Farm-ily,
What a sunny and wonderful week of CSA we’ve just finished. Seasons on the farm can interweave like the lattice crust on a strawberry rhubarb pie, so as we harvested spring greens, we planted winter squash. If your travels took you down Everfield Drive, you may have seen Farmer John doing tractor work to ready the ground for sweet potatoes. Even though full summer is a few weeks away, the first hints of color on the tomatoes are teasing us with the flavors of July.
As we walk the fields and plan your next shares, there are a few things we hope you’ll keep in mind to make pick-ups easy and enjoyable for all our members. One of the best parts of our customized share system is that we can offer a greater diversity of vegetables each week. No two shares are alike! Because of this, you may see crops at pickup that are not included in your individual share list. It’s critical that you only take items that have been designated for your share. If you’re unsure whether something is part of your share, please let the attendant know so we can help. Anything not on your list was harvested for a fellow shareholder, and we want everyone to be able to enjoy their veggies. Rest assured that our wonderful software system is tracking your preferences to build those customized shares just for you. It also stores data from week to week, so an if we have a popular and limited crop two weeks in a row, it will automatically make sure that the members who missed it the first week get first access on the second. We encourage you to check back more than once during the swap period if there’s an item you’re hoping to add; every time a member makes a change, their previous items become available for swapping. We saw during Week 1 that there was much more diversity in the substitution options toward the end of the customization time frame.
If you’re looking for more culinary inspiration than you see in our share emails, don’t forget to find us on Pinterest (Willowsford Farm), where we have recipe boards organized by produce. We’ll be updating throughout the season to create a robust online resource for you! If you make something amazing with your share and post it to social media, please tag the Farm (@WillowsfordFarm Instagram/Facebook) so we can see what you’re up to! We love knowing that you’re enjoying what we’ve grown.
Events this week at the Farm Stand:
- Sunday 5/26 and Sunday 6/2 at 9:30 AM – Farm Garden Yoga An all-levels vinyasa class taught outdoors in the serene lawn at the Farm Stand. $15 per class, payment accepted at start of class. Bring a yoga mat and a water bottle to start your Sunday with a rejuvenating flow.
- Tuesday 5/28 - Pizzeria Moto Farm Stand from 2 PM to 7 PM
- Wednesday 5/29 at 6:00 PM – Twilight Farm Tour No registration required! This is an informal opportunity to take a walk through the Grange Farm vegetable fields with a member of the crew, see what we’re working on, and ask any questions you might have about our operation. Wear comfortable shoes and meet us at the Farm Stand to start the Tour.
We’d like to end with a special thanks to our shareholders Rebecca, Julie, and Kirsten who have volunteered their time to act as attendants at our Farm Stand CSA pickups. We still have volunteer slots available; please reach out to farm@willowsfordfarm.com if you’d like to be added to the roster with these spectacular individuals! Thanks to every one of you for making the first week of CSA a happy and successful one. We look forward to more chats, more recipes, and more connections over the remaining 24 weeks.
Eat well and be well,
Ashley, Collin, John, Lex, Nate, James, Rory, Alexandra, Julia, the Black Dog Squad and its honorary brindle members, and our enormous flock of fluffy chickens
