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January, 2012
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Thank you for a wonderful
year! 2011 was a milestone
season for Montalbano Farms
and we are excited about the
future. Here's a recap.
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We started the season with bare land and determination. Unfortunately, a small farm
like ours needs just a little more to make it in this business.
We started by putting up two pole barns. Our pack house, a state of the art building,
was designed to cool, wash, and store our harvested produce year round. From
washable walls to a certified kitchen, this building will serve us for many years to
come. The second barn, our storage building, is simply a covered place to keep our
equipment and supplies from exposure to weather. Next came the water well. Digging
a 280' well that can irrigate our farm was no small matter. June's dry weather proved
challenging until the well came online toward the end of the month. We ran electricity
to the site, installed a propane tank, put a concrete floor in the pack house, installed
two walk-in coolers, and managed to get our spring plantings out in time too. Whew!
It was that type of year.
The season's wet and wooly weather proved challenging. It was dry and cold, then
dry and hot, then wet. Then more water came giving us record rains in the month of
July. And the rain kept coming for the rest of the year. Fortunately, our experience
enabled us to deal with these challenges and our harvest was our largest and best
ever. Our crew members, worker shares, and volunteers persevered through some
challenging times and we harvested a wide variety of vegetables and herbs through
December.
The end of the season brought even more work. Before winter struck, we were
determined to insulate our pack house. That was a big, messy job but we got it done
just in time. Finally, we finished our 3000 square foot greenhouse in mid-December.
Two more big jobs finished by year's end.
Your support of local, organic farming and Montalbano Farms made this possible. Our
partnership with our customers has been a real blessing. Together, we are building a
local food system and growing some great food for families like yours.
Thank you for your unwavering support.
Farmers Rob and Christina
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