2022-12-26 newsletter

Greetings from the farm,

It was a Mercy Christmas! We had 33.6 degrees on Christmas Eve day
and 36.6 degree on Christmas morning. Super relieved. The clouds came in
and kept frost and freeze conditions from settling in. We were very
grateful to have come out well for this first early cold weather
event.

While production has definitely slowed down with these very cool days
and nights, we have an ample supply now of the heirloom/specialty and
very soon, red slicing tomatoes.

We are still looking for a location to set up in Sanibel or Captiva
one morning a week. Until we work something out, one of our Sanibel
customers has kindly agreed to be a drop site for those who want to
place a produce order online. Her location is on the north side of
Sanibel. This would start next week– likely January 3– after the Sanibel
Causeway has reopened. We should have details finalized and our website
updated at the time of next week’s newsletter.

As 2022 comes to a close, we want to express our sincere gratitude to
you who have supported and invested in our recovery efforts. The
kindness and generosity shown to us and the entire farm team these past
few months have been extraordinary.

Many of you have asked about our progress. Overall, it has been
amazing. We have a talented team of volunteers and workers who have
labored to repair the farm’s infrastructure and make lasting
improvements. We are still working toward replacing 2 more damaged
trailers– not sure if we are replacing with a purchased trailer or
inhouse construction of a tiny home; we need to replace 2 of our
destroyed greenhouses; repair one of our flooded utility carts; and a
long term project is to replace the badly damaged community or “honey”
house and adjacent lean-to structure which stores a lot of our
equipment. This latter project is waiting until the right time.

As for completed projects, we have new a trailer for worker housing;
Ek and Bianca’s home repairs are mostly finished; our walk-in cooler has
been repositioned and repaired; our 3 major greenhouses have been
repaired, reskinned, and replanted; hundreds of fruit trees have been
straightened and staked; construction debris is mostly gone and fallen
tree trunks and limbs have been strategically stacked in large piles; we
have set up a temporary drying kitchen for herbs, fruits, etc.; and the
farm is thriving again. The major work is behind us. Thank you, thank
you, thank you!!!

Here is a summary of our schedule this week:

THURSDAY DELIVERIES & FARM PICK-UP: Please place
an order online before Tuesday, 8 pm, if you want home delivery or farm
pick-up for Thursday.

SATURDAY FARMERS’ MARKET AND PREORDER PICK-UP :
Market runs 8 am to noon. Please place an order by Thursday, 8 pm to
pick up your preorder at the Bonita market. If preordering, please pick
up preorders after 10 am.

If coming on Thursday to the farm, the address for picking up orders
is the old farm entrance at 14840 Old Olga Rd. Farm pick up can be from
9 am to 5 pm. Contact Danny at 239-229-3579 for any questions.

Orders can be placed online at www.12seasonsfarm.com

This is what we are harvesting:

• Summercrisp Lettuce

• Baby Butterhead Lettuce

• Cherry tomatoes (still limited)

• Heirloom/Specialty tomatoes

• Red Slicing tomatoes

• Arugula

• Cabbage

• Curly kale

• Flat kale

• Broccoli

• Green beans

• Carrots

• Cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Eggplant

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Green onions

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Sunflowers

Thanks to all who came out last Saturday to market. If you were able
to see behind the table, perhaps, it was the first time you would see
shoes on our children. Brrr!

This was a common exercise Friday and Saturday evenings as we covered
and recovered multiple times, different areas of the farm. The wind made
it challenging and we had some very late nights.

We weren’t really hoping for a white winter wonderland but it kind of
looked that way this Christmas weekend.

So exciting to have tomatoes ripening on the farm. We all have waited
extra long this season, but now we have them in good supply!!

We enjoyed a tasty caprese salad with friends yesterday!

We also had the first strawberries for sale at market on Saturday.
Great to see both cherries and berries! Yum!

Josiah found a Cane toad while we were covering the plants for cold
weather on Friday afternoon. This boy really likes frogs and toads.

We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon yesterday with our friends, the
Watkins Family. About 10 years ago as we were transitioning from part
time citrus growers to full time vegetable growers, we partnered with
Tim and Lindsay in our 2nd year growing high quality tomatoes. It was a
fun, busy, and hard season working long days and late nights together,
but the tomato venture to grow and sell delicious tomatoes was
successful and we are closer friends as a result (which was a
prerequisite and stated goal!). Tim and Lindsay now run Ecovision (https://www.ecovisiondesign.com
), an edible landscape design and install company here in SW
Florida. They are an amazing family and we are blessed to have such good
friends! Elena, their daughter is 14 and seated next to Lindsay in
photo. She is in her 4th season, I think, working for us. She does much
of our seeding, one morning a week. Crops and seasons come and go, but
true friends and family are precious beyond measure!

Thank you again for all your support this season. We look forward to
serving you all in the new year with delicious and healthy fruits and
vegetables.

May you continue to enjoy times of refreshment with family and
friends during this Holiday season.

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