Due to weather conditions, Bodhi Farms will not be able to attend the Santa Fe Farmers Market on February 28th, 2015. We apologize for the inconvenience and will extend everyone’s CSA share by one week and add a bonus dozen eggs. Please accept our apologies but our farm got far more snow than Santa Fe and we are still digging out.
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Today is the Winter Solstice. It’s the shortest day of the year and it marks the turning point in the Persephone Period. From this point in winter the days will slow grow longer. At my latitude the Persephone Period ends January 14 when we creep up above 10 hours of daylight. The Persephone period is when there are less than 10 hours of daylight during the day. Ours runs from November 28th to January 14 of the following year. Ours is quite mind and we still experience plant growth in the period as our shortest day is still 9 hours and 44 minutes of sunlight. In other words we almost get 10 hours of sunlight. Because of that winter production is generally fairly productive here and any place below the 35 degrees north. Let us rejoice for after today, every day will get longer from this point in winter. We have made it through the darkness and are headed towards the light of spring.
We at Bodhi Farms host wwoofers on the farm, along with interns. WWoof is an acronym which stands for “World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers on Organic Farms”. Many of the local farmers ask me how I manage to get so many people to come to the farm and intern. I am hoping to do a series of posts on how to build a successful WWoofing program so that local farmers can develop a successful intern/wwoofing program. Developing a successful wwoofing program takes time and work. For a program to be successful, you should start with the first question – Should I host WWoofers? At first that seems a silly question, wwoofer offer free work in exchange for room and board. But a successful wwoofing relationship requires a great deal of interaction and training on the part of the farmer. As a farmer you need to be ready to have a person at your farm whom you will share meals with, need to explain what your are doing. It adds a layer of complexity to your life which is already pretty full of activities. If you cannot devote the time you need to educate the wwoofer on your practices (or you lack the patience) having a wwoofer on your farm might not be for you. For a wwoof to be successful for both host and wwoofer will need to work together. If as a farmer, you are not comfortable with that much social interaction, you might want to re-consider having a wwoofers on your farm. Many farmers are not social people. If they were, perhaps they wouldn’t have chosen a career that takes them so far away from people. Social interaction is a must in any wwoofing situation. If you are not comfortable with it, you might want to reconsider having wwoofers on your site. Teaching is also an integral part of a successful wwoof. Most wwoofers are not skilled laborers. You will spend time imparting basic skills such as using a hammer, weeding the way you want it done, etc. All the skills you have developed as a farmer, will need to be taught to your new wwoofer. It’s unfortunate but many Americans do not build projects any more so many wwoofers do not have much of hands on experience. So you will need to invest the time to teach them. If your answers to these questions are yes, then you should think about having a WWoofer at your farm. Of course there are more elements to being a successful wwoof host which we will cover in future posts. Bodhi Farms will be at the Winter Market in Santa Fe starting October 4. The Santa Fe Market opens at 8 AM.
BSD Couple of shots of the new aquaponics system.
So my busy Sunday was topped off by adding my bees to their new top bar hive home. Typically I handle bees pretty gently which allows me to just work with a veil. My interns were excited about the process. I prepped the starter comb but left cutting the comb to the interns.
The bees went in fine and quick peek this morning through the window indicates that the bees are on the queen trying to free her from her candy. Today I have been insanely productive. I picked up my package bees at the Post Office on a Sunday, did a bunch of domain and shopping comparison work, re-worked the Las Vegas Farmer’s market site, posted 3 articles and added Tess as the new manager of the site and the facebook, and put 5 gallons of cider in primary fermentation. Oh and I completely prepped the new hive for bees. Great day. Next a bunch of minutina recipes and perhaps a lemon cake. Bodhi Farms is hold a spring CSA Sale! What’s a CSA? Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. This arrangement creates several rewards for both the farmer and the consumer. Advantages for farmers: Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin Advantages for consumers: Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits http://www.bodhifarms.com/store/products/bodhi-farms-standard-csa and on checkout apply the promo code SANTA-FE And you will save 10% on your CSA membership. Remember to apply the promo code SANTA-FE on the check screen. We will be ending this sale on April 19th, 2014. CSA shares will revert to the normal price at that time. Also farm tours will be available starting on June 4th. The farm can be toured every Wednesday from that date forward. Please call ahead to schedule a tour. My phone number is 505-617-1191. The standard Full Season Bodhi CSA share option is 24 weeks long. This season begins the week of May 24th and ends the week of November 28th (26 distributions). The distributions are weekly. Payments over $610 will be used to subsidize shares for low income members. Please indicate your pick up point (Farmer’s Market or Traveller’s Cafe). For those who want only an abbreviated Stand CSA share, we offer a 20 week option which ends the week of October 15th. The standard CSA includes the following vegetables when available in season. These might change based on the CSA members voting but these are based on the historical patterns at the farm. We will hold a meeting in the Spring to determine crops that will be planted. Peas Thanx for your support of local farmers and local agriculture. Join the mailing list Check your email and confirm the subscription  |
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