It's CSA time again! Are you craving fresh lettuce during these dark days of winter? Well, Harmony Grove Farm has 100 heads for us this week! Due to lack of sunlight, greenhouse plants grow very slowly in the winter, despite warm temperatures in the greenhouse. So be amazed that we have fresh greens all winter in this cloudy region.
SALE! The Way Nature Intended is offering a whopping 50% off a few of their products. Prices listed already reflect the sale price.
- Bath Salts/Teas including Rosemary/Lemon, Coneflower/Calendula, and Rose
- Sugar Scrubs in Pumpkin Spice and Candy Cane scents
- Lip Balm Tins in Lemon and Cinnamint
Eggs: Have you noticed that we haven't raised our egg prices even though there are shortages and huge inflation on eggs in grocery stores? One reason for egg shortages is due to entire flocks being destroyed because of the avian bird flu. Thankfully, our hens have been spared from this disease so far. Even though our feed costs have risen, your farmers are delaying any price increase as long as they can.
Summer CSA info
We are talking about changes to make for Summer CSA, and we want your opinion. First of all, we are planning to move (yes, again!) from the Harvie platform to Local Line. Local Line has been making huge improvements in their software recently, and it is a less expensive program, thus giving you more value in your boxes. Yes, you will have a new website to learn to navigate, but Local Line looks much simpler and streamlined.
We can structure the new CSA a couple of different ways, and this is what we want your opinion about. Do you prefer a prefilled cart that you can then swap products in and out to customize it? (This would be the same CSA share for everyone, because Local Line doesn't have the capacity to deal with preferences.) Or would you rather have an empty cart that you fill with your groceries? (The drawback to this is if you forget to customize then you won't get a share that week.) Most weeks 75-80% of our members are customizing their shares. Let us know what you think!
However, with the switch to Local Line, we can't begin Summer CSA sign-ups until April. We will be busy getting everything ready before that, but there is a key piece of software updates that won't be released until spring. So please be patient, read your emails, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the know about new developments.
We need more veggie farmers
You can help us again if you know anyone who raises organically-grown veggies that might be interested in growing for our CSA. We have been losing farmers more quickly than we can replace them, and this is hurting our CSA. We have received comments that our farmers sell their produce at other venues, not giving enough of their crops to NWPA Growers CSA. However, that would be bad business to put all their eggs in one basket. We encourage our farmers to not depend on our CSA for all of their income. Without cheap or free farm help, our farmers can only do so much. So if you know of any names to pass along, or give my email to any farmers you know, please share! They can grow on several acres or just have a large garden and sell their excess...just as long as they keep chemical pesticides away from our produce.
Our farms are enjoying their winter rest, except for the animal farms which are full of mud.
Remember to customize your share by Sunday night!
Amy
