Windy Willow Farm's 2009 Newsletter and Order Form

Dear friends,

We hope that 2009 finds you well and enjoying the beginning of a fantastic year. We are busy planning our 2009 season and have big changes planned. What used to be quiet winters have become busy with constant greenhouse maintenance. We are amazed by the amount of snow we’ve received and remember winters’ past when we had snow covering the fields until April.

This is our first year with our new, 30’ x 48’ greenhouse! We have great plans for its use: over the winter, we grew spinach and greens right in the ground. We will utilize every inch of space, to start our vegetables early, and grow tomatoes, beans, eggplant and early vegetables. We anticipate that it will help us in bringing excellent produce to the market up to a month earlier.

Our Philosophy
Our family farm’s core belief is to practice and promote sustainable and organic agriculture. Although we are not certified organic, we follow the organic guidelines. We believe that both the land and our animals should be treated with respect and gentle care. We minimize off-farm inputs and maximize use of compost and natural pest control. The end result is a garden full of delicious produce, picked at the ripest, most nutritive moment; and healthy, robust animals.

We keep our animals healthy and happy by rotating them to fresh, lush and nutritious pastures and feeding them certified-organic grains. They don’t need medications, hormones or antibiotics. Healthy animals make the best meat: don’t forget that grassfed meats have been found to be lower in cholesterol and higher in amino acids and essential fatty acids.

We invite you to spend an hour or a day with us on the farm, to experience the best our land has to offer.

WWF Returns to Farmers Markets
As in years past, we’ve decided to focus on selling our produce at the local farmers market. This past season we participated in the Gloversville Farmers Market and were enthusiastically greeted by customers old and new. We are applying to attend the farmers market on Jay Street in downtown Schenectady, Thursdays, from 9-1 pm. Saturdays we plan to be in Gloversville at the wonderful new Pavilion west of Main Street from 9-12 pm. The markets begin in Mid May and run to the end of October. We hope to see you there.

In the meantime, we hope to shortly return to the Schenectady Greenmarket, held on Sundays from 10 am – 2 pm at the Proctor’s Robb Alley basement. With the short winter days, we couldn’t harvest much, but hope to be back at the market in February. The cold-hardy greens are starting to grow again in the greenhouse. We’ll be harvesting spinach and greens like claytonia, mizuna, mache and other greens for delicious winter salads.

CSA: Worker Shares
After five years of running a CSA from our farm, we have decided to change the way our CSA works. As much as we love the CSA philosophy, and sharing our farm with our customers, we are challenged to provide a quality CSA affordably.

This year, we will be offering a worker share only CSA. In exchange for a weekly 4-hour work commitment, you will receive a full share (20 weeks) of our harvest. We had several worker shares last year and really enjoyed the relationship. We think that especially in this time of financial crisis, the worker share program will help some families afford our fabulous vegetables. Please see below for more specific worker share information.

We have worker share openings on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Share pickups will be on Wednesday or Fridays, as agreed upon with the worker.

Grassfed Meats

Pork
We raise our pigs with the utmost of care and respect on our lush pastures. We purchase them as weanlings, and raise them on our rotated pastures until September. When the pigs are full-sized, we send them to our favorite butcher, who treats them with kindness and respect. The meat is cut, smoked and vacuum sealed to your specifications. Our customers rave about out pork; the meat is tender, juicy and flavorful. We also share with you cooking tips, since grassfed pork cooks differently from supermarket meat.

We continue to be challenged to keep farming affordable, as the price of our organic feed has tripled in as many years! This year’s pork price will be $5.50 per pound, hanging weight. This includes custom cutting and smoking of hams and bacon. If you are interested in additional meat smoked (such as hocks or roasts), or linked sausage, there are additional fees.

For all meat purchases, pickup will be on the farm. We will give you at least 2-3 weeks’ notice of the pickup time and date. Please bring several coolers or boxes to bring home your frozen meat. Your balance is due at this time as well.

WWF Grassfed Poultry
Last year was our first year raising broiler chickens and turkeys for our customers. We had many challenges, including owl predation and losses from storms. This year we’re taking a break from poultry.

Many Hands…
We always try and include our customers in our farm workdays; it allows folks to have a closer connection with the earth and offers us much-appreciated help. We find that our work parties foster camaraderie and ownership of our crops. Who wouldn’t like eating broccoli from plants you placed into the ground as babies? It’s also a great teaching tool for kids to begin to understand just where their food comes from. We’d love to have you join us: please send me an email of your interest.

We look forward to a wonderful and healthful growing season. We look forward to seeing you at our farmers market stands! Call on us if you have any questions or need additional information. We are always happy to chat about our passion for farming.

Sincerely,

Gwen, Mark, Sarah and Jason Hyde

© Gwen Hyde 2009

Worker Share Information:

A “worker share” is the exchange of your labor for a vegetable share. Worker Share members are a major work force on the farm. Worker shares come out to work hard and make a significant contribution to the farm. You are making a serious commitment of 4 hours of work per week for 22 weeks

You commit to a shift and work that shift for the entire season. Shift options: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday.

The jobs are very physically demanding. You should be able to lift at least 30 pounds. The work can be heavy, exhausting, and repetitive; hot, cold or wet. We work in ALL weather.

You will develop a special connection with the farm and farmers and other workers. You will develop an appreciation and understanding of organic vegetable production.

Our Worker Shares help make this farm a success!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What will I be doing?
You will be involved in all aspects of vegetable production. Planting, seeding, hoeing, picking, washing, bagging, bunching, weighing vegetables, and weeding. There are many one time jobs.

I’ve never done farm work before. How will I know what to do?
Each job will be explained. You need to be able to listen, follow directions and work hard.

Can I share the responsibility with my spouse, partner, housemate, etc.?
Yes, as long as the person you are sharing the commitment with can work the same shift.

Can two of us come each week for 2 hours?
It is not preferable. Leaving in the middle of a shift is not very satisfying for you and not as helpful for the farm.

When does the worker share begin?
Early May through late September.

Can I bring my child along?
Not if they are under the age of 12. If over the age of 12 we can talk about it. We are working hard, and the work is not geared for young children.

Can I bring my dog out with me?
No.

What if I need to miss a shift because of vacation, illness or other conflict?
You can make up your shift. You can do this by working a double shift or two shifts in one week.

Can I work evenings or weekends?
No. We do the farm work during the day, during the week. But we certainly welcome volunteers, so if you really would like to become involved, give a call and we can work something out.

What if my schedule changes mid season?
If you know your schedule will be changing mid season we can talk about it and plan accordingly. If your schedule changes unexpectedly mid season, we will try to work with it. In either case you may be able to switch to another shift that fits your schedule.

I am a teacher/student and can only work during summer vacation, is this possible?
This is an option. We can talk details.

Will I be able to pick up my share when I work my shift?
It depends on your shift, since our pickups will be on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Windy Willow Farm reserves the right to decide if a proposed worker is a good fit with the farm.

After looking at all of this I would like to consider a worker share. What should I do next?
Call Gwen at (518) 332-5718.


I have read and understand the above requirements to be a Worker Share Member at Windy Willow Farm. I agree that if I cannot fulfill the entire season’s responsibilities (22 weeks), I will pay for my share of the CSA harvest.

Name: __________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________

City: ______________________________________ State: _________________ Zip: __________________

Home Phone: ___________________________________ Cell Phone: ______________________________
Email: __________________________________________________________________________________

Signed: ___________________________________________ Dated: _______________________________



Signed for Windy Willow Farm: ________________________________________ Dated: ________________







Pork Cut Sheet



Type of Cut
Circle One on each line
Thickness of Steaks or chops
( ¾”, 1”)
Hams
Unsmoked / Smoked

Hams
Half Hams / Steaks

Bacon
Unsmoked / Smoked

Shoulders
Whole Roast / Steaks

Butts
Whole Roast / Steaks


Tenderloin
Whole Loin / Chops, ____ per package (min. 4)

Sausage*
Hot Italian / Sweet Italian / Breakfast

Bulk Sausage / Linked Sausage**

Hocks
Unsmoked*** / Smoked / Ground and included into sausage

Ribs
Whole Rack / Two Half Racks



* One choice of sausage for half pig; two choices for whole pig
** Linking Italian sausage will cost an additional $2.00 per pound of sausage. Breakfast sausage links are $2.50 per pound
*** Smoking of hocks will be an additional smoking charge, $2.00 per pound.

Definitions:
UNSMOKED – Not smoked, not brined, but regular meat with nothing added
SMOKED – Smoked meat is always brined first otherwise the meat might spoil during the smoking process. You can not get meat smoked without having it brined
BRINED – Soaked in a salt solution, (i.e. Bacon or Ham is fresh meat that is brined then smoked)
Steak thickness – We recommend ¾” to 1” thickness, as thinner steaks cook very quickly. If you want to stuff your pork chops, 1 ½” is recommended. Remember, the thicker your steaks, the fewer you’ll get.
All meat is cut, vacuum sealed in plastic and flash frozen regardless of whether or not it is UNSMOKED or SMOKED

Name: __________________________________________________ Phone: ___________________________

Address: ________________________________________________ Email: ___________________________

City: ____________________________________________ State: ________________ Zip: _______________


CSA

_____ Sign Me Up! for my worker share of the 2009 Windy Willow Farm CSA Harvest

I’m interested in the following 4-hour shift:

___ Monday
___ Tuesday
___ Wednesday
___ Friday

Morning and afternoon hours are available.








Pork

$5.50/lb. hanging weight
(180-200 pounds average whole)

____ Half Pig ($200 deposit)*

____Whole Pig ($400 deposit)*

* Please fill out cut sheet on the back of this form – completed cut sheets are required with deposit
Orders closed by April 1, 2009

Such is my life with a greenhouse

Snow + polycarbonate panels on the greenhouse= must get it off as soon as possible.

This is why I'm "done" with winter already.

Every time it snows, this is where you'll find me.

We have work planned to reinforce the panels since we've lost some with the recent windy weather. The panels flex and then let go, so we'll be putting metal strips on both sides to shore them up. I can't lose panels when I have my tomatoes started. My spinach and Asian greens can handle the freeze quite well.

Although, I'm enjoying my greens from the greenhouse almost every day, which is a huge luxury in the winter. Plus, I've been able to sell some at the winter Market in Schenectady, which helps as well.

I'll be looking forward to the end of this snowy, windy weather. Anyone interested in "playing" in the snow, come one over!