Hello Everyone,  I am happy to report that the weather has been uncharacteristically cooperative this past week. The temperatures have been moderate and we have had several nice gentle overnight rains.  I think that there are few people other than farmers who can find such joy in a nice rain; perhaps an Englishman away from home and missing his native climate. (more…)

Hi Folks,  I hope you had a pleasant Memorial Day weekend.  I apologize that I have not been able to get a farm update out to you until now.  It has been a very difficult spring for us here at the farm.  I am sure that most of you noticed that winter hung around well into April this year.  We still had snow flurries flying on April 13!  As a result we were unable to begin planting until Mid- April; about 2 weeks later that normal for some crops.  In addition, the cold soil caused poor emergence in some of the early direct seeded crops, such as peas.  We worked diligently to get caught up with our spring planting and had largely succeeded.  We were then a bit behind on setting out some of the warm weather crops.  We were getting caught up on these when we had a week of rain, including a strong storm which ripped the plastic off one of our high tunnel greenhouses and knocked power out for three days!  We are now back on track and continue to work hard to ensure a bountiful season. (more…)

Agriculture is one of the largest sectors contributing to environmental deterioration and energy consumption that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Our industrialized food system and the long distance transportation of our fruits and vegetables needs to change. But while agriculture is a part of the problem it also has the potential to be a big part of the solution.

When I first became interested in organic farming it was because I believed we needed to learn to grow food without the use of toxic chemicals that not only poison the consumer but also proliferate in the environment and pose a threat to other species.  As time went by I came to believe that organic Ag had a role to play in the battle against climate change by maintaining high levels of organic material, i.e. carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere.  High organic matter has many benefits to the soil; better water retention, less compaction and slowly released nutrients to name just a few.

Research over the past several decades has now demonstrated what organic enthusiasts have believed for years is true – that the soil is a living entity; a microbiological ecosystem.  A healthy, balanced soil produces healthy plants and when the system is disrupted, bad actors (bacteria, fungi etc.) take over causing disease.   In conventional farming this then leads to use of more toxic chemicals to control the disease and further degradation of the ecosystem.  This is very similar to the understanding that we have come to have regarding the microflora of our gut and it’s relation to human health.  The implication for the carbon cycle is that this soil food web ties up lots of carbon in the bodies of the microbes (and larger animals like earthworms) and keeps it out of the atmosphere.

The Rodale Institute has been researching the carbon cycle for decades and is convinced that transition to organic farming practices and proper grazing of animals can not only account for current carbon emissions but actually begin to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere. A new paradigm for farming has emerged and has been dubbed Regenerative Agriculture.  Through cover cropping, re-mineralization, composting and reduced tillage we can restore our soils and begin to mitigate the deleterious effects of CO2 and other greenhouse gases on the atmosphere.

This is what we will be moving towards here at Circle Brook Farm. It is not easy; it requires new equipment, more fallow time for the fields, additional expenses for cover crop seed and rock dusts and most of all the courage to abandon tried and true practices and risk failure by implementing new planting systems.  For these practices to be implemented on a wide scale local organic farmers need the support of consumers.

If you are already a CSA member I thank you and if you are still reading this lengthy tome I thank you for that as well.   If you are thinking of joining the CSA program I hope you will. But if you cannot, please seek out local organic produce at a farmer’s market or demand it at your local grocery store. Please do not buy over packaged meal kits that don’t contain local produce.  Please help to spread the message. Word of mouth is the most powerful advertising we have. Please take the time to speak with your family and friends about the importance of eating local and organic and share the message on social media.  For your health and the health of the planet!

Best, Farmer John

Registration for the 2018 season is now open!  Know your farmer, know your food.

Farmer John is happy to announce two share options again this year, and the prices remain the same from last year! (more…)

Hi Folks, thank you again for your support this season.  I am very thankful for the tremendous participation in the stock up share program and to those who purchased shares for donation.  I have been very worried that I would finish out the season in debt but, thanks to your help, I will be able to pay off my debts and hopefully have money to pay the mortgage through January. (more…)

Hello Everyone!  So, we have arrived at the end of another CSA season; a sad time for many of you and perhaps a relief for some of you as well.  I know that it sometimes a challenge to put to good use all of the produce you receive in your share each week.  We try to give a good value but sometimes we overwhelm.  We have tried our best to provide variety and quality, and I believe for the most part we were successful.  In any growing season, there are challenges and disappointments; this year it was with the tomatoes and, to some extent, the melons.  Both of these were the result of a wet summer.  For next season, we will be constructing more high tunnel greenhouses to grow tomatoes where they are protected from wet conditions.  We have a few of these now and were continuing to harvest a few tomatoes each week for market but never enough to ship to members, at least until last week when we suddenly had a preponderance of ripe fruit.  We sent a few out to several groups and will be attempting to cover the rest this week. (more…)

Hi Folks!  So, we’ve enjoyed a very mild fall thus far but it seems that is about to end.  We are expecting frost every night this week, and temps are forecast to dip into the teens on Friday night.  This is quite worrisome, as temperatures that low can damage even the hardiest of crops.  We are going to have to harvest a lot of stuff ahead of the deep freeze and cover whatever we can that is left in the field.   (more…)

Hello Everyone!  So, we received 4 inches of rain from Sunday’s big storm.  We lost power around 8:30 just as we were sitting down for dinner.  Power was restored at around 2 AM.  We still maintain a considerable amount of produce in the walk-in coolers, so it is always worrisome to experience an outage.  Fortunately, it was brief and we did not suffer any damage from the high winds.  We have some very muddy conditions in the field to contend with, but all in all very lucky to have been spared the damage that has befallen much of New England.  I have come to accept worrying as an occupational hazard of farming.  One of the first songs I ever learned on the guitar was “Worried Man Blues,” an old folk song popularized by the Carter family (and covered by just about every folk and bluegrass artist).  I didn’t know back then just how well it would serve me! (more…)