CSA Week 11; One step closer to carbon negative

“Harvest crew, do you read me on the radio? I am heading out to the field from the barn. Do you need me to bring anything?” This radio call can be heard over the Sweetland walkie talkies several times most days of the week. With our farthest flung fields nearly a mile apart as the crow flies, saving extra trips makes a big difference over the course of the day. We do our best to pile our utility vehicles high with harvest crates, double check that we have all the tools we’ll need, and make “matched loads” whenever possible. Even so, every day we’re back and forth on the farm road 10-15 times to bring harvested veggies to washpack, feed the animals, work in the fields, turn on irrigation, and dash home for lunch. So it is with great excitement that we are trading in two of our old gas utility vehicles for electric ones this week!

With the generous support of an NRCS energy efficiency grant, we are one step closer to meeting our 90 in 10 carbon reduction pledge; to reduce the farm’s fossil carbon emissions by 90% over the course of 10 years. Our new farm vehicles have the same hauling capacity as our old ones, but zip along silently and don’t choke the barn with exhaust fumes when we start them up in the morning. Though the golfers who they were designed for might gasp at the thought of loading the beds with dirt-caked heads of garlic or mounds of weeds instead of clubs, we’re excited to show the world that electric vehicles are a great fit for a farm. They benefit from extra torque and return to the barn each night to charge. We demoed this last year when we replaced our rusty old gas pickup truck with an electric one. We are regularly met with surprise when we arrive for a hay delivery towing a trailer loaded high with bales in our stealthy electric truck. We’ve been singing its praises to all who will listen, hoping to do our small part to encourage other farms to make the switch. With great towing power, good range, and no weekly gas bill it’s been a no-brainer for us. Each night when we plug in and use some of the power made by our solar panels to charge up we know we are on the right path. Now we’re just waiting impatiently for an electric tractor to come on the market! 

Cheers

Norah and the Sweetland Crew

Week 11 Harvest

Crops Half Pint Brimming Basket Veggie Monster
Corn! x x x
Summer squash x x x
Cucumbers x x x
Peppers x x x
Romaine lettuce x x x
Bok Choy x x x
Arugula x x x
Eggplant x x
Savoy cabbage x x
Scallions x
Tomatoes x
Summer crisp lettuce
Mesclun mix
Green cabbage
Carrots
Farmers Choice Shares Includes items with x
Free choice shares choose any 6(HP), 8(BB), or 10(VM)

What’s Cooking This Week

You can find ingredients for all of these recipes in our farm store! We source meats, dairy, grains, beans, sweets, and more from local and sustainable producers. Don’t forget to use your CSA member discount by entering your account phone number in our POS (member discounts are automatically applied to LocalLine purchases for off-farm delivery). Have a recipe you’ve been loving? Share it with us and we’ll feature it here!