2025-02-17 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

It has been another productive and busy time at the farm this past
week. Both markets were well attended and demand at the restaurants has
been especially strong. Thankfully, the farm is producing very well and
our team is working at a high standard to do the necessary crop
planting, maintenance, and harvesting.

For those curious which restaurants/establishments order produce from
us this season, here is a current list:

  1. D’Amicos Continental, Naples
  2. Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, Bonita Springs
  3. Vi at Bentley Village, Naples
  4. Sails Restaurant, Naples
  5. Rebecca’s Wine Bar, Naples
  6. Sea Salt, Naples
  7. Osteria Tulia, Naples
  8. Harold’s, Ft. Myers
  9. The Syren Oyster & Cocktail Bar, Naples
  10. Vue at Shell Point, Ft. Myers
  11. The Sanctuary Golf Club, Sanibel
  12. Bay Colony Beach Club, Naples
  13. Wheelhouse Grille, Ft. Myers
  14. Oikos Food Buyer’s Club, N. Ft. Myers
  15. Rooster’s on Route 80, Ft. Myers

We are grateful to the chefs, managers, and owners of these
establishments who value buying local, fresh, delicious, and organically
grown produce from 12 Seasons Farm. If you ever visit any of these
places, please thank them for sourcing produce from 12 Seasons Farm.

For Sanibel and Captiva residents, there are 2 Tuesday options for
ordering and getting produce: 1) the Captiva Farmer’s market where
preorders can be picked up and 2) a drop site at Melissa Lehman’s home
on Tuesdays between 9 am and 3 pm. Please order by 8 pm each Sunday and
remember to use a credit card payment for the Sanibel drop site.

For the rest of SWFL, there are 2 options on Thursdays: 1) farm
pickup and 2) home delivery. Please order by 8 pm each Tuesday. And
finally, we have the Bonita Farmer’s market each Saturday and you can
order ahead and pick up at market. Please order by 8 pm each Thursday
for preorder market pick up.

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
  • Red Slicing tomatoes
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • 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

It was again a busy Saturday morning market.

We are making good progress on getting the larger citrus bags on to
the trees. These should hopefully exclude the psyllid that carries the
greening disease and keep the trees protected.

Here is Benjamin demonstrating a size perspective as to how large
these bags are. I am glad to see the trees finally have more room to
grow in a psyllid- free environment.

The way we raise tomatoes on the drop system requires an enormous
amount of hand trimming and wrapping of individual vines. Here Justin is
pruning and wrapping the young tomato shoots around the string. This
method allows for a way to manage and direct the vigorous growth of
tomato vines and produce consistent harvests.

Anya, originally from Belarus, is with us volunteering on the farm
for 1 month. Here she is involved in removing the lower leaves from the
tomato vines.

Benjamin enjoys helping with the sweeping of the leaves that are
removed from the lower portion of the tomato vines. Michelle is in the
background. Michelle is a college computer science professor in Iowa
during the summer months. She enjoys organic farming and has been with
us multiple seasons during the winter months.

We keep the older lower leaves removed to improve air circulation,
reduce habitat for whitefly and disease, and facilitate ease of
picking.

The many days of hard work finally result in the production of
beautiful tomatoes like this.

We did a taste test tonight evaluating some new red tomato varieties.
Each year we grow usually close to 20 or so varieties of tomatoes,
adding new ones to see how they do. We are constantly trying to improve
on what we can offer to you and restaurants.

We do observation variety trials on nearly all the crops. Myrah took
this photo today of beets she harvested. She gave me her initial
observations of how these different varieties are doing so far this
season. She is our main beet harvester and so she has a good handle on
which ones are performing best. We sow beets every 2 weeks and raise
these 5 varieties.

Observation trails involving different cultivars/varieties are key to
the farm staying viable and dynamic. It is also a lot of fun!

Here is a small broccolini crown. The crown is the central stem that
has the largest flowering shoot. The plant will then start to push side
shoots after the crown is removed. We love this variety which came out
of trialing it with about 8 other varieties over 2 seasons to see how it
performed over time and in different seasons and weather patterns.

We have a beautiful stand of sunflowers right now.

We also have a modest amount of mixed flower bouquets we will be
bringing to the markets too.

Mary Ann finished her last full week with us at 12 Seasons Farm. She
has now bought a place near Frostproof, FL and left the farm this past
weekend. To say that she will be missed is a massive understatement. She
is a 12 Seasons Farm hero. She is our primary seeder for all the
vegetable transplants. She is a phenomenal woman who grew up in Central
Florida. Her parents were organic citrus growers and her mother still
operated the family tractor when she was 90. Mary Ann has the utmost
care for each little seedling. She also gathered all the extra produce
she could find laboring morning and night to get oversized or extra
produce in time for Cultivate Abundance to pick up each Friday for its
weekly food distribution in Immokalee. She couldn’t stand for any waste
and so she took it upon herself to cherish each living thing that would
someday become valuable food. She weeded the carrots tirelessly. I have
never met anyone like her. Thank you Mary Ann! Those who have eaten 12
Seasons produce have eaten better because of her.

We had our annual trip to Edison Festival of Lights Parade and 5k
run. Our 3 older kids, the 2 Watkins boys, and Justin ran in the Edison
5k Saturday night. Annika and Josiah each were 3rd in their age and
gender group. It is fun to see the kids do a solid run especially after
an early morning and long day at the market.

Life is full with the farm and an active family!

We wish you a great week! Thanks for your continued support!

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


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