It is with pleasure that I announce that Ilene and I will be making our first CSA delivery to shareholders tomorrow (Friday, July 17).

This has been a long time coming and I think I'm as excited as the shareholders. I spent all day today (Thursday) picking produce and as you might imagine, there were some surprises and some disappointments.

But overall, there is enough now to delivery to our shareholders who have anxiously been waiting for the past  three weeks for locally grown, certified organic produce. 

This has been an intersting experience and we have been learning a lot. On May 1, we talked to several people in Bismarck who were potential shareholders in our CSA. We weren't sure that we would get enough orders to justify a weekly trip t o Bismarck.

Enough people actually signed up that same night. Then several others in Bismarck and Mandan joined. Then, we picked up a shareholder in Minot, then Carpio and finally Flaxton. 

I have to say a CSA is quite different than going to farmers' market. The CSA actually picks it  up a notch in that we must have specific amounts of produce for each customer. Whereas at the farmers' market, you take what you have and sell it. 

As the title says, this is our maiden voyage, just as the farmers' market was in July 2005. We learned a lot about customers and what they like that first summer and I'm sure we will learn just as much working with our shareholders.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday. Delivery is 2:30 in Minot and 5 p.m. in Bismarck.