Welcome to our First Harvest Week, our 24th Season as a Biodynamic CSA Farm, Wed Delivery

 Farmer John Writes: You Have a Farm

You Have a Farm
Thank you for joining our farm. As a shareholder, remember that you now have a farm. Weather is happening on your farm, work is taking place on your farm, crops are growing, bees are buzzing, birds are singing on your farm. You are a part of Angelic Organics, a Community Supported Agriculture Farm. You are part of the extraordinary, sacred process of growing food, from planning to production to harvest to your table. Our ongoing commitment to you: we strive for diversity, abundance and quality in every box.

The Spring in Your Box
We seed and transplant crops so they will start coming in the first week of harvest, too little and your box isn’t full; too much and we can’t find room for it in your box. Excessive heat will cause spinach to yellow and broccoli to bolt before the first harvest, excessive cold and…well, this season, the beets were not ready for the first box. But other things made up for the absence of beets, and we’re happy that your first box will be brimming with vegetables. Your box is an image of what has happened on the farm so far this spring. Savor the Spring. You can’t eat more seasonally than this.

The Weather So Far
Cool, moist…a typical spring. Do we have typical springs, really? Ever since I can remember, my family and our neighbors talked about each season as though there had never been another one like it. It was always warmer, colder, wetter, hotter, drier, windier than any of the others. So, this spring was typical in that it seemed different from all the rest of the 55 springs I’ve been farming…sort of.

Another perspective: if we get the crops in on time, it’s a good spring; if we don’t, it’s a bad spring. According to this rating standard, it’s been many years since we’ve had a bad spring.

The Work
There’s a bewildering amount of work to do on our farm. Seeding, transplanting, tillage, weeding, trellising, building, machinery maintenance, fertility  harvest, post-harvest, training, record keeping, distribution, marketing, researching, fencing, beautifying, errands, irrigating, etc. Some days we might have 5 tractors going and 20 people in the fields doing hand work. Managing our diversity of 40 crops is a bit like a liberal arts education where we’re always shifting gears, as opposed to a PH.D program, which would be  very focused, more like mono-cropping.

The Crops
The crops look splendid. A seed researcher was visiting the farm the other day and he commented, “your fields look like the photos in a seed catalog.”

Sign up for the Free Recipe Service!

Make sure you sign up for the Local Thyme recipe service we offer with this year’s share. It received many great reviews from our shareholders last season. Sign up at http://www.localthyme.net/register. Enter the farm code (found in the newsletter in your box) under “I belong to a CSA.”

Let us Know

Let Shelly know anything you’d like to share about this week’s box at: email hidden; JavaScript is required. Please note the week and day of delivery, your site, when you picked up your box, and any comments about your box.

Want to Contribute to Farm News?

If you’d like to submit a story (600 to 800 words) about your shareholder experience, farm volunteering, a Learning Center program you loved, or your hosting of a delivery site, send it to email hidden; JavaScript is required with the subject: My Submission to Farm News. Photos are also welcome.

Please Fold Your Boxes Properly and Return Them to Your Site

The farm re-uses the vegetable boxes. Flaps are easily torn when the boxes are dismantled improperly, and then the box bottom might later burst open with fresh, organic local produce heading towards the floor. On your next pickup please return your empty, flattened vegetable boxes to your delivery site.

Open House, Saturday, July 19 & Saturday, Sept 20

Keep your calendar open for our farm open house on Saturday, July 19 and Saturday, Sept 20. Kids love seeing their farm, and so do their parents. More details soon.

More from Shareholders

Visit us often at www.facebook.com/angelicorganics, where we post exciting farm developments regularly, and shareholders post recipes, tips, and photos.

We hope you enjoy your first box of the season.

Warmly,

Farmer John

Adventures at the Angelic Organics Learning Center 

Angelic Organics Learning Center is an exciting and engaging place to learn about food, farming, and caring for the earth. Sign up for a hands-on farm workshop now at:

http://www.learngrowconnect.org/events

Ready to Rejuvenate? 

Join us for a farm campout especially for women, including yoga, meditation, preparing farm-fresh meals, and more. Bring your own tent and gear. It’s happening on 11am on Saturday, June 21 to 12pm on Sunday, June 22.

http://www.learngrowconnect.org/event/womens-solstice-campout

Box Contents

Please Note: this summary is written before you receive your box—be aware that some guesswork is involved. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.

Salad Greens – Lettuce, Spinach, Pea Shoots

Herbs – Basil, Cilantro

Alliums – Scallions

Root Crops – Radishes

Cooking Greens – Bunched Chard

Brassicas – Broccoli