Lisa and Jacob

Jacob

Jacob as Superhero!

Hi All,

I hope that the upcoming start to the new CSA season finds you in good spirits and in anticipation of the bounty that every Spring brings.  It occurred to me a couple weeks ago that, while I’ve kept in touch with Lenny on the happenings of my family's farm and the need to hand over the reigns of the CSA to another farmer, I haven’t sent an email to the whole CSA since the farm visit this past Fall.

My parents and I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to serve the Staten Island CSA.  It was a new concept for all of us and we really lucked out getting such a dedicated group of organized and friendly people to be our CSA members on our first try.  For us it really couldn’t have gone much better.  It also opened our eyes to the fact that some people really DO care about where their food comes from and how it was grown.  This was refreshing and revitalized the spirit in a way.   And since we were actually interacting with the people who were eating the farms output it made us also rethink growing methods to accommodate variety and health, not just appearance (also refreshing).

My parents, however, are getting older and their physical health is not keeping up with their desire to want to farm bigger and better every year.  Several outside factors that many small family farms in this part of the country face combined with their health just culminated this past summer and they decided they needed to scale back some things to basically avoid a heart attack.  While the CSA was a great new component of the farm it did require a lot of crop management to keep up with the variety of quality produce.  So they decided to grow fewer varieties of crops and concentrate on things that require less hired labor (another stressor).  Certainly they aren’t thinking retirement, but rearranging some things to help reduce some every day stress was in order and that what they hope to accomplish.

As for me, life has stayed busy throughout the winter.  In November my job took a turn for the busier.  We had an owner of a farm that my office preserved really push the envelope on his farm and attempt to excavate 25 acres to build greenhouses.  It’s in court now, but it has forced us to develop rules and policies on what kind of projects are acceptable on preserved farms and which belong somewhere else.  Lisa is well, mostly--she missed the last step coming downstairs the other day and sprained her ankle, but nothing too serious. And Jacob, he is doing great.  His 1st birthday is coming up on the 22nd. Every day seems like something new with him and he really lights up our lives.

So anyway, I just wanted to let any of you that were wondering, what happened, and why Cranberry Hall farm was not in the picture this year and also how much we appreciated your contributions to the farm.  I will say John from Starbrite came highly recommended to me from one of the best farmers I know, so I’m sure your in good hands and I have a feeling that now that your have a purely organic farmer that interest in the CSA will really grow (get it).

Have a great season, and if there’s anything I can do for anyone or questions I can answer please let me know.

Regards,
Chuck

ennis and Susan Roohr are the owners of Cranberry Hall Farm. They both come from a long history of farming families and continued the tradition by purchasing the 112-acre farm in Cookstown in 1982. Initially purchased as a dairy farm, the Roohr's transitioned to vegetables and then added grain and livestock to diversify the operation. Over time Dennis and Sue developed relationships with neighboring landowners and now lease over 300 additional acres in town and in adjacent townships that support the farm and help in crop rotations. Nathan, Daniel, Katie and Chuck are their four children, Katie being the youngest and still in college. While the boys all maintain off farm jobs they, along with their sister, each spend many hours a week helping in production, harvest and getting the produce to market in the Summer. Dennis and Susan have always been and continue to be full-time farmers.

The farm started off, like many farms, selling a majority of its produce at a local wholesale farmers cooperative. In the early 90's a drop in wholesale prices created the need to seek other outlets in order for the farm to remain viable. A wagon filled with the day's pickings at the end of the driveway was the beginning of direct marketing at Cranberry Hall Farm. The farm still sells direct at the farm, and also at various farmers markets in NJ, as well as the McCarren Park Greenmarket in Brooklyn.

Because of the mystique of driving into "the city," Dennis and Sue delegated the task of managing the Greenmarket to Chuck. Chuck has been making the trip to the city on Saturdays in the summer for the last 10 years. The nature of Greenmarket is a "sell only what you grow market" where the customers can have direct access to the farmer. This style of market requires a good diversity of produce to keep customers interested. By chance about three years ago a coworker forwarded an email about a CSA conference that the Just Food organization was holding, and the seed of CSA-style farming was planted.

From there, we met Lenny and the fine folks that make up the core group of the CSA and, through the generous offer of Christ Church New Brighton, found a spot to host the first CSA on Staten Island. We started the Staten Island CSA in 2005 and have been going strong ever since.

Integrated Pest Management at Cranberry Hall Farm

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the coordinated use of pest and environmental information to design and implement pest control methods that are economically, environmentally and socially sound. IPM promotes prevention over remediation and advocates integration of at least two or more strategies to achieve long-term solutions.