. If some specialty crop acreage is left fallow, due to the lack of irrigation water, the prospect of less California tomatoes, carrots, onions and melons could result in higher prices for everyone. Hopefully all of us, including our neighbors to the west, will pull through this drought situation.

While on the subject of carrots, we planted several beds of carrots this week and watered them gently, but heavily. The gripe I have with carrots is that they take forever to germinate. With most of our farm crops taking only a few days to sprout and get growing, it is almost torture waiting for carrots to let their presence be known. While Mother Nature’s may be reminding us “patience is a virtue,” the weed seeds are not thinking the same. If there is any consolation, the beets that we planted at the same time are already showing tiny stems rising above the soil line.

Other activities this past week allowed us to complete all of our broccoli and cauliflower transplanting. Looks like we had a deer get in our broccoli patch, but by the looks of the tracks, this deer was undergoing some degree of anxiety as it appeared to be more interested in “getting out of the electric fence maze” than “doing lunch.” Farmers need to file before March 1st, so unfortunately, I had to spend two more days than I had anticipated preparing my tax info for my accountant. Regretfully, our potato plantings got delayed a week.

Looking forward to the week ahead, all potato beds are prepared and the irrigation water at our lease is now connected. Hopefully, with tax season behind me, we can get our potatoes in the ground on Monday and Tuesday. The tomato seedlings in our hoophouses are looking nice and healthy. While the weather forecast suggests some more nights down in the 30s, we’ll ideally get a few of our tomatoes in the ground this week. FYI, the pepper plants are a few weeks behind our first wave of tomatoes. As mentioned last week, we will begin seeding zucchini, cucumbers and squash in our hoophouses with the prospect of having them transplanted into the ground by mid-late March.

At the Bayou City Farmers Market this Saturday, Feb, 28th, we will have the following:

• Baby Salad Mix
• Micro Arugula
• Micro Green Blend
• Pulled Pork
• Whole Smoked Chickens

Until next time,

Van
Cell 713 876 8645
csa@woodduckfarm.com