2012 Summer Share Info

ICF Summer Shares begin this week, Monday, June 4th, and Thursday, June 7th, both from 3:00-6:30pm.   You'll find hints about how to make the ICF the most useful and enjoyable for you at Picking Up Your Share, and detailed, printable info on CSA pick-up, pick-your-own, supplemental products and more in our 2012 Member Guide.

Speaking of Plants

The 9th Annual ICF Plant Sale will be all Saturdays in May, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you are hungry for the flavors of ICF, we will be selling  a careful selection of annual herbs, vegetables, and flowers that perfectly complement your CSA share. Our greenhouse is gloriously full of beautiful, organically grown plant starts that will kick start your gardens.

Come on down!

News from the Farm

Have look at our April 2012 Bottomland News.   You'll find membership renewal info (we still have a little space for our upcoming stupendous 2012 season so tell your friends), a rundown on some exciting things happening this season, and a recap of our very successful member loan campaign.  Check out our newsletter page if you missed a previous issue.

2011 Annual Report

Have a brief look back on 2011 in our newly released ICF 2011 Annual Report.  While 2011 wasn't our best season ever, you can revisit some of the better aspects and learn about your farm to boot.  If you're looking for more information about what ICF achieved in 2011, you can read our detailed 2011 ICF Ends Report.  Likewise, you can find out more about our future plans and our Fourth Season Project.

Bottom Land News (and more media)

Since we don't have our usual soul-feeding weekly contact with farm members, the best we can do is stay in better touch with news from the farm.  Here is our latest issue of the Bottom Land News.  And don't miss all the press ICF has been getting lately!

Annual Meeting and Potluck November 5

Join us for the ICF Annual Meeting and Celebration Potluck!  We'll begin with the potluck portion at 5 pm; the meeting begins at 6 pm at the Integrated Arts Academy/H.O. Wheeler Elementary School 6 Archibald St, Burlington. Click here for details on the annual meeting agenda and potluck.  We hope to see you there!

Final 2011 Pickups This Week 9/12 & 9/15

Sadly, this will be our final week of Summer share 2011 pickups.  Come get your veggies, bread, cheese, eggs, and City Chicks organic chicken, if you ordered ahead.  We've truly appreciated your support and understanding during this challenging year.  We are already looking forward to 2012 and have exciting new things in store, as well as our old standby: delicious, excellent produce.

Thursday 9/1/11 Pickup is cancelled

Due to flooding from Hurricane Irene, we are canceling our Thursday, 9/1/11 pickup.   Pickup will resume next week Tuesday (on account of Labor Day) 9/6 and Thursday 9/8. We need a few more days for Intervale Road, our parking area and barns to dry out before we can handle the vehicle traffic. Thank you to all who helped us bring in the harvest ahead of the flooding.  We appreciate all of your concern and best wishes and will keep you posted on opportunities for involvement later on.

Farm Disaster

It's an uncomfortably familiar pattern: widespread heavy rainfall brings Winooski River flooding, resulting in crop losses and letters of explanation.

Irene, alas, repeated the pattern.  ICF suffered the worst flood in our 22-year history yesterday, with all fields inundated and the river flowing through our buildings.   The full impact of the flooding won't be known until we've had a chance to assess the farm at lower river levels we hope we expect to see today or tomorrow.  Suffice it to say that Irene caused a huge disruption in our already challenging season.

Bright spots are hard to find right now, but we are heartened by the enthusiastic and dedicated energies of members and friends that joined in our efforts to salvage as much of the harvest as possible on Friday, Saturday, and Monday.   Likewise, ICF is much more fortunate than many upriver and elsewhere throughout the state.

For now, we will continue our regular pickups until we've exhausted the food we rescued before the flooding.  We'll update you with information regarding the season and CSA pickups on a regular basis, as we are able to make sense of the landscape.  Thank you all for your understanding and support during this challenging season.

Hurricane Cancellation Potential Monday 8/29/11

We MAY cancel pickup on Monday 8/29/11 if river flooding makes distribution impossible.  Please check back here for further updates. We will update our voicemail, website, and Facebook page by 1pm tomorrow IF and ONLY IF we are canceling.  If no further info is posted, assume pick-up is on as scheduled.  If power and/or telephone service are out, we apologize in advance for any inconvenience to due our lack of ability to post or update our information.

All bread shares ARE cancelled for Monday 8/29/11; we will credit your account.

We MAY need help with emergency pre-flood harvesting; we will notify those on our emergency response list and update our Facebook page, if possible.

Midpoint!

This week marks the halfway point through the 2011 Summer Share.

Though we had a rocky start to the season, we've been pleased with how our summer crops have turned around.  We're still pining for some of our missing crops, but we have a good deal of great produce in store for the late summer and autumn: salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, root vegetables, greens, winter squash, and sweet potatoes among others. We expect our final Summer Share pickups will be Monday 10/31 and Thursday 11/3.

Corn OFF the cob - demos at pickup 8/15 and 8/18

We all love to chomp on a fresh, sweet ear of corn, freshly shucked, steamed with a drizzle of butter and salt.  Or if you are more of a farmer type, it never makes it into the pot; it just passes from corn stalk, to hands, to mouth with only a mere anticipatory rumble of the belly in between.  But although it seems almost like an anti-seasonal act, cutting the corn off of the cob lends itself to exciting salads, sides and sweet twists to favorite meals. This is especially useful when there is a slimmer picking of corn at pickup.   This season in particular, corn yields have been inconsistent due to lots of bird damage in the corn plantings.  We have fortified the field as best we can against birds, but they merely mock us by feeding in close proximity to the devices which are supposed to scared them off.  As a result, some weeks farm members have received only 1 or 2 ears of corn per share.  So here's what to do with a meagre amount of fresh corn:

• Add it to black beans, salsa, cucumber salad, or a green salad;
• Toss it into your favorite eggy breakfast creation;
• Add 1/2 cup to corn bread for a delicious addition;
• Try this recipe!  Corn Salsa Ceviche Thanks to our working member Andrea Todd for creating and demoing it at pickup.  It is fantastic and will be demoed again Thursday, August 18.

Food Samples, Monday 8/1 and Thursday 8/4

Join our extraordinary working member Andrea Todd as she demonstrates spring roll making at ICF pickup.  She'll entice you to wrap all our favorite veggies, dip, and enjoy.  Don't miss her at the picnic table during pickup!

Wintervale ski and snow fun, Sunday, February 6th

Join organizers Local Motion and SkiRack for a fun filled day of skiing, snowshoeing and powdery play at the Intervale this Sunday, February 6th, 9:30 am-1:00 pm  Beginning in 2009, Local Motion began a volunteer ski trail network through the Intervale.  Part of the trail skirt ICF fields, and it is a great way to see the Intervale and bump into your friends!  SkiRack will provide demo ski equipment and snowshoes to those without. Check out the details at http://www.localmotion.org/ski.  A second Wintervale Day is planned for Sunday, February 20th, snow conditions permitting.

Winter Share Group 2 Begins Wednesday 11/24!

Winter Share for Group 2 begins Wednesday, 11/24 from 3-6 pm at the ICF Barn.  Please note that all other Group 2 pickups are on Thursdays. Please visit our Calendar for the schedule.

ICF Annual Meeting and Potluck Saturday, November 6

Join the ICF farmers, staff, and cooperative Board at 5:00 pm, Saturday, 6 November 2010 at the Integrated Arts Academy/H.O. Wheeler Elementary School, 6 Archibald St, Burlington for out annual meeting and celebration potluck.

Annual Meeting Agenda (begins at 6:00 pm):

1. Review of 2010.

2. Presentation:  ICF achievements through the years.

3.  Election of ICF Board of Directors.

4.  Member Forum.

5.  Adjourn, 7:00pm

Intervale Community Farm is governed by a seven-member board of directors, elected by the members of Intervale Community Farm Cooperative. Board terms are for two years. If you are interested in serving on the board of ICF, please contact Farm Manager Andy Jones via phone, 658-2919, or email andy@intervalecommunityfarm.com. Candidate nominations are due two weeks prior to the meeting, no later than October 23rd.

All ICF members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Only those who are member-owners of an ICF Co-op share are permitted to run or vote for the board of directors. For ICF Co-op membership info, please ask at pick-up or visit our website, www.intervalecommunityfarm.com .

Children’s activities will be available during the Annual Meeting portion of the evening

Join us for an annual tradition and one of the best potlucks anywhere - starting at 5 pm.

Last names beginning with:

A-F Please bring a salad-like dish

G-S Please bring a main dish

T-Z Please bring a dessert

Above all, bring something you love to do with ICF food!

Please label your potluck dishes and bring a serving utensil if able.  We will provide drinks, bread, and dishes/cups/flatware.

We hope to see you November 6th!