It’s been a little while since we shared an update with our full community, and we wanted to connect as we approach the finish line of this growing season!

Tomorrow is a big day for our little farm. It will be the final harvest + pack out for the 2020 CSA, with about 200 boxes headed out on Saturday morning.

Plus, we’ve got a hard freeze coming tomorrow night, with a low of 18 degrees and snow predicted. Ouch! We have a few more orders going out to local food pantries and food access partners over the next couple weeks, so this week we’ve been trying to save as much food as possible from the fields to store in our coolers. Even hardy crops can’t withstand temps that low, so today and tomorrow will be a serious sprint.

Big gratitude to our amazing crew for being out there in cold, wet weather all week long. (They all look so cozy and bundled in our new Rock Steady beanies and why yes, [shameless plug], you can get your own right here!)

As humans, we’re also feeling the anxiety and weight of this week, which, within the context of this whole year, feels really intense.

The latest devastation of the Supreme court confirmation, the high stakes tension surrounding the upcoming election, the continued assault on the lives of so many of us.

As always, we’re looking to the soil and the plants for support, and grateful to be grounded in the work of feeding our communities during this time. Sending continued love and solidarity to all of you.

And please VOTE! — November 3rd, or sooner via early voting and absentee ballots. We have to remove the current administration and then get on with the hard, longterm work of systemic change for justice and equity in our country.

Amidst all this, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the highlights of 2020 as we pack out the last CSA of the season. Here are a few!

• Our CSA grew from 275 members last year to 425 members this year! That’s a 54% increase in just one season, wowzers.

• Taking into account our CSA as well as wholesale orders, over half of all our vegetables went to low-income community members & food relief efforts this season! Thank you to all of you who participated in making this happen. Shout out to some of our brand new food access partners this year: GMHC in Manhattan, Rise Up Kingston and The Farm Hub, BRIDGE and Random Harvest in Great Barrington, Ruby Olisemeka and the Mt. Vernon Community, and the Brooklyn Community Pride Center.

• With 4 returning team members (Kyle, Mika, Rica, Hannah) and 2 phenomenal new team members (Amara, Lisa), plus D & Maggie in their 5th season as founding worker owners — our team has been solid, consistent, thoughtful and incredibly skilled. This is what makes everything else possible! And big news: all of our staff plans to return next year! SO amazing.

• We financed a brand new Tractor, pictured above, which arrived in early May! Woot. This was an incredibly important decision for us. It has meant a much smoother production year, higher yields, and more cover crop in the fields. Instead of D spending precious time fixing our old tractors, they were able to work more intentionally on weed management and did a phenomenal job keeping our weed pressure down. Go D!

• When the pandemic hit, we needed a complete re-do of our budget, sales outlets, and crop plan. With more attention on food security (and a skyrocketed need), we also jumped into organizing regional food access networks with other farms & community orgs during that time, and building new food access partnerships for Rock Steady. Within all of this, and the navigation of COVID food safety measures and new sanitation regulations, we all stayed healthy! We really missed in-person events & visits on the farm, but we are so grateful we navigated this hugely challenging year in the ways that we did.

• Lastly, can’t forget to include the forever #1 highlight of highlights: our Watermelon Sugar music video!!!

Once things calm down, we’ll continue to reflect and harvest the lessons learned this past year. There have been many.

And now, the 2021 season is already starting to take shape. Next year’s CSA is already more than a third full — big welcome to new and returning members! Crop planning, budgeting, social justice initiatives, cooperative development— these huge projects are just getting started and will keep us busy all Winter long.

We’re looking forward to writing and sharing more over the next few months. There is so much work to be done, and we feel honored and energized by the ways our extended community continues to show up to it. Thank you for being here!

Stay well,
Rock Steady farmers
Maggie, D., Kyle, Mika, Rica, Amara, Lisa & Hannah