2025-02-10 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

The farm production has really increased with this warm weather. The
moderately cool evenings combined with warm sunny days drive vegetable
growth. We are getting generous harvests of broccolini, cauliflower,
cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, and finally now peppers. We had a good
strawberry harvest on Friday and hope that continues this coming week.
We harvest the berries 3 times a week as we do most crops. Some crops
like sunflower, zucchini, and cucumbers get harvested 6 days/week.

We had great turnout at both the Captiva and Bonita farmers’ markets.
Thank you to all who came. The team here works so hard to get the crops
harvested the day before market and the fresh abundant displays testify
to their hard efforts and high standards.

There was also a good number of people at Saturday’s medicinal
cooking workshop. We are grateful to Anna Klein for her continued
leading of these workshops sharing valuable information that contributes
to greater health.

We have had good feedback regarding the Sanibel drop site. We express
continued thanks to Melissa Lehman for offering this helpful service to
the Sanibel and Captiva residents. Please spread the word about this
option which allows people to gain access to fresh, healthy, and
delicious produce.

For those ordering for next week’s Sanibel drop site or Captiva
market, please order by 8 pm Sunday. Please remember credit card payment
only for Sanibel drop site.

For the rest of SWFL ordering for Thursday farm pickup or home
delivery, please do so by 8 pm Tuesday. And for the Bonita market on
Saturday by 8 pm Thursday.

Here is our schedule for this week: 

TUESDAY CAPTIVA FARMER’S MARKET: Market runs from
9am-1pm. For those wanting to preorder for the market, please do so by 8
pm on Sunday for pick-up at the Tuesday market.

TUESDAY SANIBEL DROP SITE: A free drop site in
Sanibel each Tuesday from 9 am to 3 pm. This site is hosted by Melissa
Lehman. Her address and phone # should be on your order confirmation
email. This will be a self- serve option. Pick up at their home in their
screened foyer which is easily accessible from their driveway. Produce
will be on shelves. There should be 1 spot open their driveway for a
quick pick up. Order online and please pay by credit card (no cash or
checks please) ** .** If you see Melissa, please thank
her for providing this option. Order by 8 pm Sunday for this option.

THURSDAY FARM PICK-UP & HOME DELIVERY: Place an
order online before 8 pm Tuesday for Thursday all day pick-up at the
farm or to receive a home delivery. For farm pick-up, use original farm
entrance, 14840 Old Olga Rd. Order is usually split between cold produce
in walk-in cooler and the air conditioned structure just left of walk-
in cooler.

 SATURDAY BONITA SPRINGS FARMER’S
MARKET: Market runs from 8am-noon at the Promenade at Bonita
Bay in Bonita Springs. For those interested in preordering for the
market, please do so before 8 pm on Thursday for pick-up at the Saturday
market.

If you have questions about the farm or your orders please feel free
to text or call Danny at 239-229-3579.

**********Place orders at 12seasonsfarm.com
**

This is what we are harvesting:

• Strawberries
• Swiss Chard
• Curly Kale
• Flat Kale
• Mixed Kale (a mix of multiple kale varieties)
• Mustard greens
• Collard greens
• Arugula
• Summercrisp lettuce
• Romaine lettuce
• Baby Butterhead lettuce
• Large leaf Butterhead lettuce
• Heirloom and specialty tomatoes
• Cherry tomato
• Carrots
• Beets
• Round radish
• Watermelon radish
• Daikon radish
• Broccolini
• Cauliflower
• Cabbage
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• Eggplant
• Sweet Peppers
• Celery
• Cilantro
• Flat Parsley
• Curled Parsley
• Dill
• Mint
• Chocolate Mint (very limited)
• Rosemary
• Papaya (very limited)
• Passionfruit
• Lemons
• Grapefruit
• Honeybell Tangelo
• Zipper skin Tangerines (Limited!)
• Temple Tangor (Limited!)
• Bananas (very limited)
• Starfruit
• Avocado
• Sunflowers
• Saw palmetto honey
• Wildflower honey
• Sea of Cortez salt
• Mango, Monkey, and Strawberry Butter

The display at the Saturday morning market in Bonita Springs was once
again colorful and beautiful– a work of art.

We began harvesting and selling the first sweet onions. These fresh
crispy sweet onions add a great addition to meals raw or cooked.

We had a really great harvest of broccolini last week. We harvest
this sprouted broccoli 3X/week.

Here is Justine showing a couple broccolini bunches. The stems,
leaves, and florets are all so delicious.

Here is a nice stand of greenleaf summercrisp lettuce

We triple rinse the lettuce before it goes to orders and market.
Thank you Jeanna and Susanna!!!!

We are trying some additional flowers this season like cosmos,
zinnias, snapdragons, and marigolds. You might start to see a few mixed
flower bouquets at the market.

We should have a decent crop of green beans starting in about 2
weeks.

We plant successive crops of onions to get both the smaller spring
onions and larger field onions. Most of these will go to the green onion
bunches. There is an earlier “flight” on the left that was planted 2-3
weeks earlier.

The team works hard every day. Each Tuesday we direct seed a good
number of crops and we get extra help from a couple high school girls.
Here are Elena, Sophia, Meredeth, and Kate taking a break after working
on beet and carrot seeding.

We had a fun filled sports weekend after a full day at market. Josiah
got invited to play a brief scrimmage game during the 1st intermission
(#35) of the Everblades hockey game Saturday night and then on Sunday
the 3 younger kids had their Edison Fun Run with each of them doing
well. They did wear shoes for the run– becoming quiet civilized!

Each Friday, we take a break as a group and have a potluck lunch. It
is a big day preparing for the Saturday market. We harvest most of the
morning and then prep for orders and market in the afternoon. The Friday
break is usually a fun and relaxed time under the shade of the
bamboo.

I wish some of you could witness the beehive of activity that happens
here. The team efforts and dedication are amazing. Thank you for
supporting this work and all of us.

We wish you a great week!

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