Happy Valentines Day!
Exciting news here on the farm. Over the last few months I have been speaking with a local small orchard located in Afton – Elm Tree Farm. The purpose of our discussions was to figure out how we can work together. It seems like a logical fit. We grow veggies, they grow fruit. What could be better? What we have come up with is a two-fold opportunity for our members. The first is we are adding their tree fruit (apples, pears and plums) to our Summer/Fall FruitShare. This will give us ten weeks of certified organic fruit over the course of our veggie season. They grow HoneyCrisp, Zestar! and Haralson apples; Toka Plums; and Patten pears. A nice combination of delicious fruit.
The second opportunity is they have smaller quantities of other fruit including blackberries. Since the amounts of these fruits would not be sufficient for all the FruitShares we sell we decided we would sell these fruit a la carte. As they harvest them over the course of the summer we will be selling them in the tent. We will also sell them to our drop site members and deliver them with their VeggieShares. Exact details on this part of the plan will evolve as we see what Elm Tree can provide.
I don’t know about you but I think this is a wonderful thing. Having another organic produce producer located so close shows that there is interest and demand for the kind of food we want to put into our bodies. Supporting them through your purchases will enable them to continue operations and hopefully grow in the future. Let’s help make them a success!
What else is going on? Well, most of the seeds have been ordered. We have a few new items we are going to try this year. The most interesting to me are “Purple Haze” purple carrots (all you people channeling Jimi Hendrix are showing your age — and maybe something else about your personality!) A former farm hand who now runs her own farm recommended them. I’ve never had purple carrots before. I hope they work!
Not to be outdone by the carrots we are adding a new bok choi – a “red” bok choi. When it comes to bok choi red is in the eye of the beholder. It is more “reddish” than red, but the thinking was the large bok choi are too large — we worry that one bok choi will be all that fits into a delivery box! And having something a little different is always a good thing.
We are trying a different early corn. I felt Spring Treat, which we’ve grown for many years, never fully filled out the ears. Maybe it was due to the weather but maybe not. So this year we are switching it out for Sugar Buns. It has to be good with the name Sugar Buns!
We are trying a new leek for no apparent reason. Just thought we’d try something new. We are also going to try to have scallions over the course of the whole season. In the past we grew scallions (otherwise known as green onions) using onion sets. This works reasonably well but many of them bolt and all of them eventually bulb. By using onion seeds from a type of onion that doesn’t bulb we figure we can get scallions all summer long. We shall see.
We are hoping to find Yellow Doll watermelon seeds this year. The past few years they have only been available as treated seeds. We don’t use treated seeds here on the farm so we were out of luck on Yellow Dolls. But we believe we have access to some this year – no guarantee. Yellow Dolls are small watermelons that have yellow flesh and are incredibly delicious. Of course a hot summer would make them even sweeter.
We haven’t finalized our selection of hot peppers or heirloom tomatoes yet. We buy these from Seed Savers and Baker Heirloom Seeds. Since we don’t need them until later in the spring we focus on the other seed supplier orders first. So if there are any particular hot peppers or tomatoes you would like us to grow please let me know ASAP.
Finally for FlowerShare we are adding a whole long list of new annual flowers. We are hoping we can get a greater mix of flowers all season long. I looked for different colors, textures and shapes. Should make for some lovely bouquets.
Next on the list of things to do are taxes. Ug.
Joining the Farm
If you haven’t yet joined and you plan to do so please do so soon. A few of our drop sites are filling up!
Payments
Just a reminder that final payment for VeggieShares is due March 31st unless you made other arrangements. Payment for other shares is due by the end of May. Of course early payments are always welcome.
Pricing
Pricing for all shares (meat, cheese, fruit, flowers, winter, etc.) has been finalized and is available on our web site. Here is an order form or if you prefer and are already a member you can send in payment with a note on the check for what it is for.
Small Business Directory
We’ve had some interest in our Fresh Earth Farms small business directory. To refresh your memory: The idea is that many of our members run or manage small businesses. Many of our other members could use the products and services of these small businesses. So we figured we’d put together a directory where they could find each other. The cost is $25 for the year and includes a listing with contact information, product or service description, link to web site and logo. If you would like to participate please send in these items electronically at your convenience. I hope to have it up and running by the end of the month.
FruitShare and MeatShare
As mentioned in the last newsletter we are offering FruitShare and MeatShare year-round. If you would like to participate please let me know and I can give you a prorated price for the remainder of the winter/spring season.
Referral Credit
We are getting a few referrals to the farm and really appreciate your support! As a small “Thank You” we will credit your account $25 for each new member who joins the farm at your suggestion. Just have them put your name in the “Where did you hear about us?” section of the order form.
Eggs
We have eggs for sale at the farm. Let me know if you are interested. The chickens have been free-ranging quite a bit this year due to the lack of snow. Last season it was a bit more difficult for them to get around. And as you can see in this picture sometimes they use alternative transportation.
As always if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. do not hesitate to contact me.