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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
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Let the 2014 harvest season begin! We are so happy and appreciative of all your support and encouragement over the last 5 months (since our 2014 season started). It’s been months in the making and we look forward to the season beginning and to celebrate with a bountiful harvest this week! Yeah!
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Flow of the CSA. Over the next few weeks we will all begin to get into the flow of pick ups, harvests, seasons, you name it. Spring is a great time to adapt-to and learn new habits, to eat seasonally and fresh. We remind you to be patient, to be excited and to enjoy it. There are so many decisions that one person must make everyday – a daunting task at times – revel in those food choices your farmers and the changing of the seasons are making for you each week. Get creative & be inspired. Ask questions & be open – you’ll be surprised what you might find as the season unfolds. Past members have suggested going to the grocery store after you have received your crate. It saves you trips and also may save you from going to the grocery every week (your farmers know that you always leave the grocery with way more than you intended) thus cutting down on food costs!
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Enjoy all the benefits of eating fresh (picked THAT morning), eating seasonally (sorry, no tomatoes in May), and local (your local farmer, Brian and I, need the support of our community)!
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Watching the garden grow in the last few weeks has been a joy. Lots of sun, longer days and warmer temps means happy, happy plants!–
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Farm Pick Up Time. Farm Pick Ups take place on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 4 – 7pm (please double check on your assigned day). It’s important to come between the pick up times (and not a minute before) as it’s just the two of us and we harvest everything fresh that morning so your farmer’s need the time to harvest, wash and pack all the CSA shares.
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Parking & Pick-Up Area. We have created a new parking area at the farm for a convenient and stress free pick-up (for those of you who are familiar with the old farm parking lot you will understand)! Park thoughtfully as folks tend to come in waves and the parking will fill up fast! Our hope is to build a more permanent lean-to structure but for now you will find your share under the white market tents next to our old farmhouse (between the beautiful black walnut and maple tree). We are breathing new life into a very old forgotten farm property so you will see it become more and more beautiful as the seasons and years go on… Thank you for growing with us and for being a part of this process!
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Farmer Brian has been dreaming up our herd since we first met. With the help of our family we have invested in a beautiful little herd of Angus of our own.
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The Pick-Up. All the crates are packed exactly the same & everyone should sign in before grabbing their crate. Your farmers will be available at pick ups from 4-5pm – this is a great time to catch up on the going-ons on the farm, share cooking tips, talk recipes, etc… basically chat about all things farm related. *After 5pm it’s back to the ol’ farmer to-do list, evening chores and eventually farmer dinner. Pick-Up is also a great opportunity to meet other members and share over the common bonds of food, health and community! If you are unable to come pick up your share from 4-7 on your assigned day, you can either arrange for a friend or family member to pick it up for you. If you cannot find anyone to pick-up the box on your behalf please give us 24hr notice (emails are best) so we don’t harvest the box for a no-show, your farmer’s least favorite thing. All unclaimed boxes will be donated to the pigs, cows and chickens after the CSA drop has finished.
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–We are busily finishing up the last of our crates, washing/packing area, new greenhouse you name it!
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CSA Crates. Our CSA crates are hand built (by your farmers) as the hope is to use them for years to come. We believe this to be a more sustainable practice as the alternative (cardboard, paper, plastic, etc) only last a year or two – not to mention we love the aesthetic and nostalgia it brings together with all the fresh bounty brimming over. It is an extra thing we do for the CSA and we love it. It’s very important to return them each week. It’s one of those things that makes a huge difference in efficiency as it’s just the two of us harvesting for 30 families everyday (if we don’t have enough crates there is nothing to put your produce in…) Past members suggest leaving it in the trunk of you car, on your door step or by your back door (so you remember to grab it.) It’s a small but very important role that you play in order to make this CSAflow smoothly! We thank you in advance for helping us in that regard.
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**For those folks who are splitting a share (picking up every other week)**…if you’re unable to coordinate returning your crate each week, the best way to ensure a crate is always being returned to the farm is to transfer your weekly share into a couple of reusable bags and to leave the crate at the CSA Pick-up.
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Get ready for lots of tender Spring greens! Oh-so-good!
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Egg cartons, Berry Boxes, Rubberbands etc. For all those who purchase egg shares (with the WHF label) please save up your egg cartons for us and return them. We also reuse all berry boxes (1/2 pints, pints, quarts) and rubberbands so you can return those as well. We are a thoughtful farm in terms of minimizing waste and reuse what we can!
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CSA Recipes. There will be 2-4 recipes included with each weekly share. These recipes have been tried and tested (and doubly approved by your farmers)! If you happen to try a different recipe with some of the veggies from the box feel free to send it out way so that we too can try it and share it with others! Check out the CSA Cookoff, Food Preservation Tips from your farmers, and some of our favorite food blogs for more ideas! CSA Recipe Book: For those of you who put in an order for the CSA Recipe book don’t forget to bring a check this week at pick-up! There will be a jar for checks by the sign-in.
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These little buggers are the newest members of the WHF crew. They’ve been busy mowing down blackberry and other invasives at the top of the property. Goats are so cool…
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Farm livestock. All of our members will have the opportunity to see/visit the livestock on our farm during our to-be-scheduled CSA Farm Day. Keep in mind that almost all of our livestock are kept inside of electrified fences so parents please keep a close eye on you children during this day. On a weekly basis, feel free to say hello to our wee farm greeters and blackberry management team – our goats – just don’t touch the fence as it’s hot!
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Volunteering, CSA Farm Day, Movie Nights, Newsletters etc. Throughout the season we offer opportunities to volunteer, enjoy a CSA Member Farm Day, summer movie nights etc all on the farm. Also, to keep our farm-ily connected to the farm, the seasons and what it takes to grow food locally we send a weekly farm newsletter so be sure to read the whole thing through! We post frequently on instagram & facebook to share in our day-to-day and to stay connected with people (as you can imagine we spend 99% of our time with 2-4 legged critters ha!) All of these opportunities are a great way to see the farm, chat with your farmers, meet other CSA members in the community and enjoy the seasons on the farm.
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Our fearless pups are learning their place on the farm as working dogs. Meanwhile, our freedom rangers are enjoying their new open space!
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Thank you again for all your support! It’s been a busy Spring and there is much anticipation to get this season started (WHOO HOO!) We have another exciting season ahead with over 60 different types of vegetables and several different varieties of each (it’s never a dull moment on the farm!) Enjoy the leafy greens and cool weather brassica crops that you will find in the first few week’s of the CSA (the Spring seasons natural cleanse… after a Winter full of root crops and heavier foods). As well as the sun sweetened strawberries whose season is never long enough (perhaps this is why we plant everbearing)! The greens will be tender, delicious and untouched by the heat that summer brings. Enjoy them while they are here! The bounty will continue to grow and grow and grow as we near the longer, warmer days of Summer! Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to sharing in the bounty with you this season.
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With kindest regards,
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Your farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
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p.s. If you see a guy with a big tempest of a beard be sure to say HELLO! My dad is visiting from the East Coast to help us out with a handful of projects. It’s his first time coming out since we started this new farm last Spring…. he’s the best!
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working hands farm 