2023-12-11 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

Today there was great fun and jubilation on the farm. Friends of our
family and farm hosted a big Christmas party for all the kids living and
working here, past and present. It was so much fun– complete with bounce
houses, a former school teacher/artist guiding children on festive card
and ornament making, healthy delicious pancake and quesadilla bar, and
generous gift-giving for all the children. It was a fun special day! I
will share some pictures below.

We had another great market day on Saturday! Thank you to all who
came last Saturday and placed orders for Thursday as well. Next week we
will be starting the Captiva market on Dec. 19. Pre-ordering will be
available for the Captiva market. We intend to open up home deliveries
soon to Sanibel and Captiva.

For those that pick up produce at the farm, remember that there are
two parts to pick up– the cold produce in front room of walk-in cooler
and the warmer produce (e.g. tomatoes and avocado), kept in the back
room of the walk-in cooler. Several have forgotten to pick up the second
part in the back room.

Here is our schedule this week:

THURSDAY FARM PICK-UP OR HOME DELIVERY : Please
place an order online before TUESDAY, 8 pm, if you want farm pick-up for
Thursday. 14840 Old Olga Rd., Ft. Myers, FL 33905

SATURDAY BONITA FARMERS’ MARKET **** ****: Our first
farmers’ market of the season begins this Saturday, 8am-noon at the
Promenade Shops at Bonita Bay. Buy directly from the stand or
place a preorder online by Thursday, 8 pm.

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

This is what we are harvesting:

• Summercrisp Lettuce
• Baby Butterhead Lettuce
• Large Leaf Butterhead Lettuce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Arugula
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Sweet Italian Bull’s Horn Peppers
• Broccolini (limited)
• Cabbage (limited)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Campari tomatoes
• Heirloom/Specialty tomatoes
• Red Slicing tomatoes
• Round radish
• Daikon radish
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Avocado
• Pummelo
• Lemons
• Navel oranges
• Papaya
• Starfruit
• Banana
• Saw Palmetto Honey

It was wonderful have Carrie back in the saddle at a Saturday market.
She graciously offered to fill in for Vicki who was traveling to help
her brother move from Tennessee to relocate with us. “Aunt” Carrie is
known on the farm for having an open door with a warm campfire and fun
healthy snacks. We are so glad to have her back for now her 5th
season!

Here is Anna, the mastermind and host for today’s Christmas party.
She cooked wonderful pancakes on the griddle throughout the morning
along with other great friends who helped prepare food. It was such a
treat for the children and the farm team today!

It was kind of a paradigm shift for me to see not 1, but 2 bounce
houses on the farm. What a treat for the children! Simeon was out the
door by 6 am to take care of his farm chores so he could be ready for
when they set up the bounce houses at 8:30. The kids played hard most of
the day on them and then crashed in bed tonight!

Eleanor, a retired teacher of 50 years, did an amazing job
instructing and encouraging the kids on their own creations.

Anna and husband Gary were so incredibly generous with giving gifts
to all the kids!

Some of you may wonder what happens to all the radish tops from
markets and outer leaves of the lettuce heads. We use them for mulch to
hold moisture and improve fertility on a productive row of papayas!

We have a second crop of cherry and campari tomatoes about to ripen.
The plants are gorgeous and the fruit is just starting to change
colors.

We have a good crop of avocado and still young crop of kale this
year. We rotated the broccolini planted here last season to a new
location on the farm and this year we have flat and curly kale growing
in between the trees. It seems to be a win-win situation for the crops–
the avocados benefit from the additional water and fertility the kale
receives and the kale benefits from the filtered light/shade from the
avocado canopies.

Radish is on the left which we seed every week with the next ready
flight of arugula in the middle which we seed every 2 weeks. The
frequent seeding of crops allows for steady harvests all season
long.

It is so good to have Ek back for two weeks. We enjoy farming
together. Bianca was able to work remotely so they came back from Miami
to the farm these 2 weeks. Mikha accompanies his dad through parts of
the day and in this photo is in what seems to be one of his favorite
seats on the farm!

Enoch and Indy and Benjamin having passionfruit. For the two brothers
on the left it was their first time ever eating a passionfruit. What a
true pleasure to witness these two experience such delight over a new
fruit!

Enoch is trying his hand at tomato vine wrapping. 12 Seasons Farm is
about growing really good and healthy food, but also about raising the
next generation. We are grateful to have so many children participate in
the various activities of the farm alongside siblings, parents, and
coworkers. Kids really want to learn and help and participate in
meaningful ways. They learn about a host of crops and food production
methods, mechanics, markets, weather events, and fresh living food.
Farming is such a great livelihood for children to participate in. We
are grateful to so many of you who have the extra patience with the kids
at market and at the farm and bless them in so many ways!

Have a great week!

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