Today is a double duty day for me, here at The Garden Gate. I've spent the morning working on our CSA plans. And working on the plants. I mentioned in a previous post, that we're going a different route, with our Bounty Baskets. And, so far, the response has been great! We're looking at a start up date of April 14, when I anticipate my first plantings to be ready...Nature willing, of course!
Most CSA boxes or baskets are strictly the seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs. Some may include farm fresh eggs. I participated in one group, as their baker, which included organic freshly baked breads in their baskets. My plan is to have all of these, plus some. I always try to go in a different direction than the usual...it's just my personality. So, here's what I'm looking at:
The Garden Gate Bounty Basket, Family Size
Vegetables and fruits, as they become available
Herbs to Grow, Herbs to cook with
Farm Fresh Eggs, to be sourced
Fresh Baked Breads and/or Sweets from yours truly
Organic Jams and Preserves, Sauces and Salsas, also mine
Seasoning Blends, to go with the meat of that particular basket
Organic Grain Blends/Rice, I'll make up
Artisinal Pastas, I'll shop source
Local Honey, to be sourced, waiting to hear back from a local honey guy
Grass Fed Beef, Lamb and Rabbit from JuHa Ranch in Barry, TX
Pork, Bacon, Sausage Links and Poultry from Beaton Meat in Corsicana (stop laughing!)
Fresh and Aged Cheese...still to be sourced, looking a Full Quiver Farms in Kemp, TX
Gourmet Goats Milk Cheeses, from Cypress Grove, not local, but excellent quality
To be practical, everything from every vendor won't be in every other week's basket. That would put the prices out of acceptable range. And you won't see the honey more than once a quarter. For the baskets, I think, a sample size serving of a 'cheese of the month' type thing would be excellent, like 3 to 4 oz. Some of these will be sourced from those specialists who specialize...like this one, Purple Haze Goat Cheese! I've got this planned for our first Bounty Baskets.
Our downtown girls have been raving about this and the Humboldt Fog. These have been around for some time, but, as I've mentioned before, things are slow to catch on around here! Purple Haze, if you don't know of it, is a soft goats' milk cheese that's flavored with lavender and hand harvested fennel pollen.
Our downtown girls are into wine & cheese tastings, so this sounds like a good opportunity. Cypress Grove actually looks like a really, really fun cheesemaker to work with! With cheeses like Purple Haze, Humboldt Fog, Psychedillic Chevre and Sgt. Pepper Chevre in the line-up, it's got to be great! That's their link, under the cheese. I've seen nothing but great reviews!
Pinterest
This is a part of our downtown area...it's been, gradually, trying to come back to life. Those that I'm calling our 'downtown girls' are the reason for the resurgence of interest. They've got some boutiques and a few eateries, many antique shops, a children's shop (that's been there forever!)...for the new ones that are coming in, it's sad to see some of the really old timers closing down. They're ready to retire, the kids don't want the responsibility...it's not easy to make it downtown.
Photo: Harry and Judy of Juha Ranch
My friends from JuHa Ranch have been in the business for almost 10 years, now. We used to do the market runs together with our friends from TOFGA (Texas Organic Farmers & Gardeners Assn), and that's how I got into this all, in the first place. Their ranch is in a neighboring small town, and they embrace the concept of sustainability.
I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of my contacts, to see if they will participate. And I need some more sources for veggies than just my gardens.
Now, for the algebra part of the program, figuring out how much I'll need. My thought, here, is to have a couple of different bundle prices...I want to have a price point where a wide range of people might be able to afford this! So, I'll entertain the thought of a $25 basket and a $50 or $75...now, the hard part...what to put in said baskets! Time to go put pencil to paper, and see what's next! I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, everyone have a wonderful day and keep on Steemin' on!
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