Thank you to all who helped with this year’s garlic planting. We planted over 30 cloves! Actually it is closer to 6500 but we lost count at 30. After the planting we had some delicious food including butternut squash chili, Mexican bean salad, potato salad, fruit salad, garlic confit, pumpkin bundt cake and German apple cake. Makes you wish you helped out doesn’t it? We still have to mulch the garlic so if you have a hankering for spreading straw give me a shout and I will clue you in on when it all goes down.
We are taking orders for the 2015 season! There is an order form to fill out if your contact information has changed or if you are new to the farm. Otherwise send in a $100 deposit to reserve your spot. If you want to change days or locations send me an email, otherwise I will assume same place/day.
We have storage onions for sale. In past years we’ve had these onions last until March the following year. If you can use some onions this winter, do not hesitate to let us know. The price is $15 for a 10# bag. (I’m using “#” as a “pound sign” not a “hash tag” so it means pounds for those unfamiliar with the original meaning). We can deliver them with your shares.
Winter FruitShare pricing is available. Winter FruitShare is a delicious way to get your vitamin C all winter long. It is like sunshine in a box – approximately 10 #s of sunshine – on those cold, dreary winter days. We have two places to pick-up winter FruitShare: the farm and St. Paul near 94 and Dale St. There will be 16 weeks of fruit from November into June (approximately every other week with some exceptions for major holidays). The price is $720. Payment terms can be arranged. Order soon since it starts the first week of November.
We also have pricing for Winter MeatShare. Winter MeatShare is just like summer MeatShare but in the winter. It is a monthly selection of beef, pork and chicken from pastured animals. The meat comes frozen so can be only picked up at the farm. The price is $770; payment terms can be arranged. Order soon since it starts the first Friday of November.
Farm News
This month the farm turns twelve years old, that’s 12 in horse years, 356 in chicken years and 48 in human years. In celebration of this year’s anniversary I thought I would come up with a list of lessons learned over these last many years. In other words, what would the twelve-year-old farm tell the newborn farm?
- Adolescence is a difficult time and life will get better.
- Focus on managing weeds from the very beginning. It will make your life easier down the road.
- Equip yourself with as much mechanization as you can possibly afford.
- Not everyone is your customer. Sometimes it is cheaper to violate the non-refundable clause than it is to make someone happy.
- Remove all those boulders as soon as possible. Running over them with the tiller year after year hurts the tiller more than the boulder.
- Don’t expect the farmer to work every day of the season. Unlike plants, humans need a break every once in a while.
- Winging it works, but not forever. Figure out processes and procedures that make tasks less prone to human error.
- Smart employees are as important as a reliable tractor.
- When it comes to vegetables, though looks are important, taste is far more important.
- Tomatoes require a lot of love, but will return that love ten-fold.
- Everyone likes good broccoli – especially the flea beetles.
- Customers are why the farm exists. Appreciate every one of them.
- Keep good notes.
- Focus on solving one problem at a time.
- If something doesn’t work the first time don’t give up. Keep trying new approaches, tinkering, applying it at a different time, etc.
- Just because something worked the first time doesn’t mean it will work every time.
Looking over this list I feel it could apply to living life in general! Feel free to incorporate it into your daily life.
What will we have this week? I’m glad you asked. We will have the last of the peppers, some carrots, leeks, celery, Brussels sprouts, bok choi, salad mix, hopefully more broccoli, beets, most likely potatoes, winter squash, maybe kale, garlic, onions, shallots, and, if we get around to weighing the sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes. If we give out sweet potatoes DO NOT EAT THEM UNTIL THANKSGIVING. They need 6-8 weeks to sweeten. Store them at 55 degrees (yeah right, who has a 55 degree area in their house). Do not put them in the fridge. Do not expose them to temps below 50.
This is the last week for FruitShare, EggShare, CheeseShare and CoffeeShare. SeafoodShare and SalmonShare are coming later in the week and will be available starting Friday.