May 14th, 2021
.:: FEED Bin Options ::.
As some of you know, we began offering a smaller iteration of our FEED Bin a while ago, affectionately called the "Keiki" Bin, meaning "Child" in Hawaiian. It became increasingly evident, especially as many of your own gardens started to produce, that a smaller Bin subscription was needed to ensure that your green thumb endeavors could flourish while supplementing with the delights of our local farmers. We hope that this Keiki Bin option will mean increased revenues for our farmer community by enabling us to maintain a wider spectrum of subscribers, from a multi-generational household to the discerning individual. Please know that our ultimate goal is always to uphold our farming community, securing subscriptions that our farmers can depend on week to week for harvest plans and much needed revenues. If your subscription isn't working for your current needs, we would love to find a solution for you. Whether that's a biweekly option or a smaller bin, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at feedbin@feedsonoma.com (or just reply to this email).
And, don't forget! No matter your subscription frequency or size, you can always add on pastured meats, eggs, cheese, coffee, ferments and more.
Pictured: Harvest at Paul's Produce in Sonoma. Photo by Paige Green Photography.
.:: Big Moves at FEED HQ ::.
FEED Cooperative will soon be offering a more robust farm-stand experience at our FEED HQ in Petaluma! A grand unveiling is anticipated around July 2021, but we'll be sure to keep you updated as the dream edges ever closer! Come grab a Bin, pick up some extra freshly harvested goodies, and sip a coffee at Retrograde's future outdoor coffee kiosk (if you didn't know - they're our warehouse-mates at Barn 5400 aka FEED HQ).
:: Quinoa! ::.
Next week’s Bins will have multi-color OR white quinoa courtesy of our bio-regional food system partner, The Mendocino Grain Project via the Mendo Lake Food Hub
From Our Producers :: Field Notes
.:: Longer Table Farm and the
Current Drought Emergency ::.
From Will and the Longer Table Farm Crew: We use tertiary (recycled) treated water for irrigation. Tertiary water, aka clean recycled water, has always seemed like a win win to me: we have access to copious amounts of water without putting a straw in our aquifer. This year we got a small allotment, just 25% of what we used last year. We will do our best to make up for this drastic shortage by updating some of our well's pumping equipment but it's an extremely tough situation. Recycled water is still in abundance (people still shower and use the toilet and wash dishes, etc), but a vast majority of the water goes to the Geyser power plant to be injected into thermal vents to create steam to make electricity. While this is a very cool process for making electricity, it doesn’t recharge the laguna aquifer like the normal irrigation practices you see along Occidental Rd, Llano, Todd etc in a typical year. There are community-wide debates about the most sustainable, drought-conscious uses for this tertiary water, but for now, our farmers are working with what they have...immensely reduced water resources.
–
It's our duty as a community to help reduce our water usage. Less water for our thirsty yards or dishes or long showers means more water for our farmers! Let's do our part!