Dear CSA and Friends of Shalom Orchard, We hope this finds you enjoying the quiet and beauty of winter! We have had some changes here since the end of last season. Jim has taken a full-time job at College of the Atlantic in the IT Department. As many of you know, computers are a passion of Jim’s and the perfect job dropped in his lap, and he couldn’t refuse it. Of course, not having him on the farm full-time has presented us some challenges.

We are very fortunate to have Alice here as an apprentice. She came as Sarah and Sammie were leaving and is living in the loft. We hope she will be with us on a part-time basis through the summer. She immediately trapped the raccoon that was killing the chickens last fall in a coop, which enabled our tenant to shoot it. We had tried to trap it, but it outwitted us, but not Alice!

Serendipitously, we were contacted by a couple who are interested in learning farm management. They are Tali and Sequoia and they have two little children. They arrived last Wednesday and are settling into the apartment. Both have some farming experience and Sequoia is especially interested in winemaking, which is very helpful with Jim working off the farm. Thursday morning, after arriving Wed. night, we had three lambs born. Sequoia jumped right in and managed Spike the ram, so that we could attend the lambs. All are doing well and one is brown with white spots! We may call her Harlequin, because she looks like she has a mask on, nickname “Harley”. Now we can get some colored fleeces! It is really great to have children living on the farm – it has been a while.

As those of you who have been with us a while, you know that we place an order every year with Fedco through the Hancock County MOFGA chapter. We get large discounts on seeds and amendments. These are big savings that are passed on to you. This order has to go out on Feb. 1. We hope that as many of you as possible can send your check for your membership now, so that we can take advantage of these savings.

Here are the prices:

$10/week share = $140 for 14 weeks $20/ = 280 $30 =420

If you want a larger share/week, just multiply the amount you think you will use by 14 – the number of weeks we operate the CSA.

Please mail to: Shalom Orchard P.O. Box 4 Franklin, ME 04634 Our phone is: 565-2312 for questions

We hope all of you will be with us again this year! Things are shaping up to be a good season!

Thank you, Charlotte