Greetings from the farm!
We posted a farm tour video to our Facebook page. Check it out to see where your food is coming from! As you may have noticed, we are starting the transition from spring to summer crops. Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Cucumbers are in full force as the leafy greens and other cool season crops are slowing down or finished. There will be no more Arugula, Spinach, Salad (we do grow a warm season head lettuce), and other cool season items until the fall. Coming soon will be tomatoes, eggplant, new potatoes, beans, okra, and peppers. Local blueberries are coming in and we plan to have them on the menu next week. One of the many benefits of being in a CSA is eating with the seasons. After the CSA is finished, you will have a very good understanding of what crops are available when in our area.
There are still issues with members taking items from the cooler they did not order or forgetting items they did order. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-READ YOUR LABEL, READ YOUR LABEL. Any items to be retrieved from the cooler WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED as a reminder. If you get a dozen eggs, do not take two half dozens-take a full dozen. If you think you ordered something, but it is not on your label, do not take it. All items that were ordered and paid for will be written on your label. We are doing everything in our power to make sure everybody is getting what they are supposed to and we need everybody's cooperation to make it work!
If you need to make any last minute changes or have questions, please call or text Ben at 301-471-2699. This is the best way to get things taken care of immediately. Email and Facebook messenger are not checked as often as a phone call or text. Harvie has been slow to respond to customer request, so the best way is to contact Ben directly. We are happy to take your calls and get you taken care of. Don't be shy-we are here for YOU!
In the next couple weeks we will be doing very large harvests of beets, kohlrabi, spring onions, and garlic as they are becoming fully mature. They will all be picked at once and stored in our cold rooms until needed for your orders. This will make room for our fall plantings in mid-July. The fields are planted in a specific manner to allow the correct space for new crops as older crops finish up. It is a huge map in Ben's head and there are many moving parts.
Farm Extra Shares will be getting a block of Cows's Milk Cheddar Cheese. It will be written on your label and to be retrieved from the cooler.
Please use the swap and extra options for the best CSA experience!
Extras Available include:
1/2 bushels of pickling cucumbers
Honey-Clover and Wildflower
Cow Cheese-Cheddar, Gouda, Havarti, Garlic and Chive
Goat Cheese-Jalepeno, Cheddar, Feta, Chevre, Garlic and Dill Chevre
Kombucha-8 different flavors
Canned Peaches and Applesauce
Basil (you will get 5x what you could get in the grocery store for the same price)
Olive Oil-Tuscan Herb and Garlic
Vinegar-Champagne and Mango Pulp
Whole Chickens
Our friends at Harmony Springs Farm were lucky enough to have a butcher date on 6/22 for one of their hogs. Ben has been friends with the owners since middle school! As long time friends and supporter of their farm they offered it to us first! Dani and Sabrina do a wonderful job raising healthy, happy pigs and we are happy to get more meat from them to offer to you. We will have pork available in the next month.
As always, thank you so much for supporting our small family farm. As we grow as a business, take on more customers, and grow more food, you are not only helping us stay afloat, but other local community members and businesses. We now have six full-time employees (all who live in Frederick Co.) and are purchasing more from other local farms(fruit for the rest of the season)/producers(cheese, olive oil and vinegar, kombucha, meat, etc) and supplies (labels and printing, sanitizer, chicken feed, compost and soil, etc.) from local businesses than we ever have. If we can find an item locally instead of ordering it online-we do! We are glad to offer more than just veggies in our CSA as it is good for everybody involved!
Ben has met many of our new members when he is around during pick-up at the home farm. It is awesome to have that personal relationship with our members. We want to know you and you to know us. It is not just about the food, but the personal relationships we have with you. If you have not met him yet, he would love to see you and thank you for your support. We set up at The Frederick City Market every Sunday at 331 N. Market St. from 9 to 1. Please stop by and meet YOUR farmer.
Be Healthy, Be Happy,
The Sayler Family and All of us from Pleasant Hill Produce
