2023-12-18 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

Tomorrow we are returning to the Captiva Farmers Market as it
reopens. The market location is in the Starbucks parking lot near the
South Seas Island Resort. The market takes place every Tuesday, 9am to
1pm. We have enjoyed serving the residents of Sanibel and Captiva over
many seasons and are grateful to be back again for another season. We
had our own solo market there last season at McCarthy’s Marina. And we
are happy to hear the progress is enough for a larger market to reopen.
There should be a number of vendors present.

Thank you to all who came and braved the weather on Saturday at the
Bonita Farmers Market. It turned out to be a great day as we managed to
stay dry for the most part and pack up what little was left before the
serious weather moved in. We plan to be at market again this Saturday,
Dec. 23!! Hope to see you then.

Here is our updated schedule this week:

TUESDAY CAPTIVA FARMERS MARKET ** & HOME
DELIVERY FOR SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA: Opening day tomorrow!!
Tuesday, 9am-1pm at South Seas Island Resort , Captiva.
Buy directly from the stand or place a market preorder or home
delivery online by Sunday, 8 pm. Regarding the following holiday week,
we plan to be at the Captiva market the day after Christmas but will
have preorders and deliveries turned off on the website for just that
week. **

THURSDAY FARM PICK-UP & HOME DELIVERY FOR SW FL (NOT
INCLUDING SANIBEL AND CAPTIVA): Please place an order online
before TUESDAY, 8 pm. For farm pick- up on Thursday, please come to
14840 Old Olga Rd., Ft. Myers, FL 33905.

SATURDAY BONITA FARMERS MARKET **** ****: 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

Here are Simeon, Carrie, and Annika at the close of Saturday market.
As mentioned above, we ended up having a fun and good morning market in
spite of inclement weather forecasted. We were dry for the most part and
had a near sell out at the market. Thank you to all who came out!

The farm and SW Florida received a much appreciated rain this past
weekend!

The Jaja Family was here for nearly a full 3 weeks. Ek helped us
catch back up on the farm. It was so great to have them here.

While the strawberry field has been planted for some time now, we
have some back up plants that we started to replace any “misfires”.
Michelle came to us after leaving her job as a university professor to
learn farming as she hopes to have her own organic farm someday. She
came last season and returned again this season. What a great help she
has been!

LJ is here with the boys Enoch and Indy who like to help LJ harvest
eggplant. LJ grew up in Guatemala and is a website specialist who
repaired and rebuilt the 12 Seasons website this past September. He
decided to stay in the States longer due to the turmoil in Guatemala and
continue to work for 12 Seasons while continuing his work for a
Guatemala company remotely. He has been a great help both on the farm
and in the fields. He has turned into quite the horticulturalist!

Indy helping with the eggplant harvest

Saturday night was the Olga golf cart Christmas parade. They drove by
the entrance of the farm and handed out candy to all the farm kids. It
is a fun annual event in our little town of Olga.

On Saturday after market we also hung ornaments on our Christmas
tree. The kids enjoy this festive time listening to beautiful music and
drinking hot cider. We were tired after a long day but I take delight in
these simple pleasures of hanging an heirloom tomato ornament as we
meditate on the deeper yearnings of our hearts for peace on earth,
goodwill toward men.

And finally, today is our 13th wedding anniversary. What a gift to
have a bride who is willing to journey together and take the long way
home!

We appreciate so many of you as you are more than customers to us.
Some of you have known us before our first child, Simeon, and witnessed
many of our kids growing up. We thank you for supporting us all these
years!

Blessings to you all!

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