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Native Offerings Farm
May 21, 2013 at 8:45 pm Katie and Todd are drilling seed. We are planting forage oats as a nurse crop for a hay field for the cattle. Later in the day we seeded a crop of forage peas that will provide a green manure for the fall brassica field and also fix nitrogen for lush fall growth. We are hoping for rain. I could hear thunder. I listen to the weather and I hear promises of rain that does not come. Dust blows in the wind and I am glad we have irrigation. Think Rain! stew
Sonia Efron The rain seems to be in scattered areas. Is there any estimate for when the shares start?
May 21, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Native Offerings Farm
May 20, 2013 at 8:56 pm Time is moving fast. There is a lot to do on the farm and every day is both exciting and a challenge. Today we finally planted the potatoes. The soil is dry and we have been busy irrigating. I feel blessed we have water here. The New York Times had an article today about water scarcity in the mid-south. It seems that farmers have pumped their aquifers dry. It will take a thousand years to refill the hole but who cares if there is money to be made today. This seems to be the dominant thought. Take the money and worry about the consequences later.
Water is our greatest natural resource in the North East. We have water. We have clean water.
Michael O'Donnell We can't grow the fuel we need, Brett. We need to simply live with less, much less. And, yes, if fracking grows up there, they won't have an abundance of clean water
May 20, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Brett Lawler At some point we'll have to rely on the fuel we need to be grown. It's one of the drawbacks of "finite" petroleum resources.
May 21, 2013 at 12:49 am
Native Offerings Farm
May 5, 2013 at 2:58 pm Next week we will stop accepting new shares. We are fully subscribed for the 2013/14 growing season. Thank you for your support. stew
Jessica Hapeman so excited for the farm shares to start!! :)
May 16, 2013 at 10:41 pm
Rebecca Hoffman When is the first pickup?
May 21, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Native Offerings Farm
May 2, 2013 at 5:43 pm Who said farming is low skill job? Supreme concentration is necessary when cultivating baby plants. One inch too far in either direction means death to the infants. You also have to watch out for the ridges that tend to bury the plants when they are disturbed. Farmer Deb is in the drivers seat. stew
Ron DuBois You look comfortable in the drivers seat Deb!
May 3, 2013 at 7:49 pm
Cheryl Lendrum Spada I love Deb and miss her so much, last time I saw her was at your wedding...please tel her I say "hi"!!!
May 4, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Native Offerings Farm
May 1, 2013 at 8:12 pm This was the first day of weeding on the farm. The weed seeds are just beginning to germinate. This is the perfect time to kill them. The entire field crew was out on a search and destroy mission. Kill it before it grows as Bob Marley sang. stew
Jill Barone Rafferty I appreciate all of the hard work that goes into creating delicious food for my family.
May 1, 2013 at 11:52 pm
Native Offerings Farm
April 30, 2013 at 9:22 pm It was the perfect day to plow under the freshly mowed rye cover crop. You know the conditions are right when you make a ball with the soil and it easily breaks apart in you hand or if you drop it. If you drop the soil ball and it remains a ball on the ground then the soil is likely too wet to plow. stew
Annie Levay-Krause Stew, One of my SOLEarians wanted to know: "What do you plan on planting? Is a no-till planting possible? If so, what factors help you decide between plow and no-till? If not, why?" She mentioned that, "I studied land management practices shortly and I'm wondering what deciding factors are for farmers." Do you mind popping over to SOLE of Buffalo to answer her questions?
May 1, 2013 at 1:39 pm
Native Offerings Farm I do not know too much about no-till. We do practice it in our greenhouses, but not in our fields. I would like to learn more. stew
May 1, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Annie Levay-Krause Would you connect with Krissy Ingleman Creech when you are able? She seems genuinely interested in speaking with you.
May 1, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Stew & Deb Ritchie
At Native Offerings Farm, we farm with our three children and are deeply committed to ecological farming. We work very hard to produce vital food for you and your family. When you buy a share you are buying more than vegetables; you are supporting our family and strengthening our local community. By supporting us you not only get incredibly fresh and great tasting vegetables full of nutrients and vitality, but a food source you can trust.
Some of you have been with us since we started in 1997 — we were the first CSA in Erie County — others have been with us a year or more. You may be learning about us for the first time. We are Stewart (although most people call me Stew) and Deb Ritchie. We are a cooperative operating under the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, reconnecting the community with its food source, the local farmer. Providing an alternative to agribusiness, consumers (shareholders, etc.) know exactly where and how their food is grown.
We do not exist solely to sell vegetables. One of the greatest rewards of operating your own business is creativity. You can apply your ideas and your values to your business. Beyond the community that arises out of a CSA, we try to encourage and support other ecologically friendly businesses. From other ecological and low-spray farms we purchase fruit, seeds, hay, honey, grain, potting mix, and feeder calves. The advantage of this is that shareholders have access to other high quality local products and other local farms are supported. We can not produce everything we sell. We do not have the time, the knowledge, or the financial resources to do so. By cooperating with others we can specialize and focus on what we love to do, which is what we have a passion for and we do best. The end result of cooperation is a stronger farming community. We need each other. It is difficult to farm without the farm support system. This includes having parts, feed, equipment, and other agriculture suppliers close by. It includes being able to share, custom hire, and borrow equipment. There is also the priceless value of good advice and friendship.
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- “Deb and the Giant Radishes”
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- “Fireflies with Farmer”
Paintings by Paula Sweet
Krys Lynn Rusch Rain rain come today. Got a little here in Angola
May 21, 2013 at 9:08 pm