The Season Finale (week 27 & 28)

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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We’ve made it to week 27 & 28 of the 2015 CSA.. which means it’s last pick-up of the Spring/Summer CSA season!  We can hardly believe it has been 28 weeks since the start of 2015 harvest season.  We are proud to say that this season was our best season to date and that we grow better and work smarter each and every year.  As farmers, every season that we farm proves to be an incredible journey with so many things to learn and many delicious homegrown goodies to grow.  Thanks for believing in your farmers every step of the way and for being a constant reminder of why we do what we do each morning when we rise.  We look forward to serving this community for years to come.  We think y’all are the bees-knees.

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Exciting news for your farmers!  Your farmers had the amazing opportunity to be interviewed for the Farmer to Farmer podcast with Chris Blanchard a few weeks ago. Chris asked us about the start of the farm, how we manage the farm as a couple and we even take a trip to Uganda. The Farmer to Farmer podcast has been a huge inspiration to us and many other farmers and we couldn’t be more excited to participate!  Have a listen at the link below and enjoy.

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Podcast Link: farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/powers or look up the Farmer to Farmer podcast episode #40 on iTunes.

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2015 was one for the books!  And we think you’ll be amazed at our total CSA numbers this  year… (keep reading for the total lbs produced as well as CSA cost breakdown below..)

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We hope you all had an inspiring journey during our 28-week CSA season.  Whether it be your first, second, third, fourth or fifth season at WHF we hope many meals were shared and enjoyed in the warmth of your kitchen, that you enjoyed expanding your veggie horizons with new varieties, flavors and methods of preparation, found inspiration in becoming a more confident cook and feel really good about where you’re at in your own personal food journey.  We hope you will be thinking of the Spring and Summer goodies fondly come the middle of winter… we’ll all be dreaming of tomatoes and freshly picked goodies come the middle of January <sigh>.

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This week there will be a “Week 27″ share table and a “Week 28″ share table in the Member’s pick up area for pick-up – be sure to check off your name and grab the appropriate share(s).

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Weekly CSA Members will receive a double share (shares 27 & 28) to better prepare you for the Thanksgiving holiday (think storage crops!)  Be sure to bring a big enough vessel or enough bags to carry all your goodies home in.

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Bi-Weekly Share Members All Bi-Weekly Share members will pick up on that week. Depending on your assigned weeks, you will pick up either Share 27 (weeks 1,3,5,7 etc) OR Share 28 (weeks 2,4,6,8 etc)!

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Thank you for being part of this farm, and the WHF farm-ily!

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So, without further ado, the final numbers are in for the Spring/Summer CSA Season..

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Over the course of our 28-week Spring/Summer Season these two farmers provided…

81,000 lbs of produce!

3,000 lbs of pasture-raised pork & beef!

500 dozen eggs!

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Over the course of our 28-week 2015 CSA season your (two) farmers have harvested and distributed 81,000lbs of freshly picked, organic, thoughtfully grown produce to our CSA members.

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That’s 771lbs of produce per weekly share which means our members paid $1.52/lb for all their fresh, local, organic produce this season.

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(Some high fives- all around -are definitely in order!)

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All while supporting the ecosystem of this farm, two full time farmers by ensuring a livable wage, and the best possible produce you can find…Amazing! FYI: the total lbs of produce per weekly share in 2014 was 675lbs @ $1.74 per lb. Your farmers are getting more efficient (especially since it was the hottest and driest farming season of our farming careers) and learning quickly which contributes greatly to the lower price point this year!

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From Spring to Fall, the shares averaged 27lbs (with lighter shares in the Spring and heavier shares in the late summer and Fall) and included 12-20 items with a great variety of crops and delicious tasting veggies that have inspired many fantastic home cooked meals. Thank you all for your recipe contributions, affirmation & excitement at the CSA pick ups, through emails and on the members facebook page.  We have enjoyed this year’s CSA so much and feel great about ending the 2015 Spring/Summer CSA season on such a high note!

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We love our little corner of the World, our community that surrounds us, our friends, family and farm-ily members that all believe in us and the food we work hard to provide.  We’ve been enjoying the variety (over 70+ different kinds of vegetables and even more varieties) and bounty these 28 weeks.  We feel blessed as farmers in the Pacific NW to be able to grow such a beautiful array of vegetables for our community.  From berries to brassicas to winter squash and tomatoes we can grow just about anything here! Every season we try out a few dozen or so new veggies and varietals.  Making our seed list in January is one of our favorite things to do in the winter… checking our notes and remembering which varieties grew the best, tasted the best etc.  In the coming months we look forward to sitting down and beginning that process all over again.

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Mark your Calendars!  Our 2016 CSA sign-ups will begin on January 1st.  Our 2015 members will have the opportunity to sign up for a share before we open it up to the public. Whoo hoo!  Until then, keep in touch with your farmers through our website, facebook and instagram!

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A BIG thank you!  Thank you all for being a part of our story, for supporting your local farm (and farmers), for buying direct, for believing in the small farm and for choosing to feed your household with the best possible farm fresh produce, meat and eggs that you can both know and trust.

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From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.  We are just so proud of our members and are constantly inspired by all that you accomplish from season to season!  Your commitment to eating well and nourishing yourselves and loved ones takes time, thoughtfulness, motivation, energy and inspiration.  We are only as successful as the community that surrounds us, so, thank you for all your inspiration, dedication and commitment in being a part of our CSA.  We look forward to cultivating these relationships into the future by growing the best possible products for you, your family and friends.  Know your farmer, know your food.

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It’s gonna be a wet and windy slog this week with our big double-harvest share so send some good (and warm and dry) energy our way!

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After 8 months (!!) of CSA pick up you have come to know and trust your farmers.  We never missed a harvest day and always worked our hardest to ensure that our members had the best possible CSA experience.  You were there every step of the way and we appreciate all your support, the time you took to share your food journeys, the little notes of encouragement and everything in-between.  We look forward to sign-ups in January and the start of the 2016 season!

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Happy Holidays to you all!   Our 18-week Winter CSA begins after the Thanksgiving Holiday so to our die hard winter veggie eaters this is not the end!  😉

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With kind 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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