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Thursday September 1, 2011
Greetings CSA Members,
Denison Farm has been badly damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. The most pressing information is that we will not have a CSA box delivery this Saturday September 2. The farm roads, bridges are too damaged (or still under water) for us to put together a box. Flooding from the Tomhannock Creek that runs through the property has caused the damage. The water has washed out our main field, road, the ford we use to cross the creek, the foot/ATV bridge over the creek, and it has flooded all the low-lying fields. The high water destroyed a tomato greenhouse, all of our peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, most of our summer squash/zucchini, cucumbers, and about a third of our Fall tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choi, and broccoli raab. Any part of a field that was reached by floodwaters will not be harvested for fear of contamination from the floodwater. Some pictures/video of the damage can be seen on our Facebook page or on our website (www.denisonfarm.com)
We will definitely be back in business next week with a good, if a bit lighter, box of vegetables. Many of our crops are planted on higher ground (leeks, winter squash, salad greens, cooking greens, corn, all of the root crops and some of our broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts). They should be in good shape after a few sunny days. Our onions and garlic are all harvested and safely in storage.
It seems to me, farmers have more than their share of life’s ups and downs and I do heartily thank all of you for helping to smooth out those bumps by choosing to be a part of our CSA.
Thank you - Brian
Dear CSA Members,
I find it very difficult to begin this letter first because there is so much to tell of the destruction and secondly because you have all been so very supportive and appreciative of this farm. Sunday’s storm did not appear at first to bring the high winds and rain for which we had prepared so diligently for several days before. Plastic was removed from high hoops, hoses and an irrigation pump pulled from the creek, greenhouses anchored with wire and weights, crops harvested and the totes, boxes, and equipment moved to the back of the barns to be safe and secure. But no one ever suspected the damage from such flooding that we began to see after 8:00 Sunday evening.
(8:00PM Sunday) “We have just returned from a walk to the ford. Well, we tried to walk to the ford. The water is up to the underside of the footbridge and we can only make it down to the edge of the field where the blue hose crosses the road. The little field is a lake with rapids at the far end on the farm road close to the creek. Brian, Errol, and Walter all ventured (via the paved road) to the river field to check in on the caterpillar greenhouse. The water was to the tops of their legs inside that hoophouse - the peppers and eggplant completely submerged.”
However, during the night I could hear the creek roaring and I knew without looking that things had made a turn for the worse. If you go to our Facebook page, you will be able to see the amazing video Andrea created Monday mid-day. Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Denison-Farm-CSA/9586352458
Thus, this week there will be no CSA vegetable box. We can not ford, hike, or swim to the fields on the other side of the creek to harvest what grows on the higher ground nor is there anything left here of the peppers, eggplants, tomatillos, and summer squash/zucchini etc. on this side of the creek.
All we can offer to you is tomatoes. And so, if you would like tomatoes, please come on out to the farm, bring a big bag, and take some home with you.
We will be back up on our feet in no time and so please rest assured that both Brian and I along with all of our wonderful crew tending to the vegetables will provide boxes of vegetables once more. We are so very grateful for your support, your thoughts and prayers. We now ask for your patience and understanding. I would like to share with you an email from CSA Member Jillian Ehrenberg who states the partnership so clearly:
“You were talking last week about asking what CSA means to the members. I think it’s a great time to ask that question. It’s easy to answer it when times are good and plentiful and secure. What about now, when we may not see very much of anything in our weekly share? What does CSA mean then? Why do we do this? Why do I support you & eating locally?
I could go to Price Chopper and buy my peppers and tomatoes but I don’t and even if all of yours are gone for the season – which I am sure they aren’t - I won’t. I’ll go without. I’ve gotten nice and fat eating all of your good food and this may be the season I lose that weight (!). I know that next year things will be new again and the growing season will start up with great promise, and I support you because I have faith in the natural process and the growing season. I trust you and Brian and all of your crew to learn what you can about growing and use that knowledge to be good stewards to the plants. I trust you to hold on to a piece of Mother Nature that is being stolen away by developers. I expect you to live the life you want to live, just as I want to live the life I want to live, and I want to support you in doing so. I do this because I believe that even when times are bad, it won’t kill me, it won’t make me a worse person, and I won’t suffer more than I need to.
I invest in you because I am investing in my food system (which is always better than conventional agriculture even when floods take over), I am investing in our local land, and I’m investing in you, and with all of this, I’m investing in our future. So that is why I do it.”
With my heartfelt Thanks and commitment to our partnership,
I send to you my very best – Justine
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You received this email because you are a member of the Denison Farm CSA.
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