2015 CSA, Fundraising Effort, Deals on Basil and Collards!

2015 CSA
As this season slowly comes to a wrap, I am starting to reflect on our plans for 2015.  I know we need to transform the way we operate the farm as it is way too much work for me for very little money, and it's starting to seriously wear my body down.  What I am contemplating is not to depend so much on the Farmers' Market for our revenues but concentrate instead on increasing our CSA membership.  Going to the Farmers' Market is a ton of work - driving, loading and unloading and sometimes it is not worth the effort.  A lot of farmers compete for business and being new, we don't have a very good spot so our sales are not very impressive...
So I need to ask how many of you would consider joining our CSA next season?  Hearing back from you will help us make the decision to expand our CSA.  Shares will be $25/week next season and our CSA lasts for 20 weeks (June 1-Oct 31).  Your answer is not a commitment, this is just a poll.

INDIEGOGO FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

We've been putting a lot of efforts into our Indiegogo Campaign and we still have 16 days to go.
We've raised $15,000 so far on an ambitious campaign goal of $250,000! 

Next month, the Green Fire Times will feature another article on Gaia Gardens, beautiful written by our friend Alejandro Lopez "...the very heart of this world-bedazzling town, was set aside for productive gardening and was tended to by locals. In fact, the religious, cultural and economic underpinnings of the Pueblo world as well as of much of the native Nuevo Mexicano villages that constitute the foundations of our state, arise from the very same or similar set of values and practices being carried out at Gaia Gardens".   
Our campaign will also appear in the LaMontanita Coop newsletter.  
Tomorrow morning at 8:30am, I will be interviewed by Richard Eeds on KTCR Radio 1260AM.

We've been in conversation with a foundation on the East Coast and could get a significant boost from them.

All and all, things are moving along smoothly and we are preparing to make an offer to the bank soon.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have donated so far.  Thank you for believing in our efforts to preserve this unique place for future generations!

I also want to profusely thank our attorney Gretchen Elsner who has been promoting our effort to purchase the property at a State level, schmoozing with State Senators and Representatives and handing them promotional packages!

I also want to express my gratitude to all the organizations that have been promoting our campaign- Edible Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Farmers' Market, the Santa Fe Farmers' Market Institute, the New Mexico Community Foundation, the GreenFireTimes, LaMontanitaCoop, the New Mexico Land Conservancy, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, HomeGrown New Mexico, Wwoof-USA, Woof Independent, KSFR, KTCR and Journey Santa Fe/Collected Works Bookstore.

You can help tremendously in the success of this campaign by passing the word around, posting and reposting on Facebook (please write a personal intro to our campaign when you post it) and Tweeting your heart out as all these social media actions have a substantial effect in promoting our campaign far and wide. 


DEALS ON PRODUCE!

This is what you get for $7!

BASIL
We need to move all our basil as the cold is coming and it will go bad-black-caca-done!
We are offering 4 large pesto plants for $7.  It takes 10 minutes to pluck the leaves and you get one pound of basil!  Buy 3 lbs of organic walnuts at TJ's, some garlic, olive oil and good sea salt, throw in the blender and wham!, you have 3lbs of delicious pesto for the winter.  Order here and come get your basil at the farm before it's gone on the first cold night.  I hate to waste so much basil! Seriously!  We'll give you an even better deal if that's what it takes.

COLLARDS
We have tons of collards and we are offering it for $1.75/lb.  You blanch it and freeze it and can use it all winter in soups or stir fries.  Yum!  Order here and come get your collards at the farm.  We'll give you a better deal if you take a large quantity.  

Please come visit us at the Farmers Market every Saturday (8:00am-1:00pm starting this week)


“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say "It is yet more difficult than you thought." This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
Wendell Berry