*If you would like to send us a few sentences on why you think local food is important, and what our farm shares mean to you and your family, then please email us at currentfarms@gmail.com. I would love to share with the Louisiana Senators and Representatives, and their staff, what constituents value about locally grown food. These folks are writing the farm bill, and some have important committee assignments that absolutely have a say in policy. Hearing from people in their district goes a long way to show why their federal support of the local food movement matters. If I get enough responses that I can't read them all in the meeting, I will take handouts of your words to leave behind at the congressional offices.
It's getting hot! If you are on our delivery route, please consider leaving a small ice chest/cold bag out for your share.
This Week
The first rounds of tomatoes are finally ripening, so I will have some available as add ons for the next few weeks until production ramps up. We have a few eggplants, lots of squash, cucumbers, colorful carrots, and every other root crop known to man! Salad and shoots is on again this week.
Next Week
I will be in Washington D.C. during this delivery, so inventory will be more limited so Kaden can take care of things by himself. There will not be any salad mixes or leafy greens besides collard greens and microgreens. As a special for this week, we will offer dill pickles, pickled daikon radishes, and select jams as add-ons. Additionally, because I will be out of town, the farm share customization window for the week of Juneteenth, will be open from Sunday afternoon-Thursday 10AM.
Farm Update
It takes three different roles to keep a business going. The entrepreneur, the manager, and the engineer. This week, I was a bit of all three at once. This week is wild. Carter will be filming our work for two days on Wednesday and Friday. I fly out with Sprout for 4 days on Sunday. To add even more to the pile, I decided last week that we HAD to insulate and air condition the wash and pack station. Dad and I started on Friday evening and have easily put in 40 hours each into the demo and rebuild since then. I didn't even go down to the fields yesterday, and there was a dadgum compost delivery. I have been narrowly focused on knocking this project out. Building projects are not my thing. I can get frustrated easily. Multiple measurements and adjustments are always needed, and my Dad is incapable of putting a tool back in a central spot. But after a while I got the hang of it. The good news is that even though I got behind schedule, we will wrap up that project today! As soon as this inventory is posted, I'll go back to installing the window unit.
This is life changing stuff I'm talkin' here! The walls made of tarps are gone, and now there are 3 inches of insulation and a wall that's easy to clean! Going forward, we can wash and pack vegetables at any time of the day. We have had to shut the washing down at noon now that it's hot, plus it's not fun out there when it's below 30 either! Kaden and I can now harvest together and wash and pack as a team. The washing can also be scheduled. This is going to save us so many countless hours over the years-- it was worth working really hard the past few days to get it done!.
I'm really excited about going to Washington D.C.! The last time I was there, I was about 14-15 years old. I went the capitol for "The National 4-H Congress" because I won my contest at 4-H University. Y'all this was all the way back when MySpace was the all the rage, and Bobby Jindal was in the House of Representatives. I've always loved politics and history, and it was such a memorable experience to see all the sights and walk around the Capitol building. This fly-in is different. Sight-seeing is definitely on my backburner, because I am on a mission to tell my story of becoming a farmer and advocate for more federal support of the local food movement. I have spent a lot of time meditating and reflecting on what to say. These reps love to say "agriculture is the backbone of my district." So far, we have 8 meetings scheduled, and I am set to speak in half of them. To all of my former educators who invested your time and energy into my education, thank you! I will be utilizin' every lesson in oration and storytellin' you taught me!
P.S. - You made it this far! Please note if there are any extra tomatoes, I will add them on Thursday morning, so please check back before 10 AM if you receive a tomato email.
