We made it!
When we arrive at the end of another season, I always feel reflective and full of gratitude. Looking back on everything we have harvested since April, it's incredible how much food we grew on our farm. I will remember 2024 as one of the best fruit seasons that we have ever had! And there's still lots of muscadines, persimmons, and citrus to come!
I hope that you will also give yourself a pat on the back! Cooking with whole foods, especially seasonal, farm-fresh produce is not easy. Even though I have what seems like unlimited access to the most incredible food, cooking from scratch most nights of the week is something that I have to plan and schedule. It takes real effort. It's not convenient. With this in mind, I'm just so grateful that you made a commitment to support our farm this season. I hope that you and your family benefited from the healthy food, as much as our farm has benefited from your support.
So many things went right this season, but things also went wrong. I am very disappointed in my crop planning concerning late summer squash. I really wanted to have shares FILLED with yellow, patty pan, and zucchini squash the last few weeks of the season.
Concerning the Fall Farm Share Season
At this time, I cannot see far enough into the future to know exactly when the next farm share season will begin. In August and September, so many things have to go right, and the potential for things to go awry is very high. The fall season will either begin in mid-October or in November. Once we have planted all of our fall crops, I can more accurately predict the exact date the season will start, and I will open the season for the auto-renew process. I spoke to Corley Farm--their sweet potato harvest begins in October. I'm also going to be checking with our citrus connections in South Louisiana about the start of their season, which could impact when we decide to begin the season.
What's Fresh This Week?
-Salad & Shoots
-Summer Lettuce Mix
-Baby Arugula
-Okra
-Hakurei Turnips (With greens)
-Rainbow Radishes
-Lots of small-batch jams!
Farm Update
During the off season, we will be running the farm stand periodically. We will continue supplying our Shreveport/Bossier City retail clients every two weeks, so the farm stand will be open to everyone!
We will be trying something new between farm share seasons this year. Kaden and I will begin our first deliveries to the NELA Food Bank later this month! We are very excited about this opportunity, and are looking forward to serving some folks in our community who normally wouldn't have access to locally grown, whole food! That is real and tangible "good mood food"! I encourage everyone to write/call/or email your state and federal elected officials, asking them for more programs like this. Big Ag receives so many subsidies and benefits from the state and federal governments that aren't available to smaller growers. Programs that encourage connecting SNAP/EBT recipients to local farmers is practically the only way small farms access government funds (outside of grants). I feel that it's a great honor and service to my community for our farm to help feed the most vulnerable among us.
Each day we are getting closer to finding out if our grant proposal for the new delivery van was accepted! Our proposal has been reviewed by the USDA. Now, we are waiting on the state officials to notify us! Word should arrive any day!
Thank you again for supporting our farm during this season. Kaden and I hope that you enjoyed your produce and that you also had a fun and tasty time in your home kitchen! See you in the Fall!
Your farmer,
Conrad Cable
