2025-07-14 newsletter

Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,

We are working hard on a variety of projects– greenhouse construction, mango
and papaya drying, citrus pruning, cleaning up old tomato vines in greenhouses,
planting papayas, and still keeping the rhythm of harvest and packaging orders
for restaurants and home orders.

The vegetable options continue to narrow but we still have onions, leeks,
arugula, kale, basil. eggplant, radish, and a few carrots still out there. The
fruit options are mango, banana, starfruit, passionfruit, papaya, and now
avocado.

We are continuing with home deliveries on Thursday and farm pick-ups on
Thursday and Saturday.

Please place your order by 8 pm Tuesday for Thursday options; and by 8 pm
Thursday for Saturday farm pick-up.

All farm pick-ups occur at the original farm entrance, 14840 Old Olga Rd.,
which is the east driveway. This is a self-serve pick-up. Remember to grab your
order both from the walk-in cooler (cold portion) and the tomato shed
(non-refrigerated).

Here is our schedule for this week:

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 tomato shed just left of walk-in cooler.

SATURDAY FARM PICK-UP AT 12
SEASONS FARM: Place an order online before 8 pm Thursday for all day
pick-up at the farm on Saturday. Use original farm entrance, 14840 Old
Olga Rd. Order is usually split between cold produce in walk-in cooler
and the air conditioned tomato shed just left of walk-in
cooler.

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:

• Curly Kale
• Flat Kale
• Arugula (limited)
• Cherry tomatoes (limited)
• Beets (limited)
• Daikon radish (limited)
• Florida Sweet onions
• Leeks
• Broccolini (limited)
• Eggplant (limited)
• Flat Parsley 
• Mint
• Chocolate Mint (very limited)
• Italian Basil
• Papaya
• Bananas
• Mango
• Avocado
• Sunflowers
• Wildflower honey
• Sea of Cortez salt
• Monkey Butter (mango, passionfruit, banana jam)

We have made good progress with all the sidewall posts of both greenhouses set
in concrete.

We are super fortunate to have Brian and Jill here this summer. Brian is
leading the greenhouse project and then during rainstorms is able to help with
vehicle repairs and maintenance. Jill continues to work in harvesting the
vegetables and pruning the citrus trees.

Ek has been planting the next round of papayas on the farm. While papayas are a
perennial, we have found that planting them every year is important for
maintaining consistent and high production. We have had a lot of issues the
past few years with hurricanes that have limited their potential on our farm;
otherwise, in typical years we usually have enough to consistently sell to
restaurants. 

We have had superb weather for planting. The overcast afternoons and frequent
rains greatly facilitate plant establishment. 

We are harvesting now very large beautiful starfruit.

The first avocados are now starting to ripen. We don’t have a lot yet, but they
are coming. The variety is Brogdon. It is small, has a painfully thin skin, but
the flesh is exceptional. We expect to have these for 6-8 weeks.

The alligator is back. He is decently large– I think well over 6 ft. and the
largest I have seen on this farm. 

We still have daikon radishes available.

The mango season continues to be a highlight. We eat them almost every day for
dessert. They are just so exceptional! We have a really strong crop this
season. We are selling a lot to restaurants and through home orders, we
are drying 2 days a week, and soon we plan to make mango butter for next
season. This jam seemed to be the most popular of the several types we sold. We
are waiting to get more passionfruit ripening as this is part of the recipe.  

Thank you to all who have continued to order.

We are enjoying the less demanding summer season. There is loads of work here,
but with a strong lean team, we are plotting along. We want to continue to make
this farm a place of nourishment, beauty, and bounty– it takes many hands, a
lot of work, planning, managing, and team of talented and inspiring
individuals! Thanks for all your support. We are honored to serve you!

Have a great week!

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