New in 2011

We are enjoying, battling and waiting out another long, snowy winter in Winneshiek county. And, although we are eating plenty of veggies from our freezer and basement storage, the photos of fresh green beans and cherry tomatoes in the seed catalogues have us all dreaming of warmer weather!

Immediately following the last Farmers’ Market in November and the pre-snowfall mulching of the garlic, we began reviewing and analyzing our notes from the 2010 season, perusing the catalogues for new varieties and planning for improvements and upgrades for the coming growing season. Things we are looking forward to:

• We will double our production of Sun Gold cherry tomatoes this summer and continue to trial new tomato varieties, as well as improve our growing techniques in the unheated hoop house.

• We have hired a great, experienced garden crew for the summer, and we look forward to learning from them as much as sharing our knowledge with these future farmers.

•We will increase the quantity of our offerings at the Market so there will be broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrots and other favorites available until the end of each market day.

• We are developing plans for better curing and storage of our fall and winter crops, from garlic and onions to potatoes and carrots, including building a big root cellar.

• Most importantly, we are making plans to grow even tastier, more beautiful vegetables and herbs for our friends and customers in and around Decorah.

It is a very exciting time to be involved in growing and vending fresh produce close to home. Thank you for participating in this healthy movement, and for challenging your friends to lead healthier lives, starting by supporting their neighboring farms!
We are fine-tuning our CSA offerings for 2011, and memberships are now available! We will once again have both traditional shares and market shares available, and we encourage you to check out the details online at patchworkgreen.com.