2023-06-25 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

This will be our last week at Lakes Park Farmers’ Market on
Wednesday. You can place an order online and pickup at the Wednesday
market if you prefer that location.

We plan to have 2 more Saturday markets at 12 Seasons Farm through
July 8.

We plan to do farm pickups and home deliveries also 2 more times on
Thursdays.

If you would like to place an order for this Wednesday pick
up at Lakes Park, please do so before 8 pm MONDAY at
www.12seasonsfarm.com.

Here is our weekly schedule:

 ** 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. If you want to preorder for this market, please place
an order by MONDAY, 8 pm to pick up at Lakes Park.

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 AT 12 SEASONS FARM : Market
runs 8 am to noon at our farm. 14820 Old Olga Rd. Ft. Myers, FL 33905.
If you want to preorder for this market, please place an order by
THURSDAY, 8 pm to pick up at our farm on Saturday morning.

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

This is what we are harvesting:

• Mangoes

• Summercrisp Lettuce

• Large Leaf Butterhead lettuce

• Heirloom/Specialty tomatoes

• Arugula

• Curly kale

• Flat kale

• Mixed kale

• Broccoli greens

• Rainbow carrots

• Cucumbers

• Sweet Peppers

• Eggplant

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Italian flat parsley

• Curled parsley

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Sunflowers

Annika and Izabella accompanied me to market last Wednesday at Lakes
Park. This coming Wednesday will be our last one there.

This last week we pruned the lychee trees. The general “rule of
thumb” on pruning fruit trees in Florida is to prune them immediately
after the harvest which concluded recently.

This is the less glorious side of farming– cleaning up the fields
after the crops are done. We have lots of weeds to remove as was done in
this strawberry field. Unlike more northern latitudes where the growing
season ends by cold, ours ends by a combination of heat, humidity, rain,
and pestilence. This weed pressure is huge at our tail end of the
season. We plan to sow cover crops and also cover some of our fields
with weed fabric where we hope to try a no-till system on the raised
beds.

We also have lots of mowing to do this time of year. We are grateful
for Bruce and Jan who have been volunteering at 12 Seasons for about 12
years. They are like family to us. We are grateful for them and not sure
how we would have survived without them. They are real troopers and have
done so many different jobs at 12 Seasons Farm over the years. ~~~~

We have been getting nice harvests of large leaf Italian basil. Basil
likes this heat.

Benjamin helping carry the flat kale bunches. He really does help me
so much on the farm.

His name Benjamin means “son of my right hand”. Vicki wanted a home
birth for him and he arrived 10 minutes before the midwives came and I
had the privilege to catch him with my right hand when he was delivered
(I am actually left handed), but more significantly he is a great helper
to me. I really enjoy working with my kids. I love farming, but doing it
together with friends and family is especially meaningful.

The younger boys on Thursday came with me on deliveries while Annika
and Simeon had school. They enjoy bringing fresh produce to you all.

The Mashburn Family has been taking a lot of the #2 mangos and
blending and freezing the pulp into delicious popsicles. Here Izabella
and Charlotte were so kind to bring me one on the farm. So yummy!

Last week Meredith and Jeanna came down from Maine for a surprise
visit for Meredith’s birthday to see friends. It was fun to have them
around again.

We had our busiest Saturday market yet, this past Saturday. Thank you
to so many of you who came out.

This photo is at the end of another long but good day. Vicki and I
sometimes say, “we are taking the long way home” (based on a song by
Bebo Norman, Long Way Home. This season certainly felt like the long way
home with Hurricane Ian. The really good things in life are often
accompanied with a lot of work, determination, and ups and downs. While
this season has been hard in so many ways, we rejoice over another good
season. We are especially grateful to our amazing customers who so
kindly support and affirm us and the entire 12 Seasons Team.

Thank you!

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