Dear Tortuga and friends,
We have worked out some of the details of our estimated costs, crops, and desired contribution. Hopefully not too late, we are really excited about our many forms of collaboration, if any of you or potential Buyer's Co-op members would like to submit anything for our publications, submissions for the Spring issue are due on May 1st!

As for the food part of our urban-rural interchange, here is what we are thinking......
You can expect 20 weeks of produce (June 1st - November 1st)
We will be growing the following crops....

late spring/early summer:
seedlings for your gardens in the city!
asian greens, lettuce, chard, peas, kohlrabi, mustard greens, arugula, radishes, favas, fennel, beets, turnips, scallions

mid-late Summer Harvest
chives, onions, kale, collards, lettuce, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage,
tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, eggplants, carrots, potatoes, summer squash, cucumbers,
dill, edamame, cilantro, melons, beans, corn

Fall harvest
melons, leeks, onions, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, eggplants,
brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, kohlrabi, chard,
kale, collards, beets, turnips, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins

We will give you about five shares worth of produce, to be divied up as the buyer's co-operative decides.
We would like for everyone involved in the buyer's co-op to make it up to the farm at least once during the season and that a collection of folks come from the city for a work day at least once a month.
In exchange for produce and your help with distribution, and fundraising a financial contribution of $2,000 would enable us to make it financially viable.
This is our revised expectation of expenses:

• $1,500 Farm truck maintenance (fuel, repairs, insurance, grease conversion)
• $1000 Fencing (Stock Fencing, Gates, Ratchets, Corner Posts, Wire)
• $800 Hardware, tool maintenance, misc
• $700 Irrigation and Aquaculture (pumps, hoses, drip line)
$600 Tractor maintenance
• $500 Seeds
• $500 Tools (pruners, hoes, harvesting knives, rakes, seeder, soil blockers, digging forks etc.)
• $500 Soil amendments (Rock Phosphate, Jersey Green Sand)
• $400 Small Tractor
• $325 Re-may, and other row cover materials
• $300 Chicken expenses (coops, feed, chicken tractor)
• $300 Gravel (Parking area, Roadside Stand, Greenhouse Floor)
• $300 Harrowing Tractor Rental
• $250 Greenhouse Plastic
• $200 Perennial Plant Starts
• $200 Trellising Materials
• $200 Carts and wheelbarrows (could easily be made from bike parts and salvaged materials)
• $200 Greenhouse Materials (Blower, Bench Construction, Rebar)
• $200 Sheds and processing stations
• $200 Roto-tiller rental
• $150 Soil (for seed starting)
• $100 Legal Advice and LLC
• $100 Scales and containers
• $100 Mulch Straw and Hay
• $35 Business license
• $30 Soil Test
Total: $9,590
Your $2,000 would go to the most immediately necessary things on the list (potting soil, Fencing, Tractor rental etc.)
Also. if anyone is interested in specialized work contributions (i.e. website design, garden cart building, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, legal advice, plastic surgery etc.) We are still figuring out the idea of a bread share, which would be something like a loaf of organic bread (made with locally grown ingredients, and freshly milled flour) each week for an additional cost (which is yet to be determined), but Don the baker is into it. We'll let you know when we find out the price. Let us know whether there are any questions that remain unanswered! Can't wait to see you all again! We'll send our latest farm update along soon.