Good Agricultural Practices

Ever wonder about the quality of water that irrigated the farm produce you eat or how many times the fine folks that harvest the produce wash their hands? Well fortunately most farmers use common sense when it comes to harvesting produce, but a new law was recently enacted which now places the FDA in charge of “ready to eat” produce.  Please don’t misunderstand, as this is not a complaint, as we all realize that pathogens can’t differentiate between small family farms and large industrial farms. Trying to learn more about the upcoming changes, I attended an Ag trade industry seminar earlier this week that discussed the details of the new law known as Good Agricultural Practices,( aka GAP) and how it might impact our farm.  Basically, each farm is supposed to have its own a set of operating procedures that encompass common sense topics like water quality, produce storage & worker sanitation, temperature control etc.  .  For the record, small farms are not required to comply with the new GAP guidelines. This having been said, while it may be a burden of sorts, we plan on enacting the new GAP guidelines over the next few months here at our farm as we wish to make our customers more comfortable knowing that we have procedures in place that help insure a quality product. 

Morning shadows fall on this freshly tilled ground now ready for planting.

 A Hawk, enjoying the winter sunrise while  perched on an uncovered hoop house. Look Out Chickens he's looking for breakfast. 

19F this morning at the farm. This pond reflection altered by the surface ice.

Sun rising through the pines on a cold winter morning.

What’s Growing?   This morning it was 19F at the farm. Almost everything that was growing outside is now not harvestable. Fortunately we have lots of items in our greenhouses that are ready for transplant such as  broccoli, cauliflower, napa cabbage, parsley etc. More tomatoes seeded this week as well. The good news is that next week is supposed to be more spring like which is great as our seed potatoes are due to go in the ground.  I was speaking with another local grower and he said the severe weather has cost him about $35,000 in lost income due to destroyed crops.  Unfortunately, no USDA  crop subsidies for the little guy.

Shameless Marketing:  Registration is in full swing for our Spring CSA program. We currently deliver in the Houston and surrounding areas, visit CSA Pickup Locations for a current map/listing.  For inquires email us at csa@woodduckfarm.com or call us at 713 876 8645 for more details. As mentioned last week, you can get an idea of what size volume a full shares is by viewing some photos on  Our Farm Blog   (You'll need to scroll down a tad from the top.) FYI Partial shares receive about 1/3 less than full shares and are geared towards the two member household.  Our Spring CSA registration form can be found at this link  Spring 2011 CSA Registration . We think we have simplified the registration process to be just a few clicks and some of contact info and then pay with your credit card.  If you’d rather mail in your registration, you can go to this link WDF CSA Mail-In Form  We have added an Alternating Week option to our Full share size. The Alternating Week option is for those not wishing to receive a full share every week. So with the AW option, a farm member receives a Full share every odd week of the ten week program, i.e. weeks 1,3,5,7, and 9.  

Customer Survey Results & Comments: For those of you interested in hearing what some of our CSA members have said etc, please visit this link Customer Comments & Surveys

Grass Fed Meat/Egg Subscription Program: Visit this link  CSA Registration to register online. Scroll down to middle of your screen. We listened to your comments and have created two options, 1) our Full Share priced at $210 for a three-month program and/or 2) our Poultry Share priced at $165 for three months. You can add on a dozen eggs with either program (a dozen eggs for the entire 3 month program for $15.)  You can go to this link Meat Subscription Svc to read more. Too much meat for your family? Consider splitting a share with a friend. The first month will likely be March, which should coincide with our Veggie CSA deliveries

Twitter?: Find us  @WoodduckFM.

WDF has facebook page, but this link will take you to Van's page, from there you need to search for Wood Duck Farm. Go figure huh.

All the Best,

Van Weldon

Cell 713 876 8645

www.woodduckfarm.com

email csa@woodduckfarm.com

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