The Board of Directors and Staff of Common Roots Farm wish all of our CRF Families and Friends a very happy, safe, and healthy Thanksgiving. We also send a huge shout out to our Executive Director, Heidi Cartan, and our incredible staff. Nina, Lori, Carson, Matthew, Trina and Bonnie, along with our essential and amazing volunteers, worked during some very difficult times. We could not have done it without them.

It has been quite a summer with many procedural changes made because of Covid-19. The good news is that we came through with flying colors: crops harvested, CSA boxes delivered, lots of donations made to our neediest members of our local community, and products made from extra crops.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the launch of our new online store on our website. We’ll be selling products made with produce and fruit from the farm — perfect for holiday gifts for loved ones. Products will include jam, hot sauce, cocktail mixes, and more. Stay tuned!

Lori (L) and Nina (R)

Back in February, Nina was brand new to her role and preparing to double the size of our CSA subscription program. Gradually, like everyone, we started hearing about the novel corona virus, social distancing, and wearing masks. It was looking like our farm stand, where customers select and handle their own produce, was not going to be a good idea. Our restaurant contracts dried up overnight. Nina was quick to pivot to creative ways the farm could still fulfill our mission while keeping essential volunteers safe. Nina has kept her can-do attitude all season, working hard to maintain our high standards for quality produce grown in an ecologically sustainable way. Extremely capable, always ready to help with any project, and a conscientious problem solver, we are so glad Nina chose to hone her craft here, as our farm manager.

A stalwart of Common Roots Farm and the other half of our dynamic duo, Lori Iverson has left her mark from our very first season. Undeterred by the added impact of COVID-19 on managing our farm’s volunteers, including those with and without disabilities, Lori has been the steady hand on our broadfork! She has spent countless hours at the farm, doing every imaginable job. And, as if helping us through a pandemic weren’t challenging enough, Lori and her family had to evacuate their own home due to the summer’s CZU Lightning Complex fire. An extraordinary volunteer, Lori quietly commits an amazing amount of time helping to ensure our farm’s success. We are so fortunate to have found some solid midwestern stock here in Santa Cruz to add to our team!

Nina and Lori have led our dedicated volunteers, without whom we would not have been able to fulfill 45 CSA shares each week, donated hundreds of pounds of fresh produce and lots of flower bouquets to our neighbors in need, or offered part time employment to two young men impacted by developmental disabilities. I am so proud of these two farmers, and this season’s farm volunteers, especially Leslie, Joanna, Bela, Todd, Bailey, students from the Stanford Catholic Community, Ezra, Ryan, Thomas, Bonnie, Jelena, Syd, Sophie, Maya, Carson, Matthew, Trina, Christine, Linda, Elle, Jenny, Eric, and all who got us through this historic 2020 season so early in our farm’s evolution.

When our group of families raising sons and daughters with intellectual/developmental disabilities set out to create lifetime homes for our children, it was clear that, as important as a safe and happy home is to wellbeing, equally important is having a purposeful life. Much progress has been made and you can view Coastal Haven Families’ latest update on our website.

Mustard cover crop

Now, as we begin to wind down our third production year, I am reminded that so much of farming is about noticing small changes, sometimes before they add up to big problems! We are watching our farm behave noticeably differently this season and I find myself wondering: Is this the impact of the recent CZU Lightening complex fire on our crops?

One of the things you will hear Nina, our farm manager, and me talk about often is healthy soil. It’s not an oversimplification to say healthy soil is the key to everything else on the farm. It’s the basis for strong crops and nutritious results. How do we achieve this? In simplest terms, we keep living roots in our soil at all times, if at all possible. No bare soil, that’s our goal! It’s a worthy goal too, because cover crops pull carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil, making our planet more resilient to climate change.

While we look forward to a time when all our volunteers, aspiring farmers, and visitors can safely collaborate again, and social distancing is itself a distant memory, we are turning our attention to cover crops that will work during our off season to build organic matter in our soil, fix nitrogen for next year’s crops, provide habitat for beneficial insects, and prevent erosion during the winter months. We might be a small farm, but our ambitions for soil stewardship are big.

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