The 2009 season was fraught with challenges for many farmers. The overabundance of rain, cooler temperatures, and wide-spread tomato blight caused, at best, reduced yields and, at worst, total losses for producers throughout the region. The Quiet Creek folks rose to all of those challenges, approaching any losses with as positive an attitude as possible (despite the disappointment they must have been feeling); still providing members with the best possible choices from week to week. It was the first year I, as a member, really saw how inextricably tied farmers are to the whims of Mother Nature. I sympathized greatly with the Goods this past season, because I realized new members might possibly be put off by such an experience. John and Aimee rose to that challenge as well, really encouraging members to provide honest feedback in their End of the Season Survey. I hope other members understand, as I do, that we shoulder the same risks as our farmers by investing in any CSA program. What an incredible gift to be this close to our food, and to really understand the hard work and sacrifice it may take to bring it to the table! I encourage any members who do not see it that way to remember how produce prices fluctuate in the grocery store for many of the same reasons, and then think of the farmers whose livelihoods have been affected by those changes.
My family and I look forward to another wonderful year with Quiet Creek Farm. Vegetables, recipes, slogging through the U-Pick garden on wet days, good weather and bad, Heidi in the barn, Saturday morning weeding parties - all parts of a rhythm I can no longer envision our lives without. Kudos to the farmers Good and Quiet Creek Farm!