Colchester Farm Community Supported Agriculture                                                               Page 3
2007 Annual Report

		Member Survey Results Every year, CFCSA conducts a survey of its members so we can improve our operation the next season (71% of our members responded). We need to ensure that we are a self-sustaining operation. To do that we need to raise the share prices. Since this is a community-supported operation, we wanted the input of our members before proceeding. 79 % of those who responded were willing to pay more in support of the organization while 19% didn’t know. We are considering expanding offerings to CSA members and wanted to gauge interest before committing. We found strong interest in pick-your own berries (95%) and free-range eggs (90%). We also found interest in a recipe exchange (86%) and cooking workshops (71%). We are moving ahead as per these requests.
Events at the Farm in 2007 Presentation: Native Americans on the Sassafras Project Clean Stream shoreline litter pickup Wine-tasting and CSA Sign-up Party Open House in May 4th of July Potluck and Celebration Midsummer Night and Fall Solstice Walking Meditations Retreats by the Chestertown Buddhist Sanga and The Catholic Epiphany Community Yoga Classes twice a week with Ronni Diamond Gleaning by CSA Members Visitors to the Farm Echo Hill Outdoor School — mystery tours Kent County 3rd and 4th Grade Classes Girl Scouts—camp visit International students from Thailand
Native Americans on the Sassafras Together with the Sassafras River Association, in January we hosted an evening talk by John Seidel, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Sciences at Washington College. Seidel reviewed the inhabitants of the Delmarva peninsula through history, starting with the origins of the first Americans. He explained how climate and habitat differed over 10,000 years and how its change influenced the location and resulting search for artifacts. John Smith wrote a detailed account of his welcome in a Tockwogh Town along the Sassafras. Seidel’s goal is to find the spot that the Tockwogh occupied and to catalogue human habitation along the Eastern Shore’s rivers. He and his students have found artifacts in over 50 sites on the Sassafras’ south bank.		Maryland Heritage Area Grant Update This year, we made significant progress toward completing our heritage tourism feasibility grant. The CSA board of directors took some time to strengthen our organization: Peter Lane from the Institute for Conservation Leadership conducted a day long session for our board on Saturday Aug 18th when we defined our mission among other things. Librarian and videographer Kackie St. Clair recorded oral histories full of anecdotes of growing up and life in the Georgetown and Galena area. Michael Chiarrapa, Associate Professor at Western Michigan University, assessed the farm’s collection of historic artifacts and documents. Our own Wayne Bell began work on a self-guided tour map of the farm including points of interest. Then, Thomas Flynn of Thomas Point Associates performed a heritage tourism market study. This winter the board will meet to review the market study and develop an action plan for the next five years.