Greetings from 12 Seasons Farm,
Saturday was the last Bonita market of the season. We had a good turn out even
though it ended in a downpour as the rain came close to the end of market. Now
the farmer’s market returns to 12 Seasons for the remainder of June each
Saturday.
We are continuing the Sanibel drop this week and will plan for next week as
well. Place orders by 8 pm Sunday evening for this Tuesday Sanibel option.
The mango crop is really starting to come on. We have plenty of mango and
lychee look to be in good supply for the next couple weeks.
We continue to have 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. The farm address for Saturday market/pick-up is listed below in
blue bolded text. Note it is a different driveway address for the Thursday farm
pick-up.
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
- Summercrisp lettuce
- Heirloom and specialty tomatoes
- Red Slicing tomatoes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Round radish
- Watermelon radish (very limited)
- Daikon radish
- Spring green onions
- Florida Sweet onions
- Leeks
- Broccolini
- Cabbage (limited)
- Eggplant
- Sweet Peppers (limited)
- Flat Parsley
- Curled Parsley
- Mint
- Chocolate Mint (very limited)
- Rosemary
- Italian Basil
- Papaya
- Zipper skin Tangerines (Limited!)
- Bananas (very limited)
- Lychee
- Mango
- Sunflowers
- Saw palmetto honey
- Wildflower honey
- Farm fresh eggs (pastured, organically raised)
- Sea of Cortez salt
- Monkey, and Strawberry Butter
Saturday was the final market in Bonita Springs for this season. Thank you to
all who came out. Starting next Saturday, we will host a market at our farm
8am-noon each Saturday for the month of June.
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Ileana with Pleyoo Microgreens and Annika. Ileana has fulfilled a
beautiful vision to offer healthy nutritious microgreens to the SWFL community.
After many of years of producing microgreens at an extremely high and
consistent standard, Ileana is retiring from the microgreen business. Saturday
was her last market. She has graciously offered the infrastructure and training
to prepare 12 Seasons to offer microgreens next season. Annika, Vicki, and
Elena Watkins have been trained and actually seeded the trays that were used
this week at Pleyoo’s Saturday market in Bonita. We are excited to take on this
venture. It will be mostly guided by Vicki with the help of the younger girls.
It is a true pleasure to work with someone as talented and generous as Ileana.
She wanted to pass on the microgreen business to someone who would continue to
care for her many customers. We hope to begin offering microgreens in Oct./Nov.
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We are still getting quality harvests of tomatoes. Simeon has been a big help
while we have been more short-handed.
We have lots of sunflowers coming on right now.
Benjamin and Josiah have their daily chore of hunting for ready mangoes. We
ordered a new picker and Benjamin is giving it a try out. He is a strong boy!
The lychees are ripening up well and while the yields are not as bountiful as
we hoped for, we still have a good supply this season.
Here is Kate harvesting lychees from the orchard ladder.
Friday was Sammi’s last day with us. She has spent the last 2 seasons with us
and has been our market manager. We worked well together and she will be
missed. We set aside some time as a team on Friday break reminiscing on the
many ways Sammi has grown and impacted us during her 2 seasons here. We also
had the pleasure of having Bruce and Jan visiting this weekend, both in the
photo above at Friday break time.
Sammi (middle in photo) did a great job managing the hundreds of tasks that
come with overseeing the market, restaurant, and home order prep. She balanced
all that along with many other horticulture jobs– vegetable bed
prep, planting, crop maintenance, harvesting, record keeping and all the
while keeping the team organized, on task, and ensuring high standards. She
will be missed. Sammi is seeking a teaching job in agriculture/gardening in the
local school system.
We have had an amazing team assembled here at 12 Seasons.
And while we have had several good byes to staff, we are glad and grateful to
announce Ek, Bianca, and Mikha have returned to 12 Seasons Farm. They have been
in Miami the last couple years. Today was Ek’s first day back at work. What a
blessing to farm again with Ek. Mikha is excited to be living on the farm
again. He and Benjamin are good playmates!
The agrarian life brings people together. Thank you all for being a part of
this community and your continued support! It was a great season and finish
to our market season in Captiva and Bonita. Thank you!
Hope to see some of you next Saturday at the farm.
May your health be strengthened and your lives blessed.
Danny, Vicki, the kids, and the 12 Seasons Team
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