2022-12-19 newsletter

Greetings from the farm,

We saw the first strawberries ripen over the weekend and are starting
see a consistent supply of the heirloom/specialty tomatoes.

The diversity of our offerings continues to grow with the addition of
green onions, carrots, and the first of the Italian bull horn sweet
peppers.

We are hoping to get out of this Christmas weekend without damage
from the cold but we are prepping the farm this week for a potential
frost/freeze event. We will cover the sensitive crops with frost/freeze
cloth and use sprinklers if needed to elevate temperatures.

Multiple customers from Sanibel and Captiva have contacted us over
the past few weeks to let us know they would like to be able to get
produce again. The destruction there was so severe but there are people
who have been able to make it work and return to their homes. We are
following up on a couple potential locations on Captiva and/or Sanibel
where we can at least drop off pre-orders for pickup or even set up a
small market for a couple hours. We hope to have something worked out by
mid-January, at the latest.

Here is a summary of our schedule this week:

THURSDAY DELIVERIES & FARM PICK-UP: Please place
an order online before Tuesday, 8 pm, if you want home delivery or farm
pick-up for Thursday.

SATURDAY FARMERS’ MARKET AND PREORDER PICK-UP :
Market runs 8 am to noon. Please place an order by Thursday, 8 pm to
pick up your preorder at the Bonita market. If preordering, please pick
up preorders after 10 am.

If coming on Thursday to the farm, the address for picking up orders
is the old farm entrance at 14840 Old Olga Rd. Farm pick up can be from
9 am to 5 pm. Contact Danny at 239-229-3579 for any questions.

Orders can be placed online at www.12seasonsfarm.com

This is what we are harvesting:

• Summercrisp Lettuce

• Baby Butterhead Lettuce

• Cherry tomatoes (limited)

• Heirloom/Specialty tomatoes (limited)

• Arugula

• Cabbage

• Curly kale

• Flat kale

• Broccoli

• Green beans

• Carrots (new!)

• Cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Eggplant

• Round radish

• Daikon radish

• Green onions (new!)

• Dill

• Cilantro

• Saw Palmetto Honey

• Sunflowers

We harvested the first strawberries yesterday!! We are hoping for a
strong crop this year!

We are harvesting green onions now! We should consistently have these
available for many weeks to come.

Cate stayed with us for several days, visiting from Orlando. What a
pleasure to have her back on the farm. She brightened our days here.

Here she is harvesting the first of the carrots which were reseeded
right after the hurricane.

This is a photo from market last Saturday with the first offering of
rainbow- style carrots. We have orange, purple, yellow, and white
carrots that each offer a fresh, crisp texture and distinct, pleasant
flavor!

Two steps forward, one step back. The vines on the ground were
removed for a virus they have called TYLCV, tomato yellow leaf curl
virus. It is a destructive disease on tomatoes that is a common disease
all throughout the subtropics and tropics. Several plants were positive
for it and had to be removed today as they are a source of inoculum for
spreading. We grow tomatoes in screenhouses so that we can exclude the
whitefly that is the vector for carrying this virus in its gut. However,
in this case it was confirmed the initial disease came with the plants
from the nursery where we bought these grafted tomato vines. It hurts to
remove such big vines, but this is a reality of farming and why organic
farming is especially tough. Sometimes it feels like heroics here in
South Florida to produce organically-grown tomatoes. Nature is awesome,
but not benign! Thankfully, it seems the positive plants are confined to
one screenhouse and have been removed.

We also are harvesting sweet peppers now. This is ‘Oranos’, a new
orange variety of the sweet Italian bull’s horn peppers that we grow. We
grow the traditional large sweet peppers but plant a greater proportion
to these long Italian types. The quality is so great on these. They have
thinner walls than the traditional pepper and known as a frying pepper.
They are so refreshing to eat raw in salads and just for snacking.

Corey and Jeanna Small who have been with us now for 5 seasons
renewed their wedding vows on the farm yesterday. It was a beautiful day
with lots of celebration and fun. They have been through a lot as a
family in the past 6 months but have only seemed to grow closer in their
marriage and in friendship to us and this amazing farm community. We are
so grateful to this family who are amazing people of service. As
mentioned in a previous newsletter, they were some of the first people
to arrive to the farm after the hurricane with dehumidifiers, fans,
building and cleaning supplies. They cut their time short with family in
Indiana by several weeks to get to us a few days after the storm passed.
They were also the ones who kindly set up a “give, send, go” site for us
that so many of you contributed toward.

Meredith, Jack, Corey, Jeanna, Aleena, and Myrah Small

We picked up a bay rum tree that could work as a Christmas tree
(behind the kids). I have long wanted this spice tree as its aroma is so
amazing. We plan to plant this tree after Christmas. I hope to plant
several of these trees and be able to offer it’s leaves for teas and
other culinary purposes in future seasons.

The whole weekend was full of fun at the farm. After market on
Saturday, we had a gift exchange and did some caroling in the
neighborhood. The kids had a blast. Our neighborhood had its annual
Christmas golf cart parade and there were many sweets and festive
foods.

Continuously we are focused on farming and bringing to you fresh,
delicious and healthy food.

Thank you for all your support this season. We are especially
grateful to you all!

May you all have a blessed time with family and friends during this
Holiday season.

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