Hello Garden Folks,
Well the season is underway! It seems like it is flying by at warp speed, in fact. This week as per usual is the biggest planting week of the year, consisting of getting all our winter squash in the ground, sweet potato slips, winter cabbage, brussels, the third planting of broccoli, and so much more! If anyone wants to join us/ volunteer for a couple days freeing seedlings or transplanting we welcome you to the garden! It can be nice to chat in the field, if you speak Spanish it is a bonus, or just put on a podcast & free seedlings while enjoying being in your own little world! I mean I kinda like my own little world!
#1. Reminders while I remember! Bring your own bags & or containers to put your veggies in!
#2. Spread the word & use the refer a friend code we can still take more share members!
#3. Please reach out to Harvie support first if you need help changing drop of locations or putting your share on hold! I use them as my secretary for technical things! I answer garden questions like what vegetable is this, when will zucchini ready! (To which I would reply, when it is ready...hahaha!)
#4. Every Tuesday & Saturday there will be fresh bread available at the Farm Stand! Along with Sargent Family Dairy products, our EGGS, beef, pork, chicken, and lots of other goodies! We have it all set up for self serve every day of the week, but will have people around on Tuesdays & Saturdays!
#5. I will be sending eggs to every drop off & will take pre-orders of meat !
#6. Jess will mess up technology or something along the way! Just thought I'd let any new comers know ahead of time! It would be a season without a few hiccups! The beauty of life is in the imperfections.
So for veggies! There are some winter storage crops, some seedlings, herbs ( We have planted so many more this year, so excited about the established perennials! Not all will be ready this season!) , rhubarb, sprouts, some of our greens, and Willo' Wind spinach & mesclun, ours decided it needed harvesting last week, and arugula decided to take a hike, possibly to come back for next week! I mean it is hard to resist going to flower with the hot & cold fluctuations!
One thing I have forgotten to do is run our annual campaign to fund raise for the purchase of a CSA basket for the Kendal Church Foodbank! If people want to they can email & let me know they wish to donate, put something in an envelope at drop off, or whatever! When I started supplying them with veg they fed 45 families in a week on average, now they are up to 300! We top off all donations, and market returns, or surplus crops go to the food bank almost weekly! Last year our CSA & market base raised enough to donate three full shares that the food bank customized weekly to suit their needs.
Man to mush to say! Last but not least, as food prices & cost of production goes up I am aware of the financial challenges that people are facing, as well as being committed to reducing waste!!! We are doing multiple things to prevent wastage! We are working with Homestead Harvest to make value add in soups, canning, and other products! These will be available in the Farm Stand & at Port Perry Farmers Market!
We are also putting internal/perfectly imperfect veg items in our CSA baskets they will be marked as #2! This week it is carrots that are broken, or split, but perfectly edible. (I mean that is what my family eats & we seem fine!) They are for those that want to do a soup or bulk processing! Keep in mind all our veggies may have some insect damage, as that is what organic is, we don't want to kill the insects we want to work with them, and allow them to survive so we can to!
Hopefully that was not to much to process! Tell your family & friends we still have shares available!
And see you next week! So looking forward to another amazing season!
Cheers your farmer, Jess
SMILE!
"Putting the Culture Back in Agriculture!"
