Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,
This mild weather continues to favor amazing vegetable growth! The production
and crop health has been overall fantastic.
We had a very large turnout at both markets this past week. We have been
getting many new customers for which we are grateful. Thank you to all of you
who have promoted us among your friends and family.
Each week we offer two Tuesday options for Sanibel and Captiva residents 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, we offer two 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
-
Green Beans
- Broccolini
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Eggplant
- Sweet Peppers
- Celery
- Cilantro
- Flat Parsley
- Curled Parsley
- Dill
- Mint
- Chocolate Mint (very limited)
- Rosemary
- Turmeric
- Papaya (very limited)
- Passionfruit
- Lemons (online only)
- Grapefruit
- Honeybell Tangelo
- Zipper skin Tangerines (Limited!)
- Temple Tangor (Limited!)
- Bananas (very limited)
- Starfruit
- Sunflowers
- Saw palmetto honey
- Wildflower honey
- Sea of Cortez salt
- Mango, Monkey, and Strawberry Butter
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The tomato plants look great in the newest greenhouses we built. I think our
entire team of over 25 workers had a part in these new greenhouses and crops.
We started in late December with the greenhouse construction and then followed
with the building of the beds, application of compost and fertilizer, leveling
of walk paths, laying weed fabric, installation of the electric and fans,
planting of the tomatoes, trellis construction, and pruning and maintenance of
vines. It is marvelous to see what can be accomplished with a talented
team from raw ground to this in less than 2 1/2 months. Here is just a snapshot
of the fruits of their labor; it represents hundreds of hours of work done at a
high standard.
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Each Tuesday we direct sow crops in the ground. Last week we sowed sunflower.
You can see the 2 previous plantings (we call them flights) of sunflowers that
are at 2 different stages (about 12 inches tall in foreground and just emerging
where they are just an inch or two tall. We also seeded arugula, cilantro, and
radishes on this last Tuesday. You can see Kate with our rolling dibbler that
punches a hole at set spacings– in this case every 4 inches for sunflowers.
The dibbler distance is adjustable and we have experience over the years on
what spacing to use on each crop. We do a double row on the beds for
sunflowers. Sammi, Jill, and Myrah are in the background putting a sunflower
seed in each hole, covering the seed, and then firmly pressing the soil to
reestablish capillary action within the sandy soil. This firm planting allows
for moisture to travel in all directions as it is does in nature, even against
the normal flow of gravity, as the “sticky” nature of water travels through
micropores in the soil pulling water in all directions. The buried dry seed
imbibes– swells with moisture– and the natural process of germination begins
as this once dormant but living seed bursts through soil to express its new
identity as a living plant. As cultivators of crops we have the privilege
of witnessing these miracles all day long!
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This approach of frequent seedings results in a steady supply of sunflowers and
other crops all season long. Here is Annika our main harvester of sunflowers.
We harvest the sunflowers 7 days a week to get them at an ideal stage for a
long vase life!
We are having fun growing zinnias and marigolds and other flowers as well. We
have a small planting this season and hope to expand it for next season.
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It has brought me a lot of joy to see citrus make a modest comeback at 12
Seasons Farm. I began as a citrus grower back in 2002 when I first bought the
farm. After years of growing amazing citrus we later succumbed to the greening
disease which severely impacted tree health and limited production.
We quickly diverted into other fruits like avocado, mango, banana, papaya, and
starfuit and a great diversity of vegetable crops. While citrus has become a
much more minor crop for us, I have never given up on it and continue planting
and trying different techniques to cope with the disease. Greening is a
worldwide disease which has devastated citrus production in Florida and the
humid subtropical and tropical areas of the world where the disease is nearly
ubiquitous. In the photo above you can see the grapefruit in beautiful clusters
growing inside the protective nets which excludes the vector of the damaging
bacteria which lives in the gut of the Asian citrus psyllid that spreads it
from tree to tree. However, the bagged citrus remains healthy produce amazing
fruit as in the former days where the quality is exceptional!
Incidentally, one historical explanation for the name grapefruit is because of
the the way the fruit hangs in clusters like grapes. The above
photo illustrates how such a name makes sense.
Myrah holding another giant radish!
Meredith out picking the green beans this morning. The romano type are so
delicious. After the middle bed of arugula is a crop of peas (on left bed) that
is soon to be ready for harvest. We seeded it several weeks late. At the ideal
time to plant we were so busy recovering from the two hurricanes that we just
had to put it on hold. It might be a short crop due to the coming heat but at
least we should have some shortly.
Boys! They enjoy rolling down the sand hill!
Last week we as a family attended the SWFL Ag Expo. We had a lot of fun mainly
watching the kids go on the rides.
In this busy time, we are grateful for pauses like this, especially hearing and
seeing the kids excitement and exhilaration on the different rides.
Thank you for all your support this season. It is a honor that you trust us to
cultivate crops for your health, enjoyment, and well being. It is our pleasure
to serve you.
Danny, Vicki, the kids, and the 12 Seasons Team
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