2022-05-03 newsletter

Greetings,

This week much of our team is heading to other parts of the country–
mostly cooler and drier places than SW Florida. The Small, Young,
Kioski, Anderson, Hall, and Mountain Families and Carrie, Debby,
Timothy, and Karen are all heading out. In all 29 folks (14 of which are
kids) are leaving this week. Wow! We were so blessed this season with a
large, capable, and dedicated team. Most of these folks came here
through the WWOOF organization (Worldwide Opportunities On Organic
Farms). It operates a program that puts farmers and individuals/families
together all around the world. It allows people to experience, learn and
work part time on organic farms in exchange for a place to stay, good
healthy food, and and have an apprentice-like experience in organic
farming. We had a great season together– there were occasional bumps and
bruises, of course, as you would expect when you live in community, but
overall it was an awesome season! Our aim is for folks to have an
edifying experience and rich agricultural learning here at 12
Seasons!

Now the work falls on our full time staff of 6, me, and our family.
We are ready for the task, but it will be challenging, of course. We
have about 8 weeks remaining in this selling season as we plan to go
through the first week of July.

We hope to see a number of you still at the Bonita market on
Saturdays which has 4 Saturdays remaining in May. Then we will have a
stand at the farm for June and first part of July.

We will continue to do home deliveries on Thursdays in SW FL and
Tuesdays for Sanibel and Captiva.

If you order online, please remember to put your requests in the
customer notes if something is out-of-stock.

Place orders at 12seasonsfarm.com

Our schedule is as follows:

** ** ** ** ** Thursday** : Please order by
8 pm tonight (Tuesday), May 3, for Thursday, May 5, farm pick up or
delivery to Bonita Springs, Naples, Ft. Myers Beach, Ft. Myers, N. Ft.
Myers, and Cape Coral.

Saturday: Bonita Springs Farmers’ Market at
Promenade Shops (8am- noon). BONITA MARKET
EXTENDED THROUGH MAY. You may also select a preorder
option each week (by Thursday 8 pm) and pick up your prepared orders at
the Saturday market, preferably after 10:30 am.

Tuesday : Sanibel/Captiva home deliveries
on Tuesdays. CAPTIVA MKT. CLOSED FOR SEASON Place order
by Sunday, 8 pm.

****We are currently harvesting:

• Cherry Tomatoes

• Campari Tomatoes

• Heirloom/Specialty Tomatoes

• Red Beefsteak Tomatoes

• Summercrisp Lettuce

• Arugula (limited)

• Curly kale

• Flat kale

• Mixed kale

• Broccoli

• Cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Eggplant

• Sweet Peppers

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Sweet onions

• Italian Basil

• Italian Flat Parsley

• Curly Parsley

• Grapefruit (add to customer notes)

• Papaya

• Strawberries (limited)

• Blueberries (certified organic from farm in Central
  Florida)

• Bananas

• Sunflowers

• Orange blossom Honey

Sunday evening we had a farewell dinner at our home with our team
from this season. It was a great time of fellowship to celebrate a great
season together. Farming takes many hands and is a very demanding
lifestyle– but what a difference when you work alongside folks who are
eager to learn and share their diverse talents and do these gritty
mundane tasks with excellence and cheer.

We had a special time of sharing, hearing from both kids and adults,
highlighting what they learned from this season and communicating some
of their most memorable moments. I wish you could have heard. There were
so many precious statements made– especially fun to hear from the kids.
Beautiful testimonials.

We are grateful for this year’s team and Vicki and I passed on your
gratitude as well to them as we shared the tip fund once again. In all,
tips you gave at market and deliveries from October to present totaled
$150 per adult and $35 for each working kid. Amazing! We let them know
the money was from our customers and that you all are a very
appreciative bunch! Sunday night we were able to pass on some of your
thanks to them. They were happy and grateful to receive their tip money
and Vicki and I thank you for your generosity to them!

We have had some good banana harvests lately. There should be plenty
this week! Simeon is really a great helper when he is not off playing in
the creek or running around the farm! He really understands the farm
well, the crops we grow, and gaining a deeper understanding of why we do
things the way we do. It is fun to watch him grow up. Hopefully, some
day many of you can get a farm tour from him.

It is mulberry season and the kids get their fill every day. Last
week Autumn (in the orange shirt) baked a wonderful mulberry pie for
break day on Wednesday! Wow was that delicious. She and other children
usually bake something each week for break time. This was a group effort
led by Autumn.

Here is Vicki signing a cooperative agreement with the USDA-NRCS
(National Resources Conservation Service) to fulfill certain
conservation practices on our farm. She is with Conner– a soil
conservationist with the NRCS division. We have enrolled in several of
their programs over the years which provide technical and financial
support for fulfilling certain conservation practices like crop
rotation, cover cropping, high tunnel construction, bat and owl box
construction, etc. We do a lot of these practices already but the
contracts formalize the process of accountability and do help us with
some financial support to fulfill these objectives. From our personal
experience at 12 Seasons, we have had a very positive experience and
feel the US federal government is very pro-farming and with its many
programs that support small and large farms. In recent years, they have
really streamlined their efforts to get benefits into small farms from
which we have benefited directly.

We have a good supply of sweet Italian bull horn peppers. We really
enjoy growing these, even more than the traditional bell pepper. They
are sweet and so delicious. The chefs also really like using these types
of peppers in their dishes.

Rain has finally come! The parched sandy soils are soaking up all
this rain we have had in the past week. We had a beautiful rainbow over
the farm this past weekend!

Carrie Bell left this morning. She is like an aunt to our kids and
family to us. She will be missed. This is her 3rd season with us and she
plans to return in the fall. Many of you know her from the Saturday
market or Thursday delivery route. She is an amazing woman– generous,
hard-working, and faithful!

It is a week of many good-byes. We will miss our team which as I
mentioned above is mostly heading out this week. Journey well!

Thank you for your continued support of our farm and vision for
people to experience the goodness that is possible. May you all be
blessed!

Danny, Vicki, the kids, and the Amazing 12 Seasons Team