Playing Farmer
Summer 2012 I find myself living and farming just outside of Ann Arbor, MI. I’ve been working here at Brines Farm, Dexter since I returned from Enlgand last fall; my boss Shannon Brines runs a winter CSA. What does that mean? Well, CSA stands for “community supported agriculture”. It basically means that the customer pays ahead of time for a weekly dose of garden produce — they can’t decide exactly what they want, but they get to try new things they might not otherwise think to buy, and it’s simple to go to the farms market and grab your bag of goodies for the week. It also takes some of the pressure off the farmer, partly because the income comes in before all the labour costs of the season, but mostly because there is a known and consistent market to provide for.
This particular CSA was a bit different than most farming jobs I’ve had up until now in that he concentrates on the winter season. By growing cold-hardy plants in hoop houses, we’re able to provide a delicious bag of healthy veg to people from Sept. through April.
This spring, Shannon is expanding to a new 80 acre parcel of land, which gives me and my co-workers plenty to do expanding the vegetable production, and also taking up any projects we want to do in our free time. So…. I just received an order of 38 chicks in the mail yesterday! They are all looking very healthy and happy, and are adorably cute. Otherwise this week we’ve been planting trees — peach, apple, pear, cherry, chestnut, pecan, paw paw, high-bush cranberry and elderberry along the river edge, and three little blueberry bushes near the house!
Alice
May 6, '12—11:52 am
Cute little Chickies. How many different breeds do you have there?
Please add photos of the other farm animals as well….cats, dog and baby turkeys.
ant
May 6, '12—12:59 pm
Wowie! Only thing cuter than a baby chick is 38 baby chicks…
janetvz
May 8, '12—8:19 pm
I don’t know how many breeds! I got two breeds of egg layers and a variety pack of meat birds… exciting colors, huh! Adding more pictures right now….