So Much Going On in May
May is a very busy time of the farming cycle at ICF. If you monitor our Facebook page, you’ll have seen onions being planted in the light snow cover, lettuce being planted in the light mud, and most recently the tomatoes have gone in the ground in the hoop houses. Other cold hardy crops have been planted (peas, collards, kale) as well. In addition, equipment is being repaired and tuned up, the last summer shares are being sold, bread orders are being taken, and lists are being made. To top off everything, our annual plant sale starts on May 7 and continues on May 14 and 21 (Saturdays.) We’ll have plants available for sale at the winter pick-ups May 12 and May 19. Just as many things are starting, our extended winter/spring shares are ending. It’s been a joy to see members throughout the entire year rather than just during summer months. The smiles on faces when the winter greens offerings were spotted were great! The very last pick-ups for the season are May 5 (group 2), May 12 (group 1), and May 19 (group 2.) If you’ve missed any pick-ups please plan to catch up on these dates! Then we’ll be tooling up for the summer pick-ups, hopefully starting in early June.
If you haven’t signed up for your share yet, it’s not too late. Go here. And if you forgot to order bread, eggs, or cheese shares, go here.
Watch this blog, our Facebook page, and your email for the announcement of exact summer share starting dates.
New Issue of Bottom Land News
New Issue of Bottom Land News
The latest issue of Bottom Land News landed in your email in-box this week. If you didn't see it, check spam folders! We report on greenhouse progress, new board member, our work with the Food Bank, and more! The issue is now posted on our web site also. See intervalecommunityfarm.com/newsletter.
To Accompany Your Fresh Vegetables...
...we'll be offering local products as supplements to our CSA shares. As in past years, we'll have Gerard's bread, Jericho Settlers' eggs, and Does' Leap goat cheese available for purchase by the share. While we often have spare items available for purchase at pick-up, the best way to guarantee your favorite item(s) is to pre-order by the share. For more information on the supplements we offer, go here. You can also find the electronic order form here.
Annual Plant Sale
We've scheduled our annual plant sale for May 10, 17 and 24 this year, 9:00-noon each Saturday.Each year we sell certified organic herbs, flowers, and vegetables for your home gardens. This sale is the perfect opportunity to add a few gems from the Intervale to your back yard! You can also take the opportunity to walk around some of the fields and see the work our farmers have been doing to prepare for the summer shares. Fields are drying out and tractors have been running a lot lately! Bring a picnic and enjoy the sunshine after you select your plants. We hope to see you soon!
Local Fertility
We are moving along into spring rapidly here at ICF. Though we are still looking forward to -- am I crazy? -- mud season, right now we are busily planting seeds in the greenhouse,
fixing broken things, and bringing in supplies. New and exciting for us this year is a roomful of sunflower and canola seed meals from Full Sun Company in Middlebury.
We're always looking for more sustainable sources of soil fertility. We aim to grow as much of our own fertility through legume green manures such as hairy vetch and red clover. When we need to add additional fertilizer, we often are not
pleased with our options. This year we'll be using local seed meals from Addison county courtesy of Full Sun Company. Their business is local unrefined sunflower and canola oil, but the leftovers after pressing make a good organic fertilizer or livestock feed. While it is bulky stuff, we look forward to feeding our crops on a diet of pellets that
smell good enough to eat! Full Sun Company oils don't yet have distribution in Burlington, but they are working on it and it can now be found a few places in Addison county.
'Organic Matters' Video
You can see Farmers Andy & Becky in this recently debuted video on the importance of organic farming. A project of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), creators Helen Whybrow and Michael Sacca feature many organic farmers discussing the importance and craft of organic agriculture. Just a shade under 10 minutes, it features clips of Andy, Becky, and ICF. View it here on Vimeo: Organic Matters.
ICF Pizza Night: Friday August 23!
Join us for a summer finale of wood-fired pizza made with ICF vegetables. NOFA-VT will join us with their mobile pizza oven, creating a wonderful range of pizza with a colorful medley of our own vegetables (and plain ol' cheese for the kids!). The event starts at 5 pm at the ICF pole barn. We'll also have salad, watermelon, and sweet corn for munching. Bring your own plates and silverware if you can. Suggested admission to cover the costs of the oven are $5 per person or $15 per family. We hope to share a lovely summer evening with you!
Check Out the Latest News from ICF
The August Bottom Land News is available - read on for updates on crops, events, and other tasty tidbits from the farm. You comments and feedback are always appreciated!
Member Work Day: Saturday, July 13th
Help us rescue our tomato, pepper, and eggplant crops! Some of our fields flooded due to sustained heavy rainfall including our tomato, eggplant, and pepper field. We need your help pruning, staking, weeding and mulching since the constantly wet conditions have prevented us from doing so. The forecast for weather this weekend suggests we will finally be able to get into the field. Time: 9 am to 1 pm, Saturday, July 13. We will post a message here and on Facebook by 8 a.m. if there is a need to cancel due to weather.
Parking is in the ICF tower field. To get there, follow the signs and arrows down the Intervale Road, about 1/3 mile on the right past the ICF pick up area. Pull into the field on the right past the big yellow road gate at the fork in the road. Parking areas will be marked with cones and flags. There are still some wet spots in the field, so please stay within the parking boundaries. In the event of wet conditions, we will direct people further down the road to drier parking.
Bring: Water bottles, snacks, sun protection, and bug protection. We recommend long sleeves, pants, and covered shoes to keep the mosquitoes off your skin and repellent if you like. We also recommend shoes that you don't mind getting muddy as the fields may still be a little wet.
We'll provide fresh drinking water and minimal snacks (mostly veggies).
RSVP to Becky (becky@intervalecommunityfarm.com) if you are sure you are coming, but feel free to just show up! Thank you in advance for your assistance and support.
2013 Summer Shares begin Monday 6/10 & Thursday 6/13
Summer is coming! Despite a few drops of rain and some low temperatures on the way, our vegetable crops are doing their best in the field. Based on the weather, we will begin our summer share distribution on Monday, June 10th and Thursday, June 13th.
Both pickups will be the usual times of 3:00-6:30pm. So grab your bags (and the extras you've been saving) and come prepared for great fresh food. Click here if you want to sign up for your bread, eggs, and goat cheese shares and haven't done so. As always, you can contact us at info@intervalecommunityfarm.com if you have any questions!
March Bottom Land News available now!
Check out the latest and greatest at ICF in our March newsletter. Inside you'll find:
- Membership updates and reminders
- Farmer Becky's adventures in Myanmar
- Greenhouses coming: Phase III of our Fourth Season Project
- Butternut squash risotto recipe
- And more!
How'd we do in 2012?
Each year, I put together an assessment of how ICF measured up to the organization objectives spelled out by our Board of Directors. Not for the faint of heart, our 2012 Ends Report runs the gamut from growing food to income accessibility, touching on ecological stewardship, member satisfaction, community relationships and employment practices in between. If you are policy or data junkie or you just love to read about the farm, check it out!
January Bottom Land News available now!
Keep up on winter life at ICF. In this issue:
- Renew your Summer 2013 share now!
- Construction updates for our Fourth Season Project
- 2012 SummerShare values and survey results
- Farmer Becky heads off to Burma
- Wintervale a huge event
- New ICF Board members
- And more....!
Wintervale! Sunday, January 6, 10 am - 2 pm
"Wintervale" Coming This Sunday Free Winter Fun in Burlington's Intervale
You don't have to go 'to the mountain' to stay active during the winter. Come enjoy some snowy winter fun right in town!
Sunday, January 6th, 10am to 2pm Intervale Community Farm (Winter Share Pickup Location), 282 Intervale Road, Burlington 300 yards past the McNeil Generating Plant
Enjoy winter with some fun free outdoor activities in Burlington's largest natural area -- the Intervale! We'll have snowshoes, kids cross-country skis and adult skate skis to try for free. Enjoy kids activities and more.
Building off of the Intervale Center's successful "Summervale" events, many organizations have come together to host Wintervale -- a celebration of wintertime activities.
- Local Motion will groom the 3-miles of scenic cross country ski trails in the Intervale
- The Intervale Center will host Wintervale and provide hot drinks and muffins
- Catamount Trail Association, Winooski Valley Park District and Burlington Parks and Rec will have snowshoes and skis to demo
- Skirack will have skate skis to demo and an instructor to provide helpful tips
- RunVermont and others will host kids games
- NEW! The Intervale Community Farm will provide a warming hut at their barn
Sponsors: Thank you to our 2013 Sponsors: Vermont Design Works , Skirack and Burlington Parks and Recreation!
Volunteers Needed: Contact Chelsea Frisbee, chelsea@intervale.org, 802-660-0440x113
More Information:
- Wintervale is a collaborative event hosted by the Intervale Center 2-3 times a season as the weather permits in Burlington's Intervale. More info:https://www.facebook.com/events/193160564155812/
- The Intervale XC Ski Trails are groomed by Local Motion volunteers all winter long as winter permits. To contribute or for more info: http://www.localmotion.org/ski
Winter Pick-ups Begin 11/15
Winter pick-ups for Group 1 will begin on Thursday, 11/15, 3:00-6:00.
2012-2013 Winter Share: Supplements may be ordered now!
We've barely finished the summer share term and the winter term is being prepared. The new storage crop area is under construction and wiring is being installed for the new cooler. And now we're ready to accept your orders for bread, cheese and eggs for the winter. Please note: cheese is available for Group 1 pick-up only. You can find the order forms at Group 1 supps and Group 2 supps. Kathie will accept email orders as well, no need to print the form.
MONDAY, 29 OCTOBER PICKUP POSTPONED TO MONDAY, 5 NOVEMBER
Due to forecast dangerous wind gusts during the late afternoon and evening today, our final Monday pickup scheduled for today, Monday, October 29th, has been postponed to next Monday, November 5th. Our final Thursday pickup scheduled for November 1st remains unchanged. Hours for all pickups are the normal 3:00-6:30pm.
We apologize for any inconvenience; please contact us at 802 658 2919 or info@intervalecommunityfarm.com if you have any questions.
2012 Summer Share Survey
At the end of each summer season we like to gather feedback to help us plan for the next season: what crops were too plentiful, which crops were too few, what communication methods work for you, and more. The survey is distributed to the entire membership via an email link, but you are welcome to fill out the survey in paper during the final two weeks of pick-ups (and enjoy some hot cider at the same time.) You need to fill out either the electronic or paper survey, not both! We've heard from many of you throughout the season and we're grateful for your comments and support, but the survey helps us to quantify the thoughts of the entire membership in one place.
Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to wrap-up our season!
New issue of Bottom Land News is ready!
The end of the summer season is approaching (there is snow on Mt. Mansfield already) and we're preparing for our winter share season. Read about storage vegetables, the upcoming Annual Meeting and Pot Luck, and our field tests in the new issue of Bottom Land News. Click here and enjoy!
Winter Shares Available Now
Winter Shares for 2012-2013 are now available. 
You can download the info packet and sign up form at 2012-2013 Winter Share Guide. The Intervale Community Farm Winter Share runs mid-November through mid-March and features a wide variety of appealing winter staples, fromroot & tuber vegetables, to winter squash and cabbage, with a smattering of fresh green stuff thrown in. Cost for the winter is a $300. You can also sign up by emailing Member Services coordinator Kathie Sullivan at info@intervalecommunityfarm.com.