Growing Healthy Families

This year Hidden Villa provided 6,045 pounds of vegetables to our neighbors at the CSA of Mountain View. A serving of vegetables is approximately 4 oz. (depending on the type of vegetable), and we grew 24,190 servings of vegetables exclusively for the clients at CSA of Mountain View.

 The Food and Nutrition Center at the CSA of Mountain View served 2,248 individuals during fiscal year 2015. 100% of the clients served through this program are low-income. 56% of those served are children under the age of 18 and seniors over the age of 65. Some of the clients shared how pleased they were with this partnership:

 “It makes us appreciate more that what we are getting is really organic and that is really rewarding.”

“It’s good to know that there is a Hidden Villa that preserves the natural cycle of food production. Two thumbs up.”

Our biggest challenge this year was facing the California drought and all of the changes in our agricultural production. We installed various water catchment systems and have found ways to slow and sink rainfall into our aquifer. We have already received over 6 inches of rain this winter and are hopeful that we will have a wet season this year in order to prepare us for next year’s growing season.

We are excited to install a new deer fence around our farm operation. Our current deer fence has various holes and has become easier to bypass. This year fruit trees were under particular pressure from deer, decreasing the fruit output we were able to donate to the CSA of Mountain View. This new, more reinforced deer fence will help us to ensure that deer are not able to access the harvest, most likely increasing the fruits we can offer to clients of the CSA of Mountain View.

Our partnership with the Community Services Agency of Mountain View is such a rewarding collaboration and we are so appreciative of your support, helping us make fresh fruits and vegetables more available to folks in our community. Happy 2016!