Survivor Strategies for Today

From: Gregory Cohane [mailto:gcohane@nb.aibn.com]
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 12:58 PM
To: gregjay@nb.aibn.com
Subject: Jay and Greg re: Anderson Cottage Garden Co-op

Dear Friends,
As you my be aware, Jay and I have been pondering the possibility of a cooperative garden on our property in Bayside. We are sending this letter to those of you whom we feel may have an interest in this project. The aim of the garden would be to raise non-genetically modified crops using heirloom seeds, without chemicals, and employing sustainable garden practices.

1. Would you be interested in joining the coop? If your answer is yes, please?

2. Make a wish list of 20 vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers you would like to see grown in the garden. For some ideas, have a look at www.rareseeds.com .

3. We plan to hire one or two local residents as farm hands in part or full time positions. In addition, would you be willing to commit 2 hours a week to help maintain the garden (i.e. weeding, watering, harvesting, general maintenance etc.)?

4. We are considering raising some free range, chemical free pigs and cattle for late fall slaughter. Would you have an interest in premium quality pork and/or beef?

5. Would you be willing to collect and contribute your own compostable waste to the garden? Other ?hot? garbage can be used as supplemental food for the pigs.

In order to make this a viable operation; we are asking members of the Co-op to make a three-year commitment. The ability for us all to eat locally grown, top quality food is becoming clearer by the day as we learn about the dangers of genetically modified products, not to mention the real threat of a transportation crisis. This may not be the absolute solution, but it takes a giant step toward that goal. If you share in this vision, we hope you will join the team. We anticipate a maximum of 20 families in the first year.

Thanks for your time. We will share with you the answers to this questionnaire and keep you up-to-date with developments. In the near future we will be making a list of what we plan to grow with a rough harvest timeline and of course the cost of membership. We anticipate that the costs will vary from year to year, with the first year seeing the highest cost because of some non-recurring startup expenses. The fees would be payable annually. This will be a self-sustaining community project with no financial gain to us.

What we will contribute is the land for growing the crops and raising the livestock, a greenhouse, unlimited water, a significant time commitment to manage this operation and a keen desire to create a little bit of paradise right here in Bayside. We plan to work cooperatively with other established farms in the area to exchange ideas and resources. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very best,
Greg and Jay