SFM Blog

Snowblower in Action

2014-01-28T05:06:25Z

Hi everyone! I am back with another blog post after a long hiatus. Since winter is clearly upon us, I thought I'd share a video of our snowblower in action at the farm. Make sure you turn up the volume to hear my Dad's narration. Hopefully there won't be too many more times we'll need to use it this year... it is certainly getting it's share of wear and tear! Call 609-466-1323 for our snowblowing/plowing services!

New Logo!

2013-05-09T13:27:53Z

It has been a while since my last post. We have been working on ramping up for the spring, and over the last few days have started planting some of our early crops and some sweet corn in the field! Our lettuce is almost ready to go, and we are now open our normal hours... every day from 9-6.

In other news, we finally got an OFFICIAL Sansone's Farm Market logo designed! My very talented friend, and graphic designer in my place of full time employment, Kate Bakalenko, designed the logo for us. She did just a wonderful job, don't you think??

We are so excited about all the things to come this year. Stay tuned for many more updates, and more frequent blog posts after I return from a brief vacation!

Devastation

2013-03-11T13:56:30Z

This is a perfect follow up to my last post about deer damage. Last week, the heavy winds blew off what remained of the protective fabric covering our strawberry plants that had already been ravaged by previous storms and winds. We are currently in the process of installing the new deer fence, so there was not a fence in place to keep them out. Once the fabric was gone, the deer had a feast and cleaned out every last plant, leaving literally nothing (as you can see) in the holes.

It is not a good feeling for my Dad to walk into the field and see something like this, or for me to receive this news in a photo on my cell phone. All the hard work, time (and of course, money) that goes into planting and caring for our crops can be wiped out in a single night just like that. These are the perils of farming for a living. I can't even name all the times in my life that I can remember losing an entire field of a crop to deer damage, drought, flood, excessive heat or cold, or any number of other factors. There are many rewards to farming, but when things like this happen, you have to try very hard to remind yourself why you do this.

Once we get our new deer fence installed, hopefully news like this will be limited. But unfortunately, it looks like it will be another year without Sansone's strawberries, which are truly one of my favorite things in the world to eat. I hope one day soon all of our co-op members and customers will get to experience them again.... if my Dad and I leave any for you :)

Oh, Deer!

2013-02-20T04:55:56Z

In the final chapter of lessons from our friend Jack at our Co-op Kickoff event, we learned about the deer population problem in Central NJ. For me personally, this was extremely interesting and eye-opening, because I cannot even begin to estimate the dollar amount of deer damage our farm has sustained in my lifetime. Year in and year out, it never fails that deer wipe out one crop or another, in some cases causing a complete 100% loss.

A young deer pays a visit to our field last summer

Before European settlers came to the Hopewell area, the habitat in Central NJ could support about 15-21 deer per square mile. When the population of deer goes over 25 per square mile, they begin to cause "intolerable damage" to farmers. In our immediate area, there are currently about 90 deer per square mile. And we are not even in the worst area of the state. In other parts of Central NJ, there are over 120, and as many as 225 per square mile in other parts of the state. Contrary to common belief that we are taking over the deer's natural habitat, we are actually creating the perfect habitat for deer with suburban sprawl. Grass and crops are far better food for deer than leaves in the forest that covered the area before humans took over.

In 2012, New Jersey motorists reported 17,500 incidents of striking a deer with their vehicle. This does not include those accidents that went unreported. Between car accidents, hunting and poaching, the state of New Jersey "harvests" about 100,000 deer every year. These statistics illustrate the astonishing magnitude of a problem that we have been painfully aware of for decades. Besides installing deer fencing wherever possible and pumping out thousands of dollars worth of organic sprays like the "Deer Out" we sell at the farm, there is little most farmers can do to combat this population explosion. Although I suppose if not deer destroying our crops, it would just be groundhogs, or rabbits, or birds, or bugs, or flood, or drought, or heat, or cold...... So, who wants to become a farmer now??

The Organic Debate

2013-02-15T14:12:03Z

As a continuation of my last post, this is a summary of the second topic discussed by our guest speaker at our co-op kickoff event. The topic was the debate between organic and conventional farming. Our farm is not organic, and we never will be. The process to become certified organic is long, and the cost is high. We simply do not grow enough produce for it to pay off for us. We do, however, minimize our use of all chemical products as much as we possibly can. We do not spray our crops unless it is absolutely necessary to save them. In that case, our philosophy is that we would rather have something to sell our customers (even if it is not pesticide-free) than have nothing at all. Jack tackled this issue by discussing the true difference between organic and conventional methods.

Jack opened the discussion by saying that one of the biggest problems conventional farmers face is consumers irrational fear of non-organic plants. Organic farmers use urea on their plants that is composed of 1/3 animal urine. Conventional farmers use chemicals on their bedding plants and in drip irrigaation lines that is composed of industrially manufactured urea. The two compounds are, chemically, exactly the same.

Nitrogen is the most limiting plant nutrient on Earth because it only exists in the atmosphere, not in the Earth itself. In the atmosphere, nitrogen is the most abudant element... it makes up 78% of the air you breathe... but plants have no way of getting it. Organic and conventional farmers are both delivering nitrogen to their plants... one containing urea naturally created by animal excretion, one containing industrially manufactured urea. Jack told us that on average, 1/3 of all the protein in our bodies comes from industrially sources nitrogen.

The overall message was that it is far more important to patronize your local farm markets, whether organic or conventional, than to agonize over the source of the urea in your nitrogen. Should you wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them? Absolutely! But, you should be doing that whether the produce is certified organic or not.

Lessons from our Co-op Kickoff Event

2013-02-10T16:41:36Z

Last weekend at our Co-op Kickoff Party, we had our friend Jack Rabin from Rutgers University as our guest speaker. Jack is one of our biggest supporters, and in both his personal and professional life, he does everything he can to help small farmers like us. The next few blog posts will feature some of the information Jack shared with us!

All farmers combined in the state of New Jersey produce about $120 per year in agricultural output per resident. This includes "non-edible" agriculture such as ornamental trees and shrubs, so when you subtract this out, farmers really produce only $60 in edible agriculture per NJ resident. This makes NJ a "food deficit" state. It is so important for people to support local farms to contribute to food security in NJ and help sustain or grow this number. A study revealed that 65% of the purchase decisions of American "eaters" (definted as people with money to spend on food) now have a "values" component to them. It is encouraging that more and more people are acting on their values when making purchase decisions. This means that although consumers may pay slightly higher prices to buy produce from a local farm instead of a large chain grocery store, this is no longer the most important factor people consider.

Today, people support local farms and join CSAs and co-ops (like ours, hopefully!) because consumers want and need to keep these farms in the community. This has bigger implications than saving money by purchasing the cheapest vegetables and flowers you can find.

More from Jack's speech to come later this week!

Thank You Customers!!

2013-02-04T21:25:31Z

Thank you so much to all of our customers who attended our second annual Co-op Kickoff Event this weekend! This event was really what got our co-op started last year because so many people came out to sign up, and this year it was a huge success again. We served some homemade sauce that my grandmother made and a bunch of other goodies for lunch, which it seemed like everyone really enjoyed. We had a FANTASTIC guest speaker... our good friend Jack Rabin, Associate Director of Farm Programs at Rutgers University Agriculture Experiment Station, Co-op Extension. Jack is extremely knowledgeable about anything and everything to do with farming, and he's a very engaging speaker. I will be posting within the next few days a summary of some of the things we learned from Jack at the event for those of you who could not attend.

Customers and co-op members getting to know each other and enjoying lunchWe are planning to hold "sign up events" every month between now and May where people can come ask questions about the co-op and learn about some of the things we have going on at the farm. It's an exciting time to get involved, and we really appreciate all the support from our loyal customers.

Check back later this week for an informative summary of Jack's speech!

Second Annual Co-op Kickoff Party

2013-01-22T14:04:30Z

We are so excited to begin the second year of the Sansone's Co-op! This was a major success in it's first year, so we have high expectations for the co-op this year. We are holding the second annual "Kickoff Party" on Saturday, February 2nd at 12:00pm. Everyone is invited.... current, former and prospective members. This is a chance for everyone to mingle, learn more about the co-op, hear from our informative guest speaker, and eat a delicious "Groundhog Day" lunch! Our guest speaker will be Jack Rabin from Rutgers University. Last year he gave a wonderful speech about sustainable farming in NJ, and we know he will be just as engaging this year. We will serve a full lunch this year for those who attend, and we encourage everyone to bring the family and any friends who you think are interested in the farm. We also give everyone a potted plant such as lettuce or basil to take home. Click here to open the invitation... Hope to see all of our friends and customers there!

What Happens at the Farm in January

2013-01-04T14:35:09Z

Happy New Year!! Well, there's not too much going on at the farm right now because we are closed for the season. Tonight is our first annual employee holiday party, so we are looking forward to that. Just like everything else, all holiday celebrations in our family are postponed until after the holidays!

We are also working on planning our second annual Co-op Kickoff Party, which will be on Groundhog Day (Feb 2) from 12pm to 2pm. This was a huge success last year.... we had about 40 people come to learn more about our co-op and sign up (with bonus incentives of course). We also had a guest speaker who will be returning again this year... our friend Jack Rabin from Rutgers Cooperative Extension. He spoke to our guests about the importance of buying and eating local, which is naturally a topic near and dear to our hearts. This year we will be serving lunch, and we will offer our "Lettuce Potting" station, where customers and their families can learn how to pot lettuce and take home a baby plant for themselves.

This year I'll be dedicating more time to promoting the farm online. One major goal we have this year is to get up to 1,000 Facebook fans! This will be no small feat, as we started the year with 347 fans. We are constantly posting updates and photos on our Facebook page, so if you're not already a fan, make sure you "like" our page!

I also learned how to create an online form to sell co-op memberships! We do not process payment online, but at least this allows for a more convenient way for our customers to provide their information. The online sign-up form is available on our co-op page.

There will be many more new and exciting things to come this year, so be sure to check back!

Opening Day

2012-11-25T19:23:33Z

Today is our opening day!! We have tons of Christmas trees in all the poplar varieties, including Fraser, Douglas and Concolor Fir.

One of our best-selling items every year is the Stand Strait Christmas tree stand. This brilliant invention revolutionized the process of putting up your Christmas tree. The concept is basically this: A large machine drills a hole into the bottom of your tree in such a way that it will stand perfectly straight when resting on a pin. The hole is tapered to support the weight of the tree and allow for 360 degree spinning. This means once you stand it (which can easily be done by one person) you can spin it all the way around until you find the perfect side! No more adjusting screws and worrying about whether your tree looks crooked.

The stand is easily assembled - it comes with a bowl, the metal pin and 4 legs. There are various sizes available for standard 6-8 foot trees, small tabletop trees and large 10+ foot trees. You will never dread putting up your tree again once you have one of these! Come by the farm and ask for a demonstration or pick yours up today!