10/8/09

Nitty Gritty News October 8th




From The Farmers

It's gray again this morning. We had sunshine for a while yesterday but with cool temps and breezes, everyone dressed in layers to be able to compensate from one moment to the next. Thanks to all of you who came to the farm festival. We had a great time. The Farm Games included building a tower with a variety of items topped with a small pumpkin, and tossing tomatoes from one side of the row into a bucket (held by a team member) a few feet away. We found out the hard way that some of the green tomatoes were so hard, they bounced right back out of the bucket.
The rain held off for the most part.

Yesterday, the goat kids decided to take a walk on their own, and opened their gate. This is a new skill, and one which may prove to be quite inconvenient, even though it's slightly endearing. We tried wrapping the gate chain in the other direction and tucking it in on itself. Hopefully that will hold them in.

We have loved being your farmers this year and watching shareholders open the boxes at the drop sites, like unwrapping birthday presents. We will look forward to next vegetable season, which for us will begin when the seed catalogs arrive in February. In the meantime, there will be compost to haul and sprinkle on the fields, winter housing for the animals to prep, breeding, lambing, kidding, (goats), and the list goes on. We will continue to update the blog throughout the winter.

When you pick up your share today, you are welcome to take the box with you. We will be purchasing new boxes for next season. For those of you who still have meat coming, we will be contacting you about delivery which will be a separate day from the veggie delivery. The turkeys have not been processed yet. That will begin next week and we'll contact those of you who ordered them at that time.

The blog next week will incude some 2010 membership information. We will be staying with 100 shares again next year. It's a good fit for the farm.

Thanks again for a wonderful year. Until next week...


What’s in your SHARE this week:

Squash – Assortment which will include some of the following: Butternut (cream colored on giant peach shape), Sweet Dumpling (green and beige striped on a heart shape) Cream of the Crop, Potimarron (small orange), Blue Magic, Delicata (green and orange stripes on beige long), and Buttercup (dark green)
Onions – Walla Walla or Candy (sweet yellow), Candy Apple Red
Turnips – Just Right
Tomatoes – Paragon (large red)
Carrots - Chantenay and Cosmic Purple
Potatoes - Norland
Kohlrabi - Winner
Bok Choy - Mei Quin Choi
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DROP SITES

Use the addresses to google or mapquest or look up the drop site from your particular location. Keep in mind that the folks at the drop sites are volunteers, allowing us to use their space (and in some cases, their homes) as drop sites. Be nice to them. We couldn't do this without them. If you have any questions about your share etc., you should ask us, not them. They have enough to do....as do we all. All deliveries occur on Thursday afternoons. Approximate drop site times are listed below each location. The end times vary but you should pick up your share as early as possible. Look for the NITTY GRITTY DIRT FARM DROP SITE signs at your delivery locations along with lists to check your name off when you pick up, and a description of exactly what you should take.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm
10386 Sunrise Road (Cty Rd 9)
Harris MN 55032

35 north past North Branch to the Harris Exit. Turn Right.
Go into Harris, cross RR tracks to stop sign. Turn Left
Go 2 blocks to County Rd 9, also called Sunrise Road. (at Heartbreakers Bar) Turn Right. Farm is 4 1/2 miles out on left side of road. Look for Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm sign.
Shares available from 3:00 to 6:00

United Theological Seminary 3000 5th Street NW, New Brighton MN 55112
694 to Silver Lake Road exit. Go south to 5th and turn west (right). Go three blocks to UTS. Follow driveway (left) to the maintenance garage at the far north end of the parking lot. Shares available after 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM.

Pilgrims United Church of Christ
8801 Rice Lake Road, Maple Grove MN 55369
Just off of Weaver Lake Road across from Rice Lake Elementary School. Use main church door. Shares available from 3:30 to 6:00.

Acadia Cafe
329 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis
NW corner of Cedar and Riverside. Park on Riverside or
in lot behind the cafe.
Shares available after 3:15 PM until 6:00 PM

Vincent Avenue
3646 Vincent Avenue North, Mpls MN 55412
1/2 block north of 36th Ave N, and 2 blocks south of Dowling. Park on the street. Shares available after 3:30 until 6:00 PM

Additional drop sites may be added as shares are sold. Drop Sites are subject to change but plenty of notice will be given and alternate sites will be within close proximity to the original drop site.

FARM CONTACT INFORMATION

Robin Raudabaugh & Gigi Nauer

Nitty Gritty Dirt Farm

10386 Sunrise Road

PO Box 235

Harris MN 55032


(651) 226-1186


nittygrittydirtfarm@gmail.com

Also Nitty Gritty Goods Wool CSA
Robin Raudabaugh
651-216-9012
nittygrittygoodswool@gmail.com

We are a 15 acre Community Supported Agriculture farm providing a wide variety of fresh, organically and sustainably grown vegetables, fruit, lamb, pork, turkey and chicken. Located one hour north of the Twin Cities, we deliver to several metro locations. We are intentional about our organic and sustainable farming practices which include (but are not limited to): maintaining soil health through green and animal manures, compost, mulch, cover crops and crop rotations; Organic Pest Management to naturally monitor, prevent and control insects and other pests; maintaining animal health and well-being through the use of portable and loose housing and pasture rotations. Owner/operators Robin Raudabaugh and Gigi Nauer provide over 30 years experience in fruit, vegetable and livestock production, education and customer service. Our primary goal is to build community, relationships and personal health and well-being around good food and the intentional living that creates it. We’d love to have you join us.

Not every day is like this but we try.

Not every day is like this but we try.

Not every day is like this either.

Not every day is like this either.