Update as of Feb 1, 2011
We met the 10-box minimum for both Feb 10 and 24. There is still time to sign up. Get your orders in by 8AM Friday Feb 4 to Neighborhood Grinds (NG) for delivery on Feb 10. Get your orders in by 8AM Friday Feb 18 for delivery on Feb 24. Download the February form and turn it in at NG.
The original entry
I buried the lead in the last post, so I am reiterating the programmatic part here.
Due to problems with the Farm2TableConnect system, both Lincoln and Adams are reverting back to the old paper ordering system through June 2011.
In reviewing his expenses last year, Farmer Tanaka realized that CSA delivery costs were putting the CSA program in the red. In 2011, he needs to strictly enforce his 10 box minimum in order to maintain delivery to a group.
The Adams/Neighborhood Grinds group had previously enjoyed weekly deliveries, but we fell short of the 10 box minimum on most weeks by a few boxes. If we can have the same number of orders per month, and move everyone to delivery on the same biweekly schedule, we should be able to meet the minimum.
If you used to order weekly small boxes, consider getting a large box on a biweekly basis. Our family of three finds that the large box lasts us about 1.5 weeks. We sometimes do supplemental shopping at the El Segundo farmers' market (Thursdays 3-7 on Main street) on our off weeks.
If we get our subscriber count up, we may be able to offer weekly deliveries in the future. So recruit your friends and tell them about the strawberries.
Adams and Lincoln will both offer biweekly deliveries, on the same Thursdays of each month. That will help keep the farm expenses to a sustainable level and reduce the carbon input of your food.
If we don't make the 10 box minimum, then we all don't get our strawberries. :-(
Don't delay, download the February order form now.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Winter Strawberries 2011
It's time to rehash a post from January 2010. Here's what I wrote then:
That means the strawberry plants has started to bear fruit, but not in CSA quantities, in January. CSA subscribers will start getting strawberries in their boxes in February.
In reviewing his expenses last year, Farmer Tanaka realized that CSA delivery costs were putting him in the red. In 2011, he needs to strictly enforce his 10 box minimum in order to maintain delivery to a group.
Adams and Lincoln will both offer biweekly deliveries, on the same Thursdays of each month. That will help keep the farm expenses to a sustainable level and reduce the carbon input of your food.
Due to problems with the Farm2TableConnect system, both Lincoln and Adams are moving back to the old paper ordering system. If we don't make the 10 box minimum, then we all don't get our strawberries. :-(
Don't delay, download the February order form now.
True winter strawberries (rather than those imported from a warmer clime) are a rare and precious commodity. They look pretty ordinary, but they are the most amazingly sweet strawberries we have ever tasted.Last Fall, Glenn Tanaka had difficulty finding strawberry starts. I would link to his blog posts from that time period about that, but his blog appears to keep only recent entries. The delay in finding strawberry starts and the October rains meant that he planted a month late this year. Shift the time scale from the 2010 story back a month.When we took the Tanaka Farms CSA family day tour, Glenn Tanaka told us that the first crop of strawberries in the season are his favorite. They plant strawberries in October/November. By the end of December, the first strawberries ripen. Winter berries are the smallest and sweetest strawberries the plant will ever produce.
They mature more slowly due to the cold weather and shorter days. There are only a few, not enough for commercial harvest. Glenn says he and the rest of the TF family love to walk the fields then, searching for strawberries under the leaves and eating them right away.
By January, there are a bit more--enough to share with the CSA families. Last week, we received two pints of these ambrosial berries in our CSA box. In February-March, when the days get warmer and longer, the plants go into full-scale production. They can pick the plants every few days because the berries grow and ripen so quickly. They will also be bigger, but they will never be as sweet and precious as those early season jewels.
That means the strawberry plants has started to bear fruit, but not in CSA quantities, in January. CSA subscribers will start getting strawberries in their boxes in February.
In reviewing his expenses last year, Farmer Tanaka realized that CSA delivery costs were putting him in the red. In 2011, he needs to strictly enforce his 10 box minimum in order to maintain delivery to a group.
Adams and Lincoln will both offer biweekly deliveries, on the same Thursdays of each month. That will help keep the farm expenses to a sustainable level and reduce the carbon input of your food.
Due to problems with the Farm2TableConnect system, both Lincoln and Adams are moving back to the old paper ordering system. If we don't make the 10 box minimum, then we all don't get our strawberries. :-(
Don't delay, download the February order form now.
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