Send check to the farm:
Ridgeland Harvest
E5538 Nelson Road
Viroqua, WI 54665

In making the decision to invested in a nice structure, we also considered a secondary purpose – a place for CSA members, friends, or family to stay during visits and CSA events.  So we’d like to open the tent for availability on a first reserve basis to CSA Members! Land around the tent is also level, for additional tents to be set up.  So if you are looking for a super cheap vacation, consider making a trip to the farm during the Garlic Harvest gathering or during Raspberry U-Pick season.

The tent is 12×14 with an 8 foot porch.  It has a full sized bed and woodstove.  Lanterns and a two burner propane cook stove are also provided.  We know that members will be eager to stay over during CSA events and throughout raspberry picking season.   Please email or call ahead to reserve it.  We would gratefully accept a donation for the use of firewood and fuel.  Watch for specific dates the tent will be available in the coming newsletters.

Also, we would consider longer term visitors if you have a skill or trade that you would be willing to put to use on the farm– artist, carpenter, artisan.

In other news, things have been soggy around here! We have many more planting to be done and really need for the soil to dry out before we rotovate (a big rototiller).  None the less there is still plenty for the crew to do this week:   Monday, Tuesday: harvest  wash and pack your CSA boxes; Wednesday: pick potatoes bugs off the new potatoes that are starting to flower, finish mulching the tomatoes (our first planting is eleven 400 foot rows planted 18 inches apart);  Thursday: if it is dry enough rotovate and transplant, and seed the next succession of crops– green bean # 2, broccoli #3, sweet corn #2, carrot # 3, winter squash, spinach #4, Salad Mix # 4, rutabagas, and the remaining Thyme and Sage, and, and, and!  The list of planting goes on, as we plant regularly until fall with the last plantings for overwintering (like spinach and scallions).  The most intense time for planting, however, is April thru mid-July in order to harvest by heavy frost (which around here is toward the end of September).

The weeds are able to thrive in the current humid, wet conditions.  It is easy for them to jump from 1/2 inch in height to 4 inches, making weed control techniques critical during these wet spring days.  We have a cultivating tractor and some ancient cultivators, which assist the many long human hours of hoeing and hand pulling tiny in-row (between each plant in the row) weeds.  June and July are the main months of fast emerging weeds such as fox tail, quake grass and various broadleaves (pig weed, lambs quarters and velvet leaf).  For many years we tried to combat the weeds on our own, with many crops needing to be saved at the last moment.  Now, we hire a custom weeding crew for one to two days a week for a month or two.  This has been a real cost-effective and efficient use of our time.  Have a good week!

But aside from grazing our cattle on lush grass, April has brought us good weather for early spring planting.  Potatoes, radishes, baby turnips, carrots, spinach, salad mix, snap peas, cilantro and more have all germinated and are growing.  Along with seeding things in the field, our crew is beginning to transplant onions and early cabbages, broccoli and kohlrabi.  Our raspberry plants are being thinned, and used to expand into a new raspberry section on the farm.  While April has whizzed right by, we are excited to usher in May with more seasonal temperatures.

We are still accepting CSA sign-up’s as we aim for 275 members this season.  We are approaching this goal, so get your sign-up form/payment in the mail soon if you are interested in joining us.  Call or email us with any questions.  Continue to check back for updates about the growing season!  Cate

Here is the order form: 2010 CSA Brochure

But, much planning has been done by this time of the season. It is complex to plan for the CSA season, a graduate level of farming you could say. But we love the challenge! Our kitchen table is still covered in seed catalogs, records from last season and CSA survey results, as we make decisions about where things will be planted and how much we’ll grow. Each year we make changes to our growing plan, and this year we’ll grow less eggplant and kohlrabi, while adding more varieties of sweet peppers and slicing tomatoes, growing more successions of green beans and basil, and offering potatoes for the first in many seasons!

To read more about our CSA season, find our 2010 CSA Brochure here. We hope you’ll join us for another exciting season. Cultivate a real relationship with food!

Sunday February 28 Prairie Unitarian Church, 2010 Whenona Drive, Madison.  10 am

Wednesday March 3 La Crosse CSA Open House, Marycrest Auditorium at Franciscan Skemp, La Crosse Campus, La Crosse.  4-7 pm

Saturday March 6 Viroqua CSA Open House, Viroqua Food Coop, Viroqua.  1-3 pm

Saturday March 14 Madison Area CSA Coalition Open House, Monona Terrace, Madison.  1-3 pm