2023-02-25 newsletter

Greetings to the residents of Sanibel and Captiva from 12 Seasons
Farm,

Last week was a big day at the Captiva market with many new people
coming. We are grateful to see that there is a lot of interest in
getting fresh, organically grown produce. Thank you for your support,
kind words, and helping make this market a success.

The market was so busy, Annika stepped in and did a fantastic job
assisting. She is a precious girl who enjoys interacting with you and
going to the Captiva market with daddy.

The temperatures have remained especially high this past week.

While we normally use drip irrigation, the heat and dry weather have
been so severe we are using occasional overhead sprinkler irrigation
events. This helps optimize the soil moisture in the raised beds for
better crop growth.

We look forward to being at McCarthy’s Marina again this Tuesday,
9-11 am. We will have a small market stand of produce for those who just
want to buy off the table. And for those that order ahead of time, we
will have your orders prepared for pick up. Thanks to Captain Bob Rando
with Captiva Cruises for this continued opportunity!

If you would like to place an order for Tuesday pick up,
please do so before 8 pm Sunday at www.12seasonsfarm.com.

Here is our weekly schedule:

TUESDAY PICK-UP FOR SANIBEL & CAPTIVA: Place an
order online before Sunday, 8 pm, if you want to pick up an order at
McCarthy’s Marina in Captiva on Tuesday, 9-11 am. Extra produce will be
available for those who want to buy off the table. ****

 ** WEDNESDAY LAKE’S PARK FARMERS’
MARKET:** We will be at the Lakes Park Farmers’ Mkt. each
Wednesday from 9 am to 1 pm. in Ft. Myers. Parking is free during the
farmers’ market.

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.

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

This is what we are harvesting:

• Strawberries

• Summercrisp Lettuce

• Baby Butterhead Lettuce

• Romaine lettuce

• Large Leaf Butterhead lettuce

• Cherry tomatoes

• Heirloom/Specialty tomatoes

• Red Slicing tomatoes

• Arugula

• Curly kale

• Flat kale

• Mixed kale

• Broccoli

• Broccoli greens

• Cauliflower

• Rainbow carrots

• Cucumbers (limited)

• Zucchini

• Sweet Peppers

• Eggplant

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Watermelon radish

• Green onions

• Large sweet onions

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Italian flat parsley

• Curled parsley

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Sunflowers

We have a beautiful crop of sunflowers we are harvesting at the
moment and should have a good amount at the market on Tuesday along with
more strawberries (seen in the background intercropped with leeks and
onions).

This last Friday, Ek and Bianca shared about their life story. Ek
explained to our team how his family escaped across the Burma/Thai
border as a young boy. After his family settled in Thailand and became
farmers, he eventually received Thai citizenship. After applying himself
hard in school, he got a position at an agricultural training center
where he later met Bianca, who was working as a linguist with the Lahu
people in northern Thailand. They eventually married and came to the
United States where he has worked for us now over 5 years. Around 3
years ago, Ek received his American citizenship. He has been an amazing
worker and mentor to our children.

Ek with Jedilo building a new screenhouse over the tomatoes. Ek has
unique agricultural and engineering skills. He does most of our
screenhouse building on the farm, often with Jedilo assisting! This
makes it much easier to grow the produce organically by screening
damaging insects out and keeping the dew and rain off the tomato plants
which creates habit for more leaf diseases. His building of these
screenhouses has helped us produce amazing tomatoes organically.

Before we grew tomatoes at 12 Seasons Farm, I mainly sold citrus from
our farm at the farmers’ markets. I would occasionally purchase tomatoes
at the farmers’ market from different vendors that were nearly always
lousy and disappointing. This inspired and challenged us to raise the
very best tomatoes and set a high bar. I consider myself a
tomato-junkie, meaning I really enjoy eating good tomatoes and consider
them game-changers in meals. It has been a fun journey of trialing well
over 100 varieties of tomatoes in various observation trials the past 10
years to identify tomato varieties that are delicious and perform well
under our conditions.

We look forward to seeing you at the market on Tuesday! Thanks to
those who have shared about the market with your friends and
neighbors.

Enjoy your weekend!

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