An Exciting Start to the Season!

Welcome to Red Dog Farm’s 2024 CSA Program! Thank you for your support this season and trust in us to grow you some stellar vegetables, tulips and berries to nourish you, your family and friends. 

Here on the farm, we are so excited about this season. As the crew harvested today, we all commented that this is one of nicest first shares we can remember. Lucky you! Thanks to our greenhouses and hard-working crew, we are so pleased to have so many fresh greens for you so early.

This past winter brought us the second-lowest temperature I’ve seen in the past seventeen years I’ve been living and farming in Chimacum Valley- a whopping 1 degree Fahrenheit! (Lowest ever was -0.5 F.) These extreme low temps wipe out our otherwise hardy over-wintered crops. We suffered some sad losses, including the most beautiful patch of Purple Sprouting Broccoli we’ve ever had, kales, and even leeks took a big hit. As a consequence, I knew we needed to be on our A-game in our greenhouses and feel really proud of what we pulled off for you this spring! Coming soon will be cilantro, bok choi, hakurei turnips, green onions, radishes, baby carrots, and loads more salad mix, spinach and arugula. The greens, paired with roots safely tucked deep in the ground and coolers- carrots, parsnips and beets- will make up the bulk of your shares this month. As always, I hope you enjoy the produce we lovingly tend and harvest for you!

I am so delighted by our crew this year. We are lucky to have some really talented farmers this season, including some long-returning folks who I just love farming with. Lane is in his ninth season working at Red Dog and keeps crop production humming along. Rachel, our office manager extraordinaire, is beginning her sixth season. Paige just returned after two years on other adventures for her fourth season. Alex stepped up as farm manager this year (no small job!), after a year working on other farms, for his third season. Jon, maintenance superhero, is in his third season. Hannah returns for their third season to run harvest. Nicole returns for her third season. Eddy is in their second season running the greenhouse. Hailey, Amber and Eric are in their second season. We welcome many new crew members this year, including Viv to run our packshed and Marina to run markets, plus Flynn, Veronica, Chloe, Molly, Solomon and Paige S., who will be joining us over the next two months. This standout team has given me so much hope for this year and the farm. I’ve had various goals over the years as far as employees- I remember when it was to retain an employee more than three years, then more than five. One thing I noticed about more established farms was that employees would sometimes leave and then return a couple years later. I thought that seemed like a good benchmark of a good place of employment. Experiencing that phenomenon this season has been truly a joy. I’m so thankful for all these intelligent, strong, hard-working people. Truly the best team I could hope for!

I hope you enjoy your share this week, and here’s to a wonderful season of eating, growing and health,

Karyn