2023-03-13 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

February and March are generally the peak of our season both for
production and demand. And boy do we feel it! The work load is very high
right now, but it is great to see the farm back to full strength in
terms of crop production. The team is working hard and with
excellence.

Leeks have finally come in. Cherry tomatoes are now plentiful.
Cucumbers, broccolini, onions, and zucchini are still strong. We also
have a decent supply of cabbage for those who use it in their
celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Strawberries and the red and
heirloom/specialty tomatoes are still doing great. Romaine is starting
to be in lower quantities as we plant less of this in the spring due to
the heat, but we are well supplied with Summercrisp and Baby Butterhead
lettuce.

We plan to be at McCarthy’s Marina on Captiva tomorrow (Tuesday),
9-11 am and Lakes Park in Ft. Myers on Wednesday, 9am-1pm and at the
Promenade in Bonita on Saturday 8am-noon.

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

Here is a summary of this week’s 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. one ****

 ** 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 (8# flats now available online)

• 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

• Cabbage

• Broccoli

• Broccoli greens

• Cauliflower (limited)

• Rainbow carrots

• Cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Sweet Peppers

• Eggplant

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Watermelon radish

• Green onions

• Italian Basil

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Italian flat parsley

• Curled parsley

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Nasturtium flowers

• Sunflowers

Here is Jedilo with some beautiful, organically grown berries! I once
taught an undergraduate fruit production course at Warner University to
students in the ag. department. One of the students had an internship
for one of the largest strawberry producers in Florida. He said that
farm would spray the strawberries with a cocktail of pesticides every
few days. At night when the pickers were done, the spray rigs would come
out. In contrast, we have sprayed our field once since October with an
organic spray treatment. I can’t imagine the health effect of a spray
every few days with a combination of potent conventional pesticides on
such a soft-skinned fruit not to mention on the folks working around
these chemicals on a daily basis.

Here is Justin helping sort the berries. He has been with us now 9
seasons and is a wonderful friend, mentor, and farmer. He has worked on
organic farms since high school. On the day of this photo last week, he
turned 40. Justin is a wealth of information on a variety of crops and
raising them under organic standards.

Here is a close up of the tender Broccolini sprouts that we harvest
3x/week.The stems, leaves, and flowers are all delicious.

Leeks have sized up enough that we can begin to harvest those as well
(on right in photo). We still have plenty of spring onions too (on
left). The leeks are available online and we plan to start bringing them
to markets.

Myrah harvested a lot of curly kale today. Today we got one order for
48 bunches!

—

Jedilo shared his life story with the group last Friday during our
lunch break. It was very interesting for us all to hear him share,
beginning with his early life in Haiti where food and resources were
very limited. His parents are farmers and encouraged him to work hard as
a child in school. He learned English well and eventually became a
translator for visiting groups to Haiti. This allowed him funds to
pursue university studies where he excelled. He eventually became a
distinguished Fulbright Scholar from Haiti and toured the US capital
some years ago as part of the scholarship award. Due to challenges in
Haiti where his personal safety was in grave danger while running his
own radio show, he left Haiti and is seeking asylum here in the US. We
are grateful for him and glad he has found a home at 12 Seasons though
he misses his family and friends immensely. He has contributed much to
the farm and community here and is a blessing to our family.

Someone from the Lakes Park market made a painting of our market
stand there. Beautiful!!

We enjoy growing food at a standard that is safe and delicious so you
can partake of the goodness of fresh produce and knowing that it is
contributing to your health! In the same way, I as a dad wanted to have
that same confidence with our own kids… in this case, my son, Benjamin
enjoying a fresh carrot– dirty face and fingers and all. For moments
like these is why Vicki and I chose many years ago to move our farm
toward growing organically. We wanted our children to be able to eat
fruits, vegetables, and even dirt safely.

The 3 kids and Vicki along with 12 Seasons worker Elena (in the red
sash) danced in the Irish Festival this past weekend at the
German-American Social Club in Cape Coral.

Annika insisted that I put this in the newsletter today. I turned 52
today! Annika took the picture. Vicki made another wonderful coffee
cake. The best birthday gift I have is that we are all together as a
family. These days of farming and family life are full, hard, and
demanding but still so very good! I am a rich man as my friend Franz
from Germany says–for I have 4 beautiful children that are precious
beyond measure!

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