We are still deliberately grateful every day for the dry conditions in the current weather pattern. Almost all of our crops experienced significant damage from the excessive rain, and you'll see that reflected in fewer options for your Farm Shares over the next few weeks. We still have vegetables for you, and for that we are thankful!, but not as many as usual and not as much diversity as usual. We've lost thousands of plants and right now we're harvesting record low amounts of vegetables. (Yikes!) Every season is different, and we often say "Every year can't be the best year." 2023 truly was the best year of harvests for us, completely due to the best weather combinations. We were aware of it while it was happening, and we were aware that we were experiencing success based on factors out of our control. This year is quite the opposite, but the similarity is that it is due to factors out of our control. So it goes! But harvests we still have, and we prioritize vegetables for you, our Farm Share members. The greatest difference is a dramatic reduction in what's on our market booth table.
We're still harvesting tomatoes and peppers, though the harvests are (appropriately) getting smaller as fall progresses. We're crossing our fingers that our latest seeding of Carrots continue to grow. We've lost 99.9% of the fall Beets. It's total destruction in the Beet field! We literally harvested 12 bunches of Beets, whereas we normally harvest hundreds of bunches of Beets each fall. Oof! But we're still planting and we're looking forward to the protection of the greenhouses for our crops as we move toward winter. Cabbages are still growing and we hope they form nice heads. Cross your fingers!
---> We need just $56,000 of additional offers of loaned money in order to continue our farm expansion project and avoid having to sell the expanded portion of our farm. Might you (or someone or some entity that you know of) be able to lend us $10,000 to $25,000 that we'll repay you over the next six years? We've removed our lengthy explanation from this email, but we'll move forward with belief that the universe is a positive place and we'll find a way to make this work. We're putting a page on our website soon to help us find the right channels and people to make the farm keep cranking. (Don't know what we're talking about? See previous weeks' newsletters.) Thank you for considering support of your farmers and the weird ways in which we don't fit into the financial norms of our society!
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Recipe suggestions:
- Crispy Eggplant Nuggets - with Panko as well as shredded coconut
- Stuffed Mini Peppers - with cream cheese and Everything But the Bagel Seasoning
- Cilantro Lime Crema Dressing - drizzle it on alllll of our vegetables
- Ginger Miso Scallion Dressing - put it on any combination of vegetables and protein
Bread Share members: You get a SEPARATE email to customize your bread share.
To Customize Your Share:
Each time you are scheduled to have a share, you'll receive an email from us 2 days prior. It should have subject line "Time to Customize Your Share." The software will create a default share for you (based on your indicated preferences and what we have available to harvest) and list those default contents in the email. The email also contains a link saying "Want to make changes to your share or add extras?" Click on that link to customize your share! Customization usually ends at 6am on the day before your pick up day, and sometimes at 5am when our harvest days need to start extra early.
For Pick Up:
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (eggs, fermented vegetables, etc...See below for more info.)
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are in your email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.
EGGS: Ring-a-Bell Farm in Pamplin offers their eggs for sale through us. Their chickens live on pasture and are fed supplemental non-gmo feed from Sunrise Farms. Their eggs are fabulous and we trust their farming practices completely. You can purchase their eggs in our self-serve FarmStand at our farm and you can order them through the Harvie system "Extras" when they are available.
With blessings on your meals ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Alisa, Jen, Clara, Tabea, Christina, Jackson, and the farm kids)
