2023-07-03 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

This is the final week to our season! We will have deliveries and
farm pick up options for this Thursday and one last market at our farm
on Saturday, July 8. If you do come to the market on Saturday, we
suggest preordering as our crop production is limited.

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

Here is our weekly schedule: ** __**

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

LAST 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

• Daikon radish

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Italian flat parsley

• Curled parsley

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Sunflowers

Thanks to all who came out last Saturday!

And thank you Jennifer Stevens for the nice surprise of Trackside
Donuts! The kids enjoyed them!

Some of Monday’s tomato harvest. While much of the northern US is
getting started in tomato production, we are nearing the end. It is
uncommon to have tomatoes in south Florida in July. They are certainly
not as beautiful as our winter and spring tomatoes, but we are glad to
have some.

We even still have a very modest amount of broccolini. Here is Annika
and Vicki bundling it for orders.

We also have carrots which Benjamin is enjoying.

Annika has become quite the packer of orders. The end of this season
has been a real family affair with everyone chipping in as our staff has
really dwindled in size.

This past weekend the Jaja Family (Ek, Bianca, and Mikha) left 12
Seasons to move to Miami where Bianca is starting a job working for the
US Immigration office in the asylum department. They have been with us
for nearly 6 years. Ek has been such a significant part of 12 Seasons’
success in growing all these crops. He came to us right as Hurricane
Irma hit in 2017 and helped us recover from that event. He is the best
agricultural worker I have ever known in all my 29 years of farming. And
he is a great mentor to our children. Our kids have taken it hard– as Ek
is like an uncle and friend to them.

Here is Rick Burnette and Ek. They worked together in Thailand for
many years at an agricultural training institute (UHDP) before Ek came
to the United States. Rick was pivotal in helping bring Ek and Bianca to
SW Florida in 2017 which allowed them to move on to our farm (Bianca
worked at ECHO and Ek worked for us at 12 Seasons). For the past few
years, Rick usually comes each Friday to pick up produce from 12 Seasons
Farm for the organization he runs called Cultivate Abundance. He and Ek
are commonly speaking in Thai with each other.

Farming with Ek these past 6 years has been amazing and enjoyable!
His brilliance as an engineer in designing structures to protect the
tomatoes has been so successful. He is a talented horticulturalist,
understanding crop needs and care. His steps are purposeful. He is hard
and steady working. He speaks few words, but when he does, I listen
intently to what he says, because his perspectives are so invaluable. I
have said it many times, every day with Ek on the farm is a gift.
Workers really enjoyed opportunities to work alongside him. And after
hours, he is commonly seen working on some creative project like
building a bamboo kayak, or playing beautiful music with his guitar, but
usually always with his son Mikha. He is a great family man. I don’t
overstate his greatness. If you observed him, his character, and
handiwork, you would feel the same way. Farming alongside such a great
man has been a true privilege!

Here is a photo of our family with theirs. We rejoice with the Jajas
as best we know how for this next chapter in their lives. May it be
blessed!

I plan to write one more newsletter next week as a final wrap-up to
this season. We continue to give thanks to you all for your amazing
support this season. We hope you have and continue to be nourished by
good and healthy fruits and vegetables.

Thank you!

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