Join Our 2012 Starlight Gardens CSA !

We're delight to offer a CSA this year.  For those of you unfamilar with the term, its stands for Community Supported Argriculture and is a great opportunity for you and your family to get healthy, great tasting certified organic, local vegetables  on a weekly basis.

Here's how it works. You buy a share in our farm's expected produce. Then once a week you come buy to pick up your share for that week. Each week we will send you an email telling you what will be available that week .We will also include recipes and news.

The spring-summer CSA will start on May 30 continue every week through October 25  for a total of 22 weeks.  After that there will be a fall-winter CSA , details of which we will add shortly.

The pick up days are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2-7 at our farm. We are located at 54 Fowler Avenue in Durham. When you come  from the south on Route 17 you get to a traffic light with the town green  and library on your left . On your right is the post office.Take a right on Fowler Avenue and our farm is the fourth house on the left. THe CSA distribution shed is just before our pink house on the left.

When you get here, there will be a variety of vegetables that we are offering that week.  Additionally, there will be signs telling you the amount/lbs of each item you can take with you.

How To Join:

On the home page, choose the CSA pull down menu and click on registration.  We will receive your information once you select the "submit" button

• $200 due at signing up

• Remainder of balance by May 15th
• Please contact us if you need an alternate payment plan.

You can choose  two different share sizes:

REGULAR SHARE (2-4 adults)     $650 

SMALL SHARE (1-2 adults)         $425 

Here is the CSA Crops list 2012.

So a couple of weeks ago we got the final word-- our tractor was truly done- dead- finished.  Bad enough news anytime, but in this warm dry Spring, particularly a pain, since we were ready to prepare and plant much of our fields. The decision about the next tractor is complicated and well-- what are we to do before we get this one worked out? Here is the answer!

This is our friend and neighbor Ron Stannard. For years now, he has from time to time helped us with advice, hands on repair help and tractor in the fields aid, when we've been in a pinch. Ronnie  has been helping us figure out the next tractor decision. And, in the meantime, a few days ago he just showed up on his tractor and tilled our fields. Wow! We are so grateful for his help and support. But best of all, he is a good friend an a terrific guy!  Thanks Ronnie, for everything!

Just as things were getting started, a surprise visitor arrived-- Commission of Agriculture Steve Reviczky.  After chatting with him I learned that he has always been connected to farming in one form or another and is very much a voice for the continuing and new growth of farming in the state. He was  surprised to learn how much produce we grow on a relatively small piece of land. And indeed looking around Star Light Gardens, one can imagine seeing small bits of growing all over our state-- gardens ,farms and even growing on bits of free space and /or municipal lands.

Later in the day a local teacher brought a couple of middle school students for their own small workshop. They were so enthusiastic and helpful. They jumped right into a bed of greens and started weeding. When they wanted a break they just reached over to the next bed and pulled a couple of brand new sweet baby carrots.  These carrots were planted in mid November and wintered over as tiny plants.

Meanwhile when we are not hosting throngs of people, things are working up to a dull roar  around here. All the high tunnels are bursting with greens partly due to the warm spring after the pracitically nonexistent winter. 

The low tunnels that protected young plants in the field all winter are also yielding lots of food. So we're are off to a great start of the main season. That is a good thing because the announcement of our new CSA has been met with much enthusiasm. There is still room for more members so check it out right here on this site.

It won't be long before the greens  all move out to the fields and the hoophpouses are turned over to the 2012 tomato jungles. To that end,this time of year has become defined with starting and  grafting tomato plants. We will feature graftingi n a blog soon, but  it  is well underway and in a few weeks the first cycle of heirlooms will be planted in the first hoophouse. These tomatoes give us a jump on tomato season and  when they appear at our farmers markets there is practically a stampede for them. Not to mention the chefs fighting over who gets them first.  Just kidding everybody-- in reality everyone is eager, but polite !

Happy Spring !

March 21, 2012

Just as things were getting started, a surprise visitor arrived-- Commission of Agriculture Steve Reviczky.  After chatting with him I learned that he has always been connected to farming in one form or another and is very much a voice for the continuing and new growth of farming in the state. He was  surprised to learn how much produce we grow on a relatively small piece of land. And indeed looking around Star Light Gardens, one can imagine seeing small bits of growing all over our state-- gardens ,farms and even growing on bits of free space and /or municipal lands.

Later in the day a local teacher brought a couple of middle school students for their own small workshop. They were so enthusiastic and helpful. They jumped right into a bed of greens and started weeding. When they wanted a break they just reached over to the next bed and pulled a couple of brand new sweet baby carrots.  These carrots were planted in mid November and wintered over as tiny plants.

Meanwhile when we are not hosting throngs of people, things are working up to a dull roar  around here. All the high tunnels are bursting with greens partly due to the warm spring after the pracitically nonexistent winter. 

The low tunnels that protected young plants in the field all winter are also yielding lots of food. So we're are off to a great start of the main season. That is a good thing because the announcement of our new CSA has been met with much enthusiasm. There is still room for more members so check it out right here on this site.

It won't be long before the greens  all move out to the fields and the hoophpouses are turned over to the 2012 tomato jungles. To that end,this time of year has become defined with starting and  grafting tomato plants. We will feature graftingi n a blog soon, but  it  is well underway and in a few weeks the first cycle of heirlooms will be planted in the first hoophouse. These tomatoes give us a jump on tomato season and  when they appear at our farmers markets there is practically a stampede for them. Not to mention the chefs fighting over who gets them first.  Just kidding everybody-- in reality everyone is eager, but polite !

Happy Spring !

March 21, 2012

February 7, 2012

We are so excited to announce that this year we will have a CSA. For those of you not familiar with the term or the idea, a CSA means Community Supported Agriculture. Essentally you buy a "share "in this years production of our farm and we will provide you  with a weekly extravaganza of fresh, harvested that day, certified organic vegetables. For 22 weeks From May 30- October 24 you come by once a week and pick up your share for the week. 

The season will start with greens of many varieties from small head lettuces to arugula and then as it gets hotter will expand to offer all kinds of things, including our famous watermelons and our even more famous heirloom tomatoes.

All the information you need is at  CSA for 2012 .