North Slope Farm - SAITA Soil Structure Workshop

We had a great turnout of interns from Blooming Glen and Sankanac Farms and one interested future farmer for our first SAITA workshop at North Slope in Lambertville, NJ. The farmer and owner, Mike Rassweiler, was well prepared with handouts and a soil testing exercise on his 50 Acre farm in central NJ. Check his website for great information on fertilizing and his Flickr pages for his examples of profits and loss from his farm over the years. His greenhouses were full of baby greens, bright young basil and had some of the tiniest cell flats I've ever seen. 

He's been farming this property since 1994 and lives there with his wife Colleen and baby Casey. They offer housing and a 3 year training program to interns and currently have about four people helping out. 

A good lab to get your samples analyzed is A & L Eastern Labs in Richmond, VA. I had my own Atlanta garden soil sampled there about 15 years ago.

Not so great video from my little Canon, but worth viewing for Mike's notes on soil.

soil sampling-

Mike is aiming for no till on all the beds and uses 'living' shoulders between rows. He cover crops at the end of the season, and uses compost annually on most beds. Since one of his specialties is salad or field mix, he prefers to avoid cross contamination by not using any animal manure. He buys mushroom soil, and has used municipal deliveries of leaf waste in the past, from which he was getting a tipping fee. He does buy some organic fertilizer from Fertrell.

His main 3 acres is bounded by an electric fence for deer, a challenge is erosion and drainage; loss has occurred during heavy rains.

greenhouse-

mixing soil-

water test-

Stay tuned for next Saturday, April 25th SAITA workshop notes on 'CSA costs - Recovery and Budgeting' at Calvert Farm in Rising Sun, MD. 

Hope to see you there! Schedule here.

-Victoria

SAITA Coordinator

vic@furiousdreams.com

CSA Update

Greetings!

The CSA season is quickly approaching! There are just a few items of interest to update you on.

We are in the process of changing the format of how you receive your weekly update. We have added a blog site to the website and all pertinent information will now be listed on the weekly blog.

There will be 2 ways for you to receive the information… you can either subscribe to the blog or check the website frequently for any updates. If you subscribe to the blog, the information will continue to come to you as an email. If you choose not to subscribe, please be sure to check the website, as this is where all of our updates will be. (You can bookmark the website for easy access!)

To subscribe, simply go onto www.maysiesfarm.org/blog and follow the links.
If you have any difficulty, you can contact Amy Guskin, our webmaster at muse@fjordstone.com. We will put out another update to further explain this and to confirm that it is up and running! Ah, technology!!

In addition, our SAITA program (Sustainable Agriculture Internship Training Alliance of Southeast Pennsylvania) is getting underway. The program is an opportunity for farm interns and any interested parties to visit farms, experience farm tours and attend seminars related to sustainable agriculture. We hope you will take advantage of these programs, as it is a wonderful way to meet new people, expand your interests and visit some beautiful farms! There is something for everyone. Please pass the information along to others who may be interested!!

Lastly, word from Ben this week is that he will be delivering on Thursday April 9th instead of Friday due to the holiday. Please get your order to him by Tuesday evening, either by ordering from our website or by calling Ben directly at 717-768-3437 (Sorry for the short notice)

Have a wonderful holiday and we will see you soon on the farm!

Annmarie

"Think Globally, Eat Locally"
Maysie's Farm Conservation Center
610-458-8129 Sam@maysiesfarm.org
www.maysiesfarm.org

CSA Update

Greetings!

Warmer days, more hours of sunlight and lots of activity on the farm can only signal one thing- the official start of spring!

We are only about 9 weeks from the beginning of the CSA season and the beds are looking beautiful! Hopefully, Mother Nature will smile upon us this week with a bit of rain!

More good news- Ben Stoltzfus is back to delivering his products to the farm every other week. He will be here this Friday, March 27, so be sure to place your orders for dairy, meats and eggs- either by calling him at 717- 768-3437 or by using our online ordering system at www.maysiesfarm.org. Please try to place your orders by Wednesday afternoon.

Can’t wait to see you all on the farm!
(Don’t forget to do your rain dance!)

Annmarie

"Think Globally, Eat Locally"
Maysie's Farm Conservation Center
610-458-8129 Sam@maysiesfarm.org
www.maysiesfarm.org