Albert caring for the transplants in the greenhouse

 

Besides the warming weather, we know that it is spring on the farm when our interns arrive to join us for the season. For the past six years we have welcomed agriculture students from various parts of the world to learn the practical side of good, healthy farming. The intern's experience here is life changing. Some of them have little experience actually working with the soil; and by the time they leave us, they more fully understand the theoretical knowledge they learned at their university. Few have yet experienced growing such a wide range of different crops. When they return home, many will finish their graduate degrees; many will start their own farms; some will enter government positions; but all will have wonderful thoughts of America. Most interns come to see America in a very positive light and return home with their newfound realities of America. In this way all those on the farm and members of the farm become part of America's long term diplomatic efforts to share our values and way of life to others. Many foreigners come to see America the way Hollywood portrays us. I believe we as a group of New Englanders have the capacity, even if in a small way, to set the tone for the future world peace by showing these young adults the goodness that is America.

Early in 2011 I was delivering a greenhouse training in the Republic of Georgia. Just south of the Caucus Mountains and just inland from the Black Sea, one of the attendees stood out from the rest. He was a young agronomist, just out of college, working for the local municipality trying to help local farmers in technical issues of growing their crops.

In May of 2013 Albert arrived in New England to spend the season at Farmer Dave's. It was great to see his eyes light up when he saw another farming practice which he had studied in theory years before. Albert returned to Georgia and worked with farmers in different parts of his country. When I returned to work in Georgia in 2014, Albert accompanied me in visiting many different vegetable greenhouses. We worked as an efficient and effective team. I interviewed the grower about their practices and how they were growing their crops. Albert inspected the greenhouse crops themselves, taking water and soil samples to measure acidity, nutrient levels and look for possible problems in the crops. We would then discuss with the grower the problems found, how they arose and what could be done to correct and prevent the problems in the future. In 2016 we welcome Albert back again to Farmer Dave's so that he can learn more about the different managerial aspects of the farm. One day Albert would like to have his own farm in Georgia. He knows that it is not easy to begin a viable farm, not in Massachusetts or Georgia. But in learning more of the practical aspects of running a farm, he will help to ensure his future success.

Please welcome Albert and all of our interns to the farm and to America.

Farmer Dave

 

 

Did you know that Farmer Dave's hosts pick ups for two other exciting Community Supported Programs at our Dracut pick-up location on Tuesdays?

We host a pick-up for New Hampshire Community Seafood's fish share. Take home fresh, locally caught fish along with your vegetables and fruit! Learn more and sign up directly through the New Hampshire Community Seafood website. The Spring/Summer session starts May 3rd!

We also host a pick-up for Tansy and Mallow's flower share. Ten Tuesdays of beautiful flowers starting in July! Learn more and sign up directly through the Tansy and Mallow website. These beautiful flowers are a mile from our Dracut farm!

Some of these greens may appear in your share this week. Use this chart to help identify them!

 

The following items may make an appearance in your shares this week.  The actual contents of your share may differ based on harvest conditions.  As always Mother Nature ultimately dictates what is available.   

• Carrots
• Kale
• Spinach
• Baby Lettuce Mix
• Shiitake Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm
• Mint
• And more!

Unsure what's in your share? Check out our  produce ID guide for help identifying any new to you vegetables. You'll be a CSA pro in no time! 

 

 

from New York Times

Thanks to generous donations by you (CSA members) to the Groundwork Share-A-Share™ fund, we were able to subsidize the cost of shares in 2015 for over thirty individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.

Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by donating to Groundwork Share-A-Share.