October 3, 2007

Our Poor Farm

Not economically poor, but man-does-that-suck 'poor'.

If you've ever been to California, you will have encountered the agricultural customs that all must pass to enter whether it be by plane or car.  There is a good reason for that, as we are learning first-hand.

It seems that a traveler coming from Hawaii was carrying the Mediterranean Fruit Fly.  This fly is 'one of the world's most destructive pests' as it lays its eggs in the pierced skin of ripening fruit.  This Med-Fly made it to Dixon, CA where an outbreak has occurred.  That just happens to be where our Community Supported farm is.  Since this outbreak (which was not actually on their farm, but 3.5 miles away) - they have been unable to pick a large amount of the produce from their late summer crop including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, or stone fruit.  

The first week this happened, I noticed that the box was light before I even looked inside.  They were still able to provide lettuces, onions and potatoes - which I thought was pretty great given the time of year and the situation they were in!  Since then, other local farms have pitched in and have been filling up our boxes a little more - but the tomato scene is definitely over for the season as there are no leftovers from those other farms for we subscribers.

I'm sucking it up and admitting that it IS October after all ... so let the squash eating begin!

PS: Maybe the main point of this post should have been about supporting the farm through good times and bad, how this is a good lesson in how a farm works, etc., etc.  But, I'm hoping that you figured all of that out already ;)

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