Lloyd Craft Farms Fresh Produce, Locally Grown

Thanks to those who have returned their 2013 CSA Agreements!

March 4th is the deadline for the Early Bird Discount—Pay for the Full or Half Share and save $50

We don’t NEED the agreements right now—BUT we do NEED a head count to continue with the planting guide.

Can you email me at tcraft@rtconnect.net to let me know whether you are in or out?

We’d like to close up the Membership Drive in March.

Thanks, The Farmer’s Wife

Let’s talk about the size of the Share…
After networking with other CSA operators, I came to realize that our Full Share was a MONSTER!…our Half Share was equivalent to their Full Share—

So here is the story of THE MONSTER SHARE:

It was The Farmer and The Farmer’s Wife’s first year with the CSA. They made plans based on 50 Full Shares…but then, after a short time of selling shares they realized they were scaring people away with the size (and cost) of their Full Share, so they created the Half Share—which quickly caught on and balanced out to more than half of their Shares sold. At the end of their season they had sold 58 Shares (Full and Half-but only equivalent to 38 FULLs) which was PHENOMENAL!!

They discussed adjusting their planting plans from 50 Full Shares to 40 Full Shares, but The Farmer said this is the first year, we don’t know how accurate the yields and planting information from the Maine CSA is…leave it be. The Farmer’s Wife said she had no clue how to adjust the spreadsheet without reconstructing it—–so they let it be.

We did not mean to create a monster—better to error long our first year than to come up short, we thought.

A head’s up in making your decision on Share Size for this year…Think of what you had last year and consider about 5-10#’s less each week. If all conditions are identical…weather, water, wind, insect infestations…which is highly unlikely in ag…then let the 5#-10# rule help you evaluate whether a Full Share, Half Share, or Mini-Share is the way to go.

Keep those CSA Agreements coming! Reminder–EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT APPLIES TO HALF AND FULL SHARES IF PAID BEFORE MARCH 4TH!

I am such a wienie—I hate being sick!

Now the good news…I just spent two days in Thermopolis attending a meeting hosted by the University of Wyoming Ag Department. The focus: CSA’s.

OMG—I found myself in a room with 40 other people, all ages and all walks of life, who shared a common interest: Healthy Food. Of the 40 people there, 3 actually ran CSA’s, the others were master gardeners, meat and egg producers, an orchard owner, and Farmer’s Market managers. The longest running CSA is Shoshone River Farms in Cody. Scott Richards spoke the second day and I soaked it all up!

The result for Lloyd Craft Farms, besides the friendships developed with other CSA operators, was another orchard contact for our Fruit Shares, and markets for our melons!

Now back to bed—I hope this is only a 24 hour bug!

YOU HAVE SPOKEN–

And The Farmer and The Farmer’s Wife have listened…

MINI-SHARES AVAILABLE–request a Mini-Share Agreement; tcraft@rtconnect.net
(different from the FULL/HALF Share Agreement)

Terms:

Same variety of Veggies–9-10# average per week–estimated 150# for the Season

$200 for 16 weeks, ADD 4 WEEKS still available

Payment terms:
$200 Payment-in-Full, or
$100 down-payment, 1 monthly of $100, or
$50 down-payment, 3 monthly of $50

In answer to some of the questions on the Fruit Share:

We don’t grow the fruit here–we have made arrangements for someone to travel to Costco in Billings twice a month to pick up fruit. There is also a fruit truck from a private orchard that comes through in the fall from Utah, and our daughter will bring up peaches from Colorado (and other pears and apricots), and there are raspberries, grapes, American plums, and apples– all local.

A question was asked earlier about organic…We are going to buy organic when we can, but it may not all be organic. The fruit that comes out of Utah is not certified organic but it has been great fruit and is coming direct from a family orchard. We should be able to find organic fruit in Colorado and will check on that prior to purchasing. Costco carries a lot of organic–if not organic, it is clearly labeled.

My personal concern with fruit bought at the store is the processing they do prior to shipping it to extend the life of the fruit…gassed, waxed, and sterilized with chemicals…you hope when you buy organic you are missing that, but there is no guarantee as it is not considered part of the growing process. I’m not familiar enough with the Organic Certification program beyond the qualifications to carry the label based on growing conditions and additives.

Hope that gives more information. We only have 20 Fruit shares because of the limitation of space–while in transit and in our cooler. This is a pilot program for this year and if it works well, we can look at expanding the program…maybe even to all organic?? 2013 is our discovery journey– 🙂

Need some help picturing 15 pounds of FRUIT?

I did—so I loaded up a bag with fruit tucked in the fridge and lounging on the counters—

15 Pounds= 3 avocados, bag of small apples, 2 bunches of bananas (11), 4 tangerines, 3 oranges, lemon and a lime, 3 large Golden Delicious apples, and 4 Asian pears

In light of this—
We can offer Half Fruit Shares…. $320 for 20 weeks OR $240 for 16 weeks

How about FRUITS and VEGGIES, one stop, each week?

Lloyd Craft Farms has made arrangements for 20 Fruit Shares this Season!

WE ARE OFFERING 20 FRUIT SHARES FOR 2013–

Mixed fruit in Season–around 15# each week for 20 weeks….. $535
16 weeks….. $430

Preference given to Organic–Fruit predominantly from Costco & Colorado–

Request a separate FRUIT SHARE Agreement at tcraft@rtconnect.net

If you were a member in 2012—we still consider you a member! You’ll need to complete a new CSA Agreement–request one by email: tcraft@rtconnect.net

If you were not a member in 2012, but would like to join this year…We have 25 new Shares available–request your CSA Agreement at tcraft@rtconnect.net

WE WILL BE OFFERING A FRUIT SHARE TO INCLUDE EACH WEEK WITH YOUR VEGGIE SHARE. More information will be posted on the website by Friday–

This year’s terms–16 weeks of fresh veggies:
HALF SHARE–$350
FULL SHARE–$550

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT–$50 off if paid in full by March 4th–

Add an extra 4 weeks for $75. (Indicate this option on your CSA Agreement, and pay anytime before July 1st.)

We are still developing the Canner’s Share–let me know if that is something you are interested in–more to come.

Refer to the website http://www.lloydcraftfarms.com for information on what to expect in the Shares.

thanks! The Farmer’s wife