Hello! And for those of you with your first pick up this week, welcome to the start of the CSA season! Below will be a bit of a repeat for our weekly members, but we want to make sure to welcome all those who are picking up for the first time on this week #2. The farm has been a busy place this week as we made it through the first week of the CSA season. No lies, it was a bit of a push this year to ensure we had enough produce to fill all of the boxes because the cold Spring has us back a few weeks compared to last years harvests. But it was a success and we're looking forward to more. We're navigating planting, field prep, and harvests while alternating work inside our tunnels during the very windy and rainy periods we've had this week. We're cautiously looing forward to the promise of warmer weather...cautiously because we're also a little wary of full-blown summer coming on too early!
Welcome to all of our new members and thank you for deciding to try out a season with our farm. Community Supported Agriculture is not the cheapest, fastest or most convenient way to get food (altho we try really hard on all of those points!!), but instead is valued for the quality of food that you get - the nutritious and super fresh produce, a connection with the farmers who grew the food, and a connection to your community as you meet other CSA members and pick up either at the market or on farm. So kudos to you for trying out something new, we hope it exceeds your expectations.
So, down to business, what's this about customizing?? If you're happy with your box as is, then we'll see you at your pick up. But if you'd like to 'tinker' with the contents of your box, then click the link and tinker away. A word of caution, especially to those new to the CSA, this is just week NUMBER 1. And we've had a very cold Spring in NW Montana, that's another way of saying that we don't have much variety available yet. So you'll notice that the options are mostly green right now. That will change rapidly as we start to have more and more crops come online. That's the essence of being a CSA member -- understanding that Spring is very green and limited, but looking forward to the many colors and bounty of mid-summer and fall. We'll get there!
So, what else is available should you wish to tinker?
- Farm Fresh eggs from the Miller Farm
- Mixed daffodil bouquets from Dragon's Breath Farm
- Bread and Bagels from The Gracious Table
- Honey from McLaury Apiaries
- Lots of plant starts from our own farm: tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cilantro and wonderful 'Spring Garden' packs that contain several crops that you can plant right now (broccoli, cabbage & cauliflower).
- Our fabulous new Hoot Owl Farm tee-shirts. If you choose to get a shirt, then you can let us know what color and size you'd like at your pick up. We have cream and green available in adult sizes S-3XL, and yellow available in kids S-L. The shirts were designed by our very good family/friends and fellow CSA members Jodi & Brady Turk -- thanks guys!
** Some of the extras are available in limited quantities, so if you don't see what you're looking for as an option when you customize your box, then that means that it's no longer available as another member grabbed it up first. That's one reason why some All-Star CSA members like to customize as soon as they get their email for maximum options. ***
We look forward to seeing you all at pick up. Let us know if you have any questions or issues!
Cheers, Bonnie & Rudy
