Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,
We had our first Saturday market at the farm this season. The kids kindly got
up on their own and set up the market and let their parents catch a little more
sleep. They did a great job setting it up.
While the produce diversity is winding down due to the heat, we still have some
good options.
The lychees and mangoes continue to do well and we harvested a couple banana
bunches. It is good to see those coming back from the hurricane. The tomato
quality still is very good even though the temperatures are very high in the
greenhouses.
We continue to have the Tuesday drop site in Sanibel, Thursday farm pick up,
Thursday home deliveries and now the Saturday market pick up at 12 Season Farm.
Please place your order by 8 pm Tuesday for Thursday options; and for Saturday
farm pick up, place orders by Thursday, 8 pm.
Keep in mind that the driveway/farm address for Saturday market and pick-up is
the west entrance at 14820 (listed below in blue bolded text). It is a
different driveway and address for the Thursday farm pick-up which is at 14840,
the east driveway.
Here is our schedule for this week:
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 in 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 MARKET AT 12
SEASONS FARM: Our own market runs from 8am-noon. Use the 14820
Old Olga Rd., Ft. Myers, FL 33905 driveway/address. For those interested in preordering
for this market, please do so before 8 pm on Thursday for pick-up Saturday at
the farm.
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:
- Swiss Chard (limited)
- Curly Kale
- Flat Kale
- Mixed Kale (a mix of multiple kale varieties)
- Arugula (limited)
- Summercrisp lettuce (limited)
- Heirloom and specialty tomatoes
- Red Slicing tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Daikon radish (limited)
- Spring green onions
- Florida Sweet onions
- Leeks
- Broccolini
- Eggplant
- Flat Parsley
- Curled Parsley
- Mint
- Chocolate Mint (very limited)
- Rosemary
- Italian Basil
- Papaya
- Bananas (limited)
- Lychee
- Mango
- Sunflowers
- Saw palmetto honey
- Wildflower honey
- Farm fresh eggs (pastured, organically raised)
- Sea of Cortez salt
- Monkey and Strawberry Butter
Here was our little farm stand on Saturday in front of the honey house at 12
Seasons Farm. Thanks to all those who came to the market!
We don’t have a lot of lettuce left, but we do have some kale and a little bit
of chard.
We are drying down a lot of sweet purple onions. We put them on pallets and run
large fans on them. After a week or so we move them to the cooler and then do a
final peel and rinse before sending out for orders. We have received positive
feedback on the purple onions this season. One customer slices and eats the
entire onion like an apple.
The farm is full of critters. The yellow rat snake handled by Josiah is fairly
docile and keeps the rodents down along with all the farm cats. I am glad to
see yellow and red rat snakes on the farm. They are much friendlier towards
people than the common black racer.
We still have one solid week of lychees remaining before the harvest will start
to get slim.
We have lots of nice mangoes ripening.
We purchased a remodeled shipping container for microgreen production. We had
it delivered this morning from Naples where it was recently converted into
a “tiny” house.
We had a bit of a challenge as the truck could not get the container in the
desired location. Our neighbor Gerry helped in a huge way. The truck got
stuck, but the final result ended well. What a blessing to have a great
neighbor to pull out the truck and then position the container!
Now, we are working to get it blocked, leveled, and set up inside with the
proper microgreen production equipment. I will try to post more photos in
future newsletters of the progress we are making to get the container set up.
Here is Ek working on the project.
We are excited about this venture of raising microgreens. Microgreens are crops
of densely sown seeds in shallow trays that are harvested in a very short
window of time, usually less than 2 weeks. Seeds are full of healthful
nutrients that become available during the germination process. They are super
nutritious, delicious, and packed with intense flavors. They are usually raised
indoors in a climate controlled structure like the storage container we are
setting up. This will allow us to grow them even when conditions are too hot.
They can be raised year-round. Next season we plan to have 3 tents set up at
the Bonita market to make room for microgreens. Annika, Elena Watkins, and
Vicki plan to do a lot of the seeding work.
The above photo was taken this winter when Annika was getting training from
Ileana with Pleyoo Microgreens. Ileana, as I mentioned in previous newsletters,
is retiring and has trained us and set us up with the necessary
infrastructure.
We had a great dinner and fun time with our good friends the Watkins Family
yesterday. Elena Watkins is almost 17 now and has worked for us seeding radish,
arugula, carrots, beets, cilantro, and sunflowers since she started when she
was 8 years old. Elena’s dad, Tim Watkins, is a great friend and was one of my
groomsmen in our wedding. He runs EcoVision, an edible design and landscaping
company that serves all of SW Florida. https://www.ecovisiondesign.com/
Similar to us, they run a family business where the whole family gets to
participate. It’s a good life, it’s a hard life! They seem to go hand-in-hand.
Thank you to the remnant group of people still ordering from us and coming to
the market. Your support is much appreciated.
Danny, Vicki, the kids, and the 12 Seasons Team
|
Leave a Reply