Now is the time to sign up for the 2012 CSA Season

2012 is off to a good start!  The boxes of seeds are arriving from Johnny's, Fedco, High Mowing, Osborne, and Territorial.  This year we spent $937 on annual seeds, so a big thank you to those of you who have already sent in your deposits.  The next major expenses come soon: ingredients for our seed-starting blend, seed potatoes, and (exciting!) strawberry plants.  Right now we're working on updating the planting plan: in 2012 we want to have more broccoli and fewer cabbages; a variety of colored carrots in addition to the usual varieties, Mokum, Napoli, and Red-Cored Chantenay; and more green (bunching) onions.  Last year we trialed a few melon varieties in the greenhouse and in the field; we actually got two out of three varieties to ripen, so we're going to try larger field plantings of those two as well as trialling one more new variety.  We'll be growing plenty of our favorite golden cherry tomato, SunGold, but switching to Peacevine for the red cherry tomato (last year's variety, Sweetie Cherry, produces very sturdy fruit, but I think the flavor leaves something to be desired).  We're also trying Black Cherry, an heirloom variety with a deep red skin, and SunPeach, a relative of SunGold with a pinker skin.  And lastly, the lettuce: Antonia picked out 15 varieties this year, from standards like Salad Bowl and Pirat, to more obscure heirlooms with wonderful names: Kinemontpas, Italienisher, Blushed Butter Oaks, Bronze Arrowhead, and Cracoviensis.