Sure resembles French Tarragon. Does it smell very hebal?

I have been running a CSA for 18 years. I charge $350 for a 12 week share. That gets a member 6 items (an item can be as small as a bunch of herbs or a leek or as large as 15 melons depending on the yields and the amount of members we have). We do 3 sessions a year, spring, summer and fall/winter. I do on farm pick -up only and offer a market style pick up (they pack their own shares) which has been a huge hit with my members. I offer organically grown produce much of which is heirloom and specialty crops (we do 65 different crops and between 2 and 25 varieties if each crop) A big part of CSA philosophy is sharing the risk with the members and that means most CSA would not refund money for a natural disaster. I also think that people spend too much time on this. in the 18 years I have done CSA I have only once had a year where we had some difficulty growing enough produce for the shares and the farmers market but that was our 2nd year doing a CSA/5th year growing for market and we had a bad drought which we were not able to deal with well due to inexperience. Lost almost our members, learned a lot about the hardships of farming and have never had that issue again despite having 2 of the worst growing seasons in 100 years in 2011 and 12. We grow a lot of variety so if we were to have crops wiped out due to weather we would still have stuff to offer. But we have made it clear to our members that if a tornado or some such wipes out the farm we will not be giving refunds and will likely be coming to the membership for help getting back on our feet. If your CSA really is a community this is not even an issue as the community wants to keep the farm and farmers thriving. That and row covers and hoophouses go a long way in keeping crops safe from most weather Oh and never get too specific as to what you will be offering. Some potential members want to know down to the last leaf of lettuce what will be harvested and exactly when. I tell people that because farming is never a sure thing that I can't tell them exactly what we will have and in what amounts (this also gets me off the hook if this sort of person actually joins and starts making stupid demands and accusations. This kind of member is also a member from Hell and should be dissuaded from joining)

Maybe I came off as a total newbie from my post---not to say that I'm experienced though. I grew 6 shares on around 3,000 sq ft last Fall and this year I have 12 shares on a third of an acre plus I'm adding another 6 for a short Summer vegetable share. I spent last year and this year working on succession planting and I believe I have a pretty good calander worked out. I have done a whole lot of research online, read books, and attended a new farmer's workshop and believe I have some good systems in place. I am not doing straight row cropping. Instead I'm growing on 30"-wide raised beds. So for carrots and lettuce I can get 3 rows per bed and two rows of bush beans and beets. I am using a system similar to what Eliot Coleman recommends. The leaves are being used as mulch and the horse manure is being aged the recommended 180 days. I am also using some purchased compost, but the cost is really high. Soil testing is guiding my amending and fertilizing, although I have grown in this soil for the last 7 years. I have some infrastructure holes, but also a foundation. As far as growing trasplants, the Fall season is easier to manage. After getting seeds germinated inside, I put them outside in low tunnels covered with shade cloth. Direct seeded items like beans are planted near drip tape to aid in germination. Carrots, of course, require special attention. I have designs for a washing station which I plan to modify a bit. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/cool_tools/wash_stations1 Working out an efficient system for getting shares ready is crucial. Thanks Lucy, three harvest days seems like the way to go. Along with a helper, we spend between 1.5-2 hrs harvesting and preparing 7 shares. We pack the shares straight into iced coolers early in the morning and leave them in the shade until they are picked up(by next Spring I want to build a cool-bot cooler). So 15-20 shares would take a few hours, 3 days a week. Fortunately we don't have to deliver, because we are in the city. I could not afford to deliver for sure. Marketing has not been a problem so far. Again we are in the city and have had plenty of demand. As long as I keep producing the product I am now, I believe people will come back next year and recommend me to others. My biggest fear is not being able to deliver what I promise. And the biggest hurdle I see is labor. I plan on making the main job of the work share folks harvesting and getting shares ready as well as transplanting into the field. University of Texas at Dallas is close by and we have plenty of independent garden stores in the area. I envision environmentally-conscious or vegetarian college students doing workshares, with maybe 2 friends working for and spliting one share. I notice that most CSA's use interns, work shares or volunteers for much of their labor. For weed control on the large crops I may use some plastic mulch---although for the time involed I could just lay hay or leaves. Again, I know this will be a challenge, but I think it can be done. 50 shares is the lowest number I can go. Before finding out I was getting laid off, I had planned to work up to around 20 shares this Fall---a tall order with a full-time job. Instead of getting another job and postponing what I really want to do, I have decided to go for it. I know the job is physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding at times. Then again, working for someone in an office is much worse in my mind. I am really lucky to have so much in place to do this in the first place. Could you recommend or share farm planning software? My wife is doing the books with Quicken. Thanks, Pete http://www.facebook.com/pages/Farmer-Pete-Red-Wheelbarrow-Farm/198942070148079

There will be a HUD spec sheet someplace in the house, often inside the kitchen sink cabinet. It will list things like the roof snow load, and the wind/hurricane zone rating, and insulation. Those are the things that are most likely to be in 4-season requirements for Canada. How do you know your US manufactured home meets the CSA standard at all? I am curious. and what is the Z240 standard? Down the Google rabbithole I go!