January 12, 2006

Dear Friends,

2005 was a great year at Colchester Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CFCSA). What started on a whim and a prayer three years ago, with just Andy Andrews and me, has grown into an organization serving over a hundred people and multiple constituencies in our community. We couldn’t be more pleased and thankful.

As you will read in this annual report, this has also been a period of change for us. Importantly, we are delighted that Andy has moved up, from CSA Manager to Board Member. Although he has accepted a new job at Pennypack Farm outside Philadelphia, he will continue to share his considerable insight and expertise with us. We are indeed fortunate to have Theresa Mycek, who was Assistant Manager this year, ready to assume the position of CSA Manger full-time in 2006. Endless thanks to Andy for all his hard work; and congratulations to Theresa.

We achieved an important milestone in 2005: CFCSA is now officially a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as able to accept tax-deductible donations from donors and organizations of all sorts. This made it possible for us to submit a grant application to the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We have applied for funds to support a Community Outreach Coordinator who will work with participants at the Kent Family Center in Chestertown to extend the benefits of good organic eating to low income residents of Kent County. It also means your donations to Colchester Farm Community Supported Agriculture are tax deductible; please consider us as you plan your charitable donations this year.

In 2005 we had sixty-three CSA members getting fresh vegetables each week and numerous others enjoying the surplus we produced (See “Sharing our Abundance” on page three). In 2006 we plan for up to one hundred members with various new educational programs. To see how satisfied our members are, see the membership survey results outlined inside.

Finally, many, many thanks to all our loyal supporters from 2005; we hope to serve you even better in 2006!

Sincerely,
Charlotte Staelin
President