It’s Go Time! (CSA Week 1)

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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,

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Let the 2016 Spring harvest season begin!  We are so happy and appreciative of all your support and encouragement over the last 5 months (since our 2016 season started).  Our Spring, Summer and Fall CSA has been months in the making and we look forward to the season beginning and to celebrate with a bountiful harvest this week!

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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 the ride.  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.

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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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Safety note on pick ups: We are putting up a new pole barn near the pick up area (check out our post from Sunday for the details). Please watch your children and keep them away from the heavy machinery. The project is set to finish in early July so we will keep you all posted with updates. The wee-farm goat greeters! The goats should be back upfront after the building is finished. The “Lost Boys” are currently mowing our backyard and eating back the Himalayan blackberry hedgerow around the farm’s periphery. *It’s also important while the pole building is going up that folks do not arrive early so that the building crew can tidy things up before members arrive. *

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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). Note: Bi-Weekly share members pick up their produce every other week throughout the course of the 28 week CSA season (a total of 14 shares). Bi-Weekly members will pick up their share on weeks 1,3,5,7, etc… or 2,4,6,8, etc… depending on your assigned CSA start date.  

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It’s important to pick up between 4-7pm on your assigned day (and not a minute before) as it’s just the two of us and we harvest most everything fresh that morning so your farmer’s need the time to harvest, wash and set up the pick up area. *It’s also important while the pole building is going up that folks do not arrive early so that the crew can tidy things up before members arrive.

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Parking. There is a nice big parking area for a convenient and stress free pick-up.  Please park facing the new pole barn as this will help to keep a consistent flow of traffic which will help to keep children crossing the parking lot safe. Park thoughtfully as folks tend to come in waves and the parking will fill up fast!  There are also children and families who will be moving from the pick-up area to the parking lot so please drive slowly.  We are located on a busy country road so please be patient coming and going from the farm (oh the pros and cons of living on a main country road!)

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Pick-Up Area.  We are breathing new life into a very old and forgotten farm property so you will see it become more and more beautiful as the seasons and years go on… over 4 years ago all that remained on this property was a dilapidated old barn that was covered in 12ft tall blackberries and the old farmhouse by the road.  The CSA Member Area is now located on the side of this original farmhouse (“Freda’s House”) built in the early 1900’s. Thank you for growing with us and for being a part of this process.

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The Pick-Up.  Please sign in before grabbing your goodies.  You will enter the member area and move counterclockwise, packing your own share with the allotted amounts of vegetables written next to each varietal.  Please bring 2-3 reusable shopping bags, a crate or some members even use a laundry basket to put your produce in. It’s nice to have a few bags for heavier items and a bag for bunched greens/more fragile items etc.

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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 4-7pm on your assigned day, you can either arrange for a friend, family member, colleague etc to pick it up for you. If you cannot find anyone to pick-up the share on your behalf please give us 48hr notice (emails are best).

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Be sure to visit our FAQ’s for any other questions you may have:  https://workinghandsfarm.com/q-a/

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WHF Pastured Pork, Grass-Fed Beef Shares & Pastured Eggs.  All available items are updated on our Online Farmstore!  You can make an order there and we will have your order ready to pick up at your next CSA pick up day. We will be updating the online store this weekend with even more selections of ham, new blends of sausage, smoked pork chops etc! Our Grass-Fed Beef shares will be available at the end of this summer/early Fall. For egg orders, we are sold out of egg shares for May & June but expect to have more shares available when our newest layers come in to egg production in July.   Please send us an email with your interest and we’ll add you to our waiting list!  To learn more about our golden yolked eggs rich in color, flavor and nutrients: click here.

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CSA Recipes.  There will be 2-4 recipes emailed to you 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 that Week’s Share feel free to send it our way so that we too can try it and share it with others!  Click here to check out your farmer approved cookbooks and food blogs!

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Egg cartons, Berry Boxes, Rubberbands etc.  For all those who purchase eggs, please save up your WHF 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!  There will be a place to return these items by the sign-in sheet.

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Working Hands Farm CSA Member Group on Facebook!  An email has been sent out with instructions to join the Working Hands Farm CSA Member Group on Facebook.  It’s a safe place (a private group) exclusively for Working Hands Farm CSA members to share recipe ideas, kitchen prep successes, food preservation ideas, articles, resources etc. Check your email to join the group. Participation is highly encouraged!

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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.

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CSA Farm Day, Pumpkin Day, Newsletters etc.  Throughout the season we offer opportunities to enjoy a CSA Member Farm Day, pumpkin pick day 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 vegetables and 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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Thank you again for all your support! It’s been a busy Spring and there is much anticipation to get this season started.  We have another exciting season ahead with over 70 different types of vegetables and several different varieties of each (it’s never a dull moment on the farm!)  Your farmers have been working harder than ever to get the season started early and have more variety in the shares early on!

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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).  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 kind regards,

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Your farmers

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Jess & Brian

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dirty hands, clean hearts