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Welcome to the Spring Lake Gardens CSA

Are You Ready For The Veggies?

In just a week from today, the first harvest of the 2013 CSA will be headed your way! Members from previous seasons will find the routine of picking up shares at the drop points or here at the farm to be quite familiar, but if this is your first season you may have a few questions about how you'll be getting your veggies. Whether you'll be picking up your share or having it delivered to your house, below you can find all the details of what you will need to do. Though it may be a new routine to learn, we aim for a simple system that's easy for everybody and within the first couple of weeks it will be walk in the park. We're trying to create a new way for you to get your food, from us and other local producers, that supports our small businesses directly without sacrificing the convenience of the modern-day, mainstream food distribution system.

Paid Up?

Have you made your final payment for your CSA share? They are due the week of the first harvest, and you can complete your purchase by going to this page here, or by clicking on the Join Our CSA tab on the website. Please don't bring any payment to the drop points, if you're paying by check you can mail it to 63 Spring Lake Rd, Sterling CT 06377, or you can pay online using Dwolla. Both options will be available to you as you check out. There is a bug in the checkout that shows that you've picked Old Mystic General Store as your pickup location no matter what you choose, but your actual choice is registered in our system - please do not worry when you see this! Hopefully the developer will be able to eliminate that bug shortly.

Where To Find All The Answers

The homepage of SpringLakeGardens.com is now in harvest mode! Right on the front of the website you can find all sorts of useful information:

what's expected to be in the next share
some recipes that we recommend using that week's harvest
important CSA updates
photos from the past week
and the farmer's blog

The Online Farm Stand Is Open!

We are very excited to be unveiling our new Farm Stand store on the website! If you've ever wished you could have more, fantastic local products delivered to your drop point or door alongside your CSA share, there's an exciting new way to do it! For just $5, you can order as many products from as many farms as you'd like each week, and we'll pick them up and bring them with your vegetables. You pay the same prices that the producers would charge if you bought it at their farm or a farmers' market, and every penny goes to them still. We'll be continuing to add products all season long, so check in each week to see what's new!

We'll Bring The Bags

Each week we will harvest all of the crops on the farm that are ready and split them evenly among the shares. They will be packed in reusable, insulated bags with your last name pinned to the front. If you're splitting a share with another family and have informed us of your plans, both names will be printed on the tag so that you can be sure you're getting the share that was meant for you. It will be important to make sure you grab the right bag so that we know if somebody hasn't picked up and can get in touch with them. In addition, members will be able to order products from other farms and have them delivered with their vegetable share, so you'll really want to make sure you get the one with your name on it.

The second week, and for the rest of the season, you will either bring your empty bag back to the drop point or leave it somewhere easy to find if your share is delivered to your door. Each week you'll exchange your empty bag from the previous harvest with the new full one. Though we don't have an enforcement policy for getting the bags back, please just remember that we really need them and do your best to bring the empty one back each time.

Picking Up At The Farm

Shares are available to be picked up at the farm starting Monday mornings. You will find your shares in the fridge that is just outside the garage, and you can leave empty bags right in the same fridge. There is no schedule to worry about here, come pick up whenever it is convenient and if I'm around and not busy I'll certainly come out to say hello. If you need to get in touch, you can call me, Andy, at 860-705-1838.

Stonington Drop Point - Old Mystic General Store

Deliveries will be made no later than 12PM on Mondays, and will be available for pickup immediately after. The folks there are kind enough to keep your shares in the walk-in cooler, so you can ask somebody at the counter to help you when you go in to get your bag, and also leave empty ones with them. Hours of operation are 7:30AM to 7:30 PM Monday thru Saturday, and 7:30AM to 3PM Sunday, and their address is 47 Main St. Mystic, CT 06355. Their busiest time is during lunch, so if possible they would appreciate people to pick up either before or after the lunch hour, unless of course you need a snack for the road too. If you need to get in touch with them, their phone number is 860-536-7272.

Norwich Drop Point - Ginger Root Health Food Store

Ginger Root is closed on Mondays when we deliver, and share will be available starting Tuesday morning when they open. They are also kind enough to keep your shares in a refrigerator, and they will be happy to get it for you if you ask. You can leave your empty bags with whoever is working the day you pick up. Their hours of operation are 9AM to 6PM Tuesday thru Saturday, and their address is 12 Hunters Ave. Taftville, CT 06380. If you need to get in touch with them, their phone number is 860-889-8720.

Door to Door Deliveries

We've replaced drop points with a door to door delivery system for the areas around Manchester and Mansfield. Shares will be delivered no later than 5PM on Mondays. As the weather starts to warm up, you may want to have a cooler set out for us to put your share in, though we will try to make the deliveries near the time people are getting home from work so that nothing is sitting outside all day in the summer. Please leave your empty bags somewhere easy to see so that we can pick them up. If you need to get in touch with somebody about your delivery, you can call me, Andy, at 860-705-1838.

Spring Lake Gardens in 2013

We're less than 6 weeks away from our first harvest of the season for the 2013 Spring Lake Gardens CSA and there's only 20 shares left! The farm has grown and changed quite a lot since we started building over two years ago. We're more experienced, more prepared, more equipped, and if possible, more excited! The farm has undergone a transformation in recent months, there's a bigger gardens and more of them. We have a part-time helper to make sure every job gets done and every leaf gets turned, and there's also a 10 member strong workshare crew helping to build a rewarding sense of community and make the year a success. We're growing more of your favorite crops too - there will be over 25 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 4 types of cucumber, heirloom peppers and eggplants, summer squash, melons, and generous portions of salad mix in the share every week, check out our harvest calendar for the year! The best part for you is that we're still not increasing the size of the CSA, so you'll really see the difference in your share.

It's so easy to get your veggies from us! We continue to offer drop points in Norwich and Stonington, and for the first time we'll be offering home delivery to members in the Mansfield/Manchester areas. Deliveries will be made each Monday during the 20 week season, starting on May 20 and ending September 30. You can still sign up on-line, using our newly rebuilt website. We're going to make it easy for you to support other local businesses as well, with a new online market place for other small farms and businesses in the area. We will be offering baked goods and baking supplies, eggs, milk, fruit, hand-made soap, and more as time goes on.

If you're on the fence about joining, aren't sure about how something will work, or have any thoughts to share, please get in touch! You can contact us online anytime, or call Andy at 860-705-1838. We're just wrapping up our first experimental and successful Winter CSA, and we're looking forward to continuing our winning streak with you!

Bringing the Veggies Home

Spring is in the air

Our early season is going exceptionally well at Spring lake Gardens! It's been a joy to put the first few plantings of seedlings into the ground without the nagging need for more space that we've felt in the past. We just got kale, broccoli, cauliflower, chamomile and cilantro transplanted this week, and earlier direct seedings of peas, carrots and spinach are just starting to come up! There's a ton of stuff coming out of the Start House right now, we'll soon be planting our kohlrabi, chard, leek, scallion, lettuce, collard, and cabbage seedlings, plus the huge variety of flowers and herbs that assist in attracting beneficial insects and confusing predators. See our latest video about transplanting on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/springlakegardens. Don't forget to tell all of your friends about us! We still have 25 shares left for this season.

Mansfield and Manchester are now Door to Door Delivery

Sometimes adversity creates opportunity, and that's exactly the case with our drop-points in Mansfield and Manchester this year. Mansfield General store, which was a great partner with us in the past, closed their doors for good this February. Finding a new location has proved very challenging, their location was ideal for many members. We have an arrangement for a drop point in Manchester at Great Harvest Bread Co, but they are not open on Mondays when we deliver the harvest. Working around these obstacles, we are offering a wholely new solution.

Door to door delivery will be available this year to members from the Mansfield and Manchester area, and will cost $75 for the season. If you're not sure that you qualify, please contact us to find out! This is an exciting opportunity for Spring Lake Gardens to experiment with a new, competitive delivery system for both our CSA shares and the goods from other farms and producers that we will be selling through the website. If you already signed up for a share for the season at one of these drop-points and would not have done so given the $75 fee, it will be waived for this season. However, if this is a service that you will enjoy, and you are able to pay the delivery cost, it would be very much appreciated. There will only be one fee per address, so if you and another member have your shares delivered to the same place you will pay half the price.

Get more than just your veggies locally

To sweeten the deal, this year you'll be able to buy from the following places using our website, and have your order delivered alongside your CSA share. Even if you're not a CSA member, you can still order for pickup at our Norwich and Stonington drop-points!

Great Harvest Bread Co. of Manchester (Baked Goods)
Buttercup Farm of Sterling (Raw Cow Milk)
Palazzi Orchard of Dayville (Seasonal Fuit)
An Assortment of Chicken Keepers (Eggs)
Little House Homestead of Brooklyn (Hand-made Goat's Milk Soap)
Still River Farm (Flour and Grain)
And we're still working to add more!

Fight Local Hunger

We're still working hard to get our goal of 10 shares sponsored for the foodbank this year! We bring the shares that you and others help to supply to Daily Bread food pantry in Putnam. You can make a contribution to the cause right on the website.

Spring Lake Gardens approved for Microloan from the Farm Service Agency

In a very exciting development, the farm was approved for nearly $27,000 microloan from the Farm Service Agency, a branch of the USDA. This loan program is intended for small, starting farms exactly like ours and it will make it possible to buy equipment that will really help the farm keep growing. We'll be getting a used but never abused 1985 Ford tractor, some real farm-duty irrigation equipment, a delivery trailer and a new 36'x100' greenhouse. We've been working on this loan proposal for months, and just been approved last week! It's a surreally rewarding vouch of confidence from an agency that knows farming.

A view of the Start House with the extension off the end

Geranium "lemon" has more than just a remarkable scent

Salvia officinalis, or Sage, blooming beautifully

Seedlings "harden-off" in an unheated greenhouse to prepare for transplanting

This Winterboor kale has been around since last October

Big News For The 2013 Season

It's March, and that means that there's a lot happening at Spring Lake Gardens right now. After lots of winter planning, the season is starting to take shape and there's a lot of important updates to share.

Mansfield Drop Point - As many of you will already know, the Mansfield General Store sadly went out of business last month. The hunt is on for a new Willimantic area drop point, and the Farmer's Cow Calfe and Creamery across from the Eastbrook Mall, and Landmark Natural Foods on the corners of routes 66 and 87 in Columbia are the top two contenders at the moment.

Newsletters - You've probably also noticed that we overhauled the website recently, and there are some exciting new additions such as "The Farm Stand". However, the newsletter feature that we've been using for the past two years will not be coming back, at least not quite like we used it before for weekly updates. If you want to see the latest updates and news from the farm, you can try following us on facebook (you don't need to have an account with them) and new entries will still be added to the blog on our website from time to time. As we get into the harvest season, the crops in line to be harvested each week, some recipes that you can use your veggies in, and important member updates will be available on a new "Member's Page" right here on the website.

The Farm Stand Online Store - Not only can you buy and pay for a CSA share online, you can now buy seedlings from us and a wide variety of products from other local businesses as well! During the harvest and delivery season, running from May 20 through Sept. 30, you will be able to order as many products from as many of our partner producers as you want, and have them all delivered with your CSA share for a flat fee of $5 each week. We'll be selling everything at the same price that you'd pay if you went to these producers yourself, it's going to be a great way to support local agriculture and business! So far we have lined up:
- Eggs (sourced form multiple farms that support free range flocks)
- Local, In-Season Fruit (apples, peaches, and berries)
- Baked Goods (the whole delicious menu from Great Harvest Bread Co. of Manchester)
- And we're still working to add: Raw milk, more fruit, sweet corn, goat-milk soap, maple syrup, alpaca wool, and more

New Online Payment Method - There's a new way to pay online method caled Dwolla. We're very excited to be using it- there's a flat fee of $.25 per transaction, as opposed to the 3.5% fee that PayPal charges. That's a big savings for us! You don't need to sign up for an account with them to use it, you just need a checking account. It uses account and routing numbers (found at the bottom of your checks) rather than a debit card number, but essentially works just like any other checkout.
Help Fight Local Hunger - Now that you can use Dwolla on our website, please take advantage and consider contributing to our effort to keep the food bank stocked with healthy produce. Visit the Connecticut Food Bank's to see just how important this is: over 14% of Connecticut families could not afford food at some time last year. If you are fortunate enough to keep your family well fed, for just a small contribution you can help make a very real difference for somebody else's family and children. Your money goes toward sponsoring the portion of our harvest that is reserved for donation.

There's a lot more for you here this year - Last year, we were all frustrated when an off-farm field that had a large portion of our crops was not successful due to issues with deer and drought. We decided to keep all our growing here from now on, and we more than tripled the space for crops. Not only that, but the number of workshare crew has doubled and we'll have daily help from our new farmhand, Viviana, to take on the challenge of keeping all those veggies growing healthy! And, the number of CSA shares is staying the same, so get ready for a year of overflowing harvests!

Workshares - They're all spoken for! Thanks to our whole crew from last year, who have all come back, as well as to our new workshare members whom I can't wait to meet!

CSA is filling fast! - A whiff of spring coming has lots of people thinking about gardens and green things again, and the CSA is filling up! We've still got just over 30 shares available.

Our farm has grown so much since we started! When we began we had little more than a normal yard with a small, unheated, wood-frame greenhouse. Now it's really a farm, with thousands of square feet of greenhouse space and an acre of vegetables outside. Every member of our CSA the past two years should be proud to have supported this homegrown local business, contributed to an ongoing agricultural revolution, and chosen a food source that is healthy for them and healthy for the world.

Lots of seedlings already started for spring!

Our certificate for donations to the food bank in 2012

We Have A Winner!

I want to thank everybody who filled out our Market Survey sometime in the past two months, your responses are very helpful with making decisions about how the farm should work going forward. As promised, one of the submissions was chosen at random to be the winner of a half priced share for 2013... And the winner is Sarah Jarmon! You can claim your prize by filling out the CSA Signup Form right here on the website.

Since the last update we've had some serious winter weather. I'm sure you all noticed the three to four feet of snow that was delivered over night last weekend, along with winds that were stronger than either of the hurricanes we've been hit by in the past two years. Fortunately, the greenhouses on the farm survived nearly without incident (aside from a door blowing open in the middle of the night). For all the flapping, plastic racket they make when the wind gets whipping, I'm always impressed when they are again sitting, unharmed and stoic, the next day. Not quite like their owner after shoveling for 8 hours.

Lastly, heads up if you plan to buy a CSA share for 2013: we've already sold 15 shares and 3 workshares. This means that there are 40 shares left for sale and 7 available for workshares, and it's only February! We are still reserving 10 shares for the season to be sponsored for food banks as well, so please don't forget about this unique way to support both your local community and the farm. Consider making a small contribution - you don't have to sponsor a whole share!

Food Banks Say Thanks!

This coming season we're looking to put the Community Support in CSA again by getting 10 of our full, delicious and nutritious shares to local food banks each week. Last year we worked with Daily Bread food pantry in Putnam CT, and everything we were able to contribute was quickly distributed. There is a serious shortage of fresh produce available to families who have limited income, who arguably stand to benefit from good nutrition the most, with lack of access to medical services being a common challenge for them as well. The new health care system that this country really needs is the one that starts with making sure everybody is able to eat healthy, and it is one that we can start, on our own, right at home. This is a tiny farm, and it's not enough to count on harvest-leftovers to contribute each week when we're working the gardens as hard as we can to support the CSA members who make this all possible. We need everyone's help to make a dedicated portion of our harvests go to families who need assistance to get healthy food on their tables. The farm will be sponsoring one share in full, so that means we're starting 10% of the way there.

To contribute you can use the donation buttons right on the front page of our website or you can send a check for the amount of your choice to us. You'll have to sign up for Dwolla to donate online, but don't let that discourage you! Spring Lake Gardens has big plans for this low-fee transaction service so having an account may be useful down the road... surprises ahead!

Visit the CT FoodBank's website if you want to learn more about how people are being helped in your community.

2013 Shares Now Available!

Just in time for the holidays, we are now taking signups for the 2013 Main Season CSA! There will be some exciting changes happening, lot's of planning and hard work has already been done to make it a terrific season for the farm. It's been two years now since the farm began to be built from the ground up, board by board and bed by bed, and the momentum has built beneath it.

More help in the form of workshares, which were such a terrific success last season
More veggies as I put in enough beds to triple the growing space on the farm
More for everybody who joins the CSA as we keep the number of shares down
More reliable refrigeration from harvest to home along with our insulated bags means that your veggies will arrive looking better than ever
More products that you can get through us too! Coming this winter, you'll be able upgrade your share to have goods from other farms and local producers each week delivered to your drop point with our veggies. A limited number of shares will be able to participate in this new system, which will inlude a dozen eggs, a loaf of amazing bread, and some other treat with each share. Everything will be kept local, produced or grown in Eastern CT. Keep your eye out for announcements on when you can add this option to your 2013 share, and on the partner farms that will be participating. If you're buying a share before this option has been set up, don't worry! You'll be able to add it later if you want it.
More peace of mind that you'll end up getting your money's worth from the CSA. Not only do we have more experience, infrastructure, and space, we have a new plan for keeping a close tally on what gets harvested and how much it's worth to you.
More fun! Come out to the farm any Sunday during the CSA season, the farm will be open to visitors without appointments each harvest day from 10 to 4. It's always a refreshing atmosphere if you want to get up for a little stroll around the field or sit and listen to the stream.

There's more changes to read about on the sign-up page which you can get to with the tab up top. Also, take a moment to fill out our market survey and you'll be entered for a chance to win a half priced share for 2013's main season. You can find the link to the survey right on our homepage.

Have fun getting ready for the holiday season, stay warm, and eat well!