Sep 29, 20223 min read

Many Hands {Week 18 CSA}

Updated: Oct 2, 2022

And just like that, another whoosh of a season has passed. Fall has reliably brought her crisp mornings to the farm and we know her freezing nights aren't far behind.

It looks as though we'll be sailing into October without a hard frost, which is perhaps a new normal. We used to always get our frost by the second week of September, but the last three years have been skewing that expectation. It's hard to complain about an extended peak season, as our peak growing season up here is fairly short. Despite the official end to peak season, the momentum of it all continues with daily harvests, outdoor bed prepping, and greenhouse tending to budding winter crops. Pauses at this hour are rare, but when it happens, we feel consumed by gratitude for the many people who put their faith in our hard work.

And you, amazing CSA members, are the leaders of that charge. You are the ones so committed to local, sustainable, and nutrient-dense produce that you paid for your harvest (blindly, we might add) before it even sprouted. You shouldered the risk of crop failures along with us and you shared in our delicious successes. And we are beyond grateful. So grateful, in fact, that we are dedicating this last little space for words entirely to singing your praises!

These days, there exists a unique variety of CSA-esque options. Some are prepared single or multi-meals, others are more raw like ours—but include produce from hundreds of miles away. Very few are representative of a single farm. The truth is, not only is it hard to grow dozens of varieties of veggies to keep a CSA bountiful and not overly redundant all season, it’s also challenging to find people who are willing to buy into a single-farm commitment like this. There are some clear advantages to sticking to a single farm CSA, such as getting to know your farmer well and having a strong understanding of how all of your bounty is grown, but it also comes with higher risk. Our little 1.5 acre farm does sit at 5200 feet, after all, so a serious failure of multiple crops is never that far-fetched.

Our gratitude doesn't fit neatly into words or even onto a bottomless digital page. It's a deep expansive feeling of hope swirled with humble warmth. It's knowing that you welcomed veggies you normally dislike and tried them in new ways. That you got creative with dill because our farm had a dillicious explosion for some reason this season (they were really, really big!). That you generously donated shares you couldn't pick up and that they nourished folks who hadn't realized how good carrots can taste. Our gratitude for our CSA members extends beyond any other form of support because it's rooted in a shared pursuit of something hopeful and enduring for our community and our children, and nothing is more powerful than folks aligned in collective purpose.

We appreciate your foresight and being the farm you chose. Our CSA members have proved to be an adventurous, warm, and interesting crowd. You are the people we would instantly find good conversation with, moving into worthwhile topics that expand curiosity and compassion. The kind of people who rally for food production that is regenerative versus extractive.

This is all to say, we think you're really awesome. We are blown away and encouraged by how many folks actually care about where their food is coming from, how it’s grown, and who is growing it. To us, it says fine things about where Reno is at (and where it’s heading) in the movement to a more sustainable future.