50 Gardens (and counting)
Wonderful greetings from Farmer K:
On Saturday eve we held a Farmers’ Convocation. Calliope of Calliope’s Table, Tom of Mall56, Farmer K & Deva of Sunroot Gardens. Among the four of us we have 50 plots around Greater Southeast. Sunroot has 11 $-paying CSA subscribers, with room for 2 more shares (inquire with Farmer K if interested). Calliope has 8-9, possibly with room for more later. Tom is interested in market gardening, including the new farmers’ market we have been invited to start on Hawthorne this summer.
From this network, harvest & distribution of produce will happen 3 times a week from at least 3 different locations starting June-ish. Farmer K plans to distribute to Sunroot CSA folks on WEDNESDAYS from the Firepit. SUNDAYS will be the Hawthorne farmers’ market. FRIDAY is for helpers, land-lenders, barter, etc., from a location TBA. Calliope will be distributing to her CSA folks on one or more of those three days.
By comparison, during the 2009 season, when Sunroot partnered with Melanie Plies’ CSA, Backyard Booty, the network had 40 gardens, with 40 CSA households altogether, with distribution divided between 2 days. This year there are about two dozen CSA households, the number being lower so as to have more produce for everyone all around: subscribers, helpers, farmers.
WE WILL ANNOUNCE WHEN this new distribution schedule starts, and where from. In the meantime, there are no scheduled CSA pick-ups for either CSA, until May or whenever we start. If you are a Sunroot subscriber wanting greens, come by the Firepit and harvest some yourself as you would like. If preferred, call Farmer K first to meet there and see what/how to pick.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL:
So this is quite an operation we’ve got going here. None of the four farmers own any of the land they are farming, and are sharing as much as possible. So we find ourselves witnesses to and perpetrators of new economies of gift and trade that are emerging below the radar of the crashing mainstream money culture.
One of these seasons — maybe this one — we human creatures in the industrialized West will find ourselves with a food system that is no longer providing enough for everyone. When that happens, the urban farming networks will be essential for staying healthy and alive. We farmers here in this network are playing this season like it is not a drill. Because we don’t know if it is or not. So to treat it “for real” is the only responsible act.
History shows that changes in human social circumstances can be rapid. A typical city has enough food on hand total — on shelves, in warehouses, in trucks, etc. — to last less than a week. That’s not much slack to play with if we experience interruptions in fossil fuels, drastic revaluations of the currency, or crazy weather, all of which are in the realm of everyday possibility. (Two years ago, everyone said you were crazy if you pointed out that the real estate bubble wouldn’t last. Now, millions are in foreclosure.)
HOW TO HELP:
With this many plots and over a hundred crops to plant, we can be fielding (ha!) at least FOUR DIFFERENT SIMULTANEOUS CREWS A DAY, each of 3-10 people. That’s how much work there is to do, if you are interested.
Because the day’s work is dependent on weather conditions, the best thing to do is call one of the farmers when you want to help, and see what’s going on. Sometimes we will set up special work events ahead of time when many people are needed at once in one place. But in the meantime, there will be farm work EVERY SINGLE DAY until the November rains.
Farmer K – 503.686.5557
Calliope – 503.756.9163
Tom of Mall56 – 973.296.5305
On any given day there are many tasks happening, at different speeds and skill levels. Age is no bar, either too young or too old, to help with something. People are offered produce and other treats when they come out. The more you’re around, the more you get. If you are so enterprising that you’d like to take over a garden or gardens to be your main thing, that could happen. The only limitations on your participation are your own.
Being seeded soon: beets, carrots, squash, corn, beans, spinach, parsnips, root parsley, sunflowers, taters.