Welcome new farm share members! We had an incredible few weeks of sign ups, and 15 new farm share members are joining us this week. Thank you so much for supporting our farm!
This Week
This will be the crest of the sugar snap pea wave. Today, we harvested more than we ever have! Unfortunately, the warm weather has started early, and this week the plants have fewer blooms, and the new pods are very short. I predict another three weeks of the snap peas. Mesclun Mix is our salad mix of the week, and you can add on or swap for Spring Mix if you'd like. The baby kale for the mesclun mix is rockin' this week, along with endive and the last cutting of this arugula succession. We have a great lettuce mix, stir fry pack, and this new crop of bok choy is nearly perfect. If you like roots, this will be the last opportunity to get all four roots at one time for a few weeks. We might run out of radishes this week, but we have several successions that will be ready in two weeks time. Beets, carrots, radishes, and turnips all roasted together in a big medley...dadgum only a few potatoes could make it better! We have several herbs as well, plenty of both cilantro and dill. If you try any of our leafy greens, you have to try the escarole before we run out!
Next Week
We should have the best green bean harvest so far this season. Hopefully these squash will get to makin'! There's a few new varieties of lettuce ready for harvest. Spinach is winding down with the rising temps, so availability will lessen. If we get more rain the red radishes will size up quickly! Every day I am checking on our blackberries, and the first fruit of the season should start any week! We will offer fresh blackberries for 2-3 weeks, then fresh blueberries for two weeks. We plan to scratch some of the new potatoes after this rain moves through, but hopefully any week now the crop will bloom and we will be ready to dig!
Farm Update
There have been a lot of shares going out the past few weeks, and we are so grateful to be kept busy! A big challenge now that the Summer temperatures are showing up is keeping all of the leafy greens in pristine condition from harvest until we deliver. A few rules we follow are to finish harvesting lettuce by 8 AM, and all leafy greens by 10 AM. I also like to have the greens in the walk-in cooler within 30 minutes of harvest. Kaden and I adjusted our farm schedules, so now we harvest every single morning, instead of having set aside harvest days.
Last week was tough for us. When we are pressed for time on Fridays, mistakes can happen. We talked about what could make things easier, and one thing Kaden and I agreed upon is the need to close the customization window earlier. With the increase in membership since the start of the season, we have to have more time to package, and for that we need a final pick list. In the future, I am going to start posting the Farm Happening and opening the inventory on Mondays, and close the window on Thursday mornings around 9 AM. This still gives me a window to harvest, if necessary, and gives us more time to plan our route and get everything prepared to leave the farm on Fridays for delivery and pick ups. I want you all to have as much time to customize your share as possible, and this was the best compromise we could formulate. So that we can ease into this change, I have the cut off time set to 12 PM this Thursday. Next week, the new time will take effect.
We have two part-time workers coming to help us out in the next few weeks. One will help us in the field, and the other will help us with starting seeds. Kaden and I are both working 60+ hours a week, and I am really looking forward to having a little help.
One last thing- I want you to know that we are available anytime, for all of you. A lot of members have mine and Kaden's numbers from deliveries and pick ups. In case you don't, my number is 318-789-9894. If you ever need to change something about your share, have a problem/issue, or just want to send a photo of something you cooked, please reach out! We are only still farming because of the continued support from our farm share members. We started farming to feed our family, friends, neighbors, and families in our community healthy and nutritious food. I'm so thankful for the chance to meaningfully make a living through my passion for growing food. This really is community supported agriculture!
