Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Squash
We have extra Acorn and Buttercup squash. Little Sweet Potatoes, eggplant, and a few watermelon.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Market Day
No Market at Eagle Plaza Wednesday. Not much left over this week after weekly boxes. Transitioning to fall harvest...I do have Watermelons if anyone needs some stop in at the farm:)
Saturday, September 3, 2011
baby goats!
Big Black Mamma Goat had her babies! Baby #1 is huge and doing well. Baby #2 got stuck and did not make it. Baby #3 is VERY small and may not make it thru the night. Please say a little goat prayer to guide it on it's path. Thank you Steve for checking on her when I asked or mamma may not have made it either.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
September 2011 Newsletter
I remember going up to the gardens and finding the very first tomato of the season. I got a sickening feeling in my stomach for a short moment just because we had too many tomatoes last year I couldn’t stand the smell of them by the time the season was over. My very next thought was “YEAH! FRESH TOMATOES!” This year has been a totally different growing season than last year. We had so many carrots last year that a lot of them stayed in the ground, and this year we have NONE. What a disappointing and confused feeling. We weeded them this year and the deer found a wonderful snack. They may have survived if we wouldn’t have had the long stretch of hot, dry weather. However Eggplant and Zucchini have been in abundance. Our broccoli did good too until we couldn’t keep up with the flowering due to the extremely hot days. And why does it seem like weeds grow no matter what the weather does.
LEARNING seems to be the big word this month. We are already looking back at the last few months of the growing season and making decisions about what we are planning to do next year. Like BEES! The apple trees were full of flowers this spring but because of the lack of pollination there are very little apples to harvest. Anyone with helpful knowledge of Bees please feel free to send me some info or stop by the farm to talk, my ears are listening.
One batch of baby pigs arrived a week ago. There are 8 of them. The 2nd mamma pig had her babies Tuesday. She had eight as well. We tried to be patient to witness the miracle of life, but it wasn‘t meant to be because every time we walked away she‘d have a couple. I was surprised at how long the girls would just stand quietly and watch. I think they were hypnotized by watching the baby pigs learn how to breath, walk and find their mommy for food. We learned that each piglet will find it’s food source and stay their for it’s baby life. Lucy thinks it’s cool that each piggy knows its own mommy. For such a messy animal, they sure are cute. If you do stop in at the farm, please keep your distance from the pigs though. THEY WILL BITE. Pigs can get very aggressive when pregnant or with little ones around. Just stay back and watch. If you are lucky, Leo might grab a baby pig to see up close. (Thanks grandpa!) The newest batch of spring laying hens are getting ready to start laying eggs too. We call their first eggs, pullet eggs. They are very small. With all the action going on at the farm, the girls are sure learning a lot about animal life.
Wow, it sure looks like we have a lot going on at the farm, including fall harvest. The next couple sections will be good to read if you want to stay updated on the produce part of the farm.
WPB Members:
We have about 7 weeks left of the box season. We recently sent out a survey to see how the box program is going. We want to thank all the members for filling out and returning their forms. We got lots of good feedback and are excited to see what we can change for next year. One of the biggest things the boxes are lacking is FRUIT. We are working on increasing our fruit productions, but this will take some time. Like mentioned above, I think our biggest challenge right now is pollination. This year we planted hundreds of raspberry and blueberries, along with blackberry plants and apple, peach, plum, cherry, and pear trees. Our hopes is to have so much fruit we won’t know what to do with it all, but until then we only have a small supply.
It was also interesting to read everyone’s comments about what veggies they liked and wanted more of, and what veggies they could do without. We wish we could know exactly what each member wants and only put that in your box, but figuring out how to cater to each individual is something we are still trying to figure out. Part of the box program is to learn to eat new things, and to eat seasonally. Like myself, if you’ve always bought whatever you wanted at the grocery store, eating only what is fresh for many weeks in a row can be overwhelming. I am finding a benefit to the boxes is to freeze some produce every week. You won’t be able to pull peppers out of the freezer to eat fresh but they will be great in soups, stews and casseroles this winter. I don’t know about you, but I get this AWESOMELY wonderful feeling knowing I have fresh, local, chemical free veggies in my freezer for my winter cooking!
What to expect for the rest of the season:
Squash harvest is coming up fast. We have a lot of it, and so will you. Start preparing know for recipes and freezing. Tomatoes, potatoes, melons, beans, radishes, lettuce, spinach, kale, beets, and hopefully apples and grapes are also on the way. You may even see carrots because of the help of our wonderful neighbors. Oh yeah, and don’t forget PUMPKINS! Pumpkin can be frozen and used for all kinds of baking so get ready. The other big fall harvest crop is SWEET POTATOES! We had some problems with the company that supplied us with plants this spring so the sweet potatoes got planted pretty late this year. If we have a long fall we will have a huge harvest, but if our first frost and cold weather comes early we may have very little. Welcome to the world of farming.
Again, thank you for filling out your surveys. We are excited to make some changes for next year and hope you will all stick with us as we try to fine tune our box program. This was our first year and I look forward to the challenges of healthy, seasonal eating in the years to come.
NEWSLETTER RAFFLE WINNERS!
September is my favorite time of year. You get to say goodbye to summer and HELLO to fall. Beautiful colors and HALLOWEEN! Oh yeah and FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Thanks goes out to Martin Timmins (Papa) for donating 2 Bucky Badger carrying bags. I had the girls each pull a customers name from a hat today.
The winners are: Helen Meinholz and Karen Schmitt. Congrats Ladies. I will deliver your bags sometime next week.
CHICKENS AND EGGS!
Next week is the start of a new egg share quarter. If you would like to join, let me know. You can pick up your eggs at the farm or get them delivered. We like to have at least 3 members in one area to deliver to, but I make box deliveries on Mondays til the end of October so if you are on my route, I will drop off some eggs for you. The egg share program has been great. It helps a lot to know how many eggs we need each week and how many laying hens we need to plan for every year. Once the new hens start laying consistently we will offer the other hens as SOUP CHICKENS!
EGG SHARE PRICES: per Quarter/12 weeks
½ Share = 1 doz. Every other week = $18 (+ $2 delivery fee)
Full Share = 1 doz. Every week = $36 (+ $4 delivery fee)
1 ½ Share = 1 doz. one week, 2 doz. the next = $54 (+ $4 delivery fee)
2 Full Shares = 1 doz. Every week = $72 (+ $4 delivery fee)
Freshly Frozen Chickens available daily @ $2.50/lb. The next batch is getting close to 4 lbs, which is when we cut them into halves, quarters, and pieces. We add $1 to the total cost of the cut chicken to pay for processing and packaging. Place your orders today for your freshly cut and vacuum sealed chicken. The TURKEYS are looking fabulous. We only have a few that are unspoken for so place your order today. We have decided to charge $2.75/lb this year. I need all orders in by the middle of October for planning purposes. Thanks!
Thank You Everyone:
There are so many people I have been thinking about lately. Thank you to our customers. Whether you receive a box every week, purchase only what you need, or support us with education about our different crops, we are so thankful. This great community that is being formed is such a blessing. I say this daily, “the world is changing and we have to change with it, not fight it.” The prices in the grocery store keep rising and we keep paying, when in reality, for the small cost of seeds and lots of hard work, we can have free food right in our back yards. Plus with the continuing rise of cancer, it just seems simple to cut out those boxed foods we are accustomed to eating and put healthy fresh foods into our bodies. Remember our body is the temple our souls live in on this earth, lets take care of it.
A big thanks goes out to the business owners and customers at the Eagle Plaza (in Sauk). Seeing your smiling faces every Wednesday keeps me going. Salons for You is a great place to go for body maintenance along with energy rejuvenation. The ladies there are true “healers”. Ancient Healing is also the place to go when you need some good energy and healing. The wide range of professional healing and products is just what you need to help you on your “life’s path”.
Now that school is starting we are losing some of our best workers. My cousins have been working their butts off this summer in the fields. I think that really builds character when you choose to work for the health of others instead of spending the summer being a kid. My grandma (Nana) has also been a big help this year and we wouldn’t know what to do without her. We are truly making this a family business!
Since this is our first year with the box program we’ve found ourselves coming up short on produce a few times. Thank you to our neighboring farms, families and friends who have committed their gardens to organic practices to help us fill our orders. I’ve said it before, “I can’t change the world but I can change a community.”. This is only our 2nd year and it looks like the community is already changing for the good.
There’s lots of you out there to thank, so I just want you to know I think about you and thank you all deeply for your support and smiles.
YOUR GARDENS:
I would love to hear about your gardening experiences this year. I think it would be nice to have a “YOUR GARDEN” section in the newsletter each month to share with everyone. I know we have a lot to teach each other. Send me an e-mail anytime!
Well, we have a couple months left of the season and some days it takes a lot of energy to make it through the day, but it’s all worth it when I hear Lucy say, “I want to be a farmer like you mom when I grow up!” I am pretty sure I said the same thing to my dad when I was her age!
Please feel free to share this with your family, friends and neighbors. We hope you have a great September!
Jamie
LEARNING seems to be the big word this month. We are already looking back at the last few months of the growing season and making decisions about what we are planning to do next year. Like BEES! The apple trees were full of flowers this spring but because of the lack of pollination there are very little apples to harvest. Anyone with helpful knowledge of Bees please feel free to send me some info or stop by the farm to talk, my ears are listening.
One batch of baby pigs arrived a week ago. There are 8 of them. The 2nd mamma pig had her babies Tuesday. She had eight as well. We tried to be patient to witness the miracle of life, but it wasn‘t meant to be because every time we walked away she‘d have a couple. I was surprised at how long the girls would just stand quietly and watch. I think they were hypnotized by watching the baby pigs learn how to breath, walk and find their mommy for food. We learned that each piglet will find it’s food source and stay their for it’s baby life. Lucy thinks it’s cool that each piggy knows its own mommy. For such a messy animal, they sure are cute. If you do stop in at the farm, please keep your distance from the pigs though. THEY WILL BITE. Pigs can get very aggressive when pregnant or with little ones around. Just stay back and watch. If you are lucky, Leo might grab a baby pig to see up close. (Thanks grandpa!) The newest batch of spring laying hens are getting ready to start laying eggs too. We call their first eggs, pullet eggs. They are very small. With all the action going on at the farm, the girls are sure learning a lot about animal life.
Wow, it sure looks like we have a lot going on at the farm, including fall harvest. The next couple sections will be good to read if you want to stay updated on the produce part of the farm.
WPB Members:
We have about 7 weeks left of the box season. We recently sent out a survey to see how the box program is going. We want to thank all the members for filling out and returning their forms. We got lots of good feedback and are excited to see what we can change for next year. One of the biggest things the boxes are lacking is FRUIT. We are working on increasing our fruit productions, but this will take some time. Like mentioned above, I think our biggest challenge right now is pollination. This year we planted hundreds of raspberry and blueberries, along with blackberry plants and apple, peach, plum, cherry, and pear trees. Our hopes is to have so much fruit we won’t know what to do with it all, but until then we only have a small supply.
It was also interesting to read everyone’s comments about what veggies they liked and wanted more of, and what veggies they could do without. We wish we could know exactly what each member wants and only put that in your box, but figuring out how to cater to each individual is something we are still trying to figure out. Part of the box program is to learn to eat new things, and to eat seasonally. Like myself, if you’ve always bought whatever you wanted at the grocery store, eating only what is fresh for many weeks in a row can be overwhelming. I am finding a benefit to the boxes is to freeze some produce every week. You won’t be able to pull peppers out of the freezer to eat fresh but they will be great in soups, stews and casseroles this winter. I don’t know about you, but I get this AWESOMELY wonderful feeling knowing I have fresh, local, chemical free veggies in my freezer for my winter cooking!
What to expect for the rest of the season:
Squash harvest is coming up fast. We have a lot of it, and so will you. Start preparing know for recipes and freezing. Tomatoes, potatoes, melons, beans, radishes, lettuce, spinach, kale, beets, and hopefully apples and grapes are also on the way. You may even see carrots because of the help of our wonderful neighbors. Oh yeah, and don’t forget PUMPKINS! Pumpkin can be frozen and used for all kinds of baking so get ready. The other big fall harvest crop is SWEET POTATOES! We had some problems with the company that supplied us with plants this spring so the sweet potatoes got planted pretty late this year. If we have a long fall we will have a huge harvest, but if our first frost and cold weather comes early we may have very little. Welcome to the world of farming.
Again, thank you for filling out your surveys. We are excited to make some changes for next year and hope you will all stick with us as we try to fine tune our box program. This was our first year and I look forward to the challenges of healthy, seasonal eating in the years to come.
NEWSLETTER RAFFLE WINNERS!
September is my favorite time of year. You get to say goodbye to summer and HELLO to fall. Beautiful colors and HALLOWEEN! Oh yeah and FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Thanks goes out to Martin Timmins (Papa) for donating 2 Bucky Badger carrying bags. I had the girls each pull a customers name from a hat today.
The winners are: Helen Meinholz and Karen Schmitt. Congrats Ladies. I will deliver your bags sometime next week.
CHICKENS AND EGGS!
Next week is the start of a new egg share quarter. If you would like to join, let me know. You can pick up your eggs at the farm or get them delivered. We like to have at least 3 members in one area to deliver to, but I make box deliveries on Mondays til the end of October so if you are on my route, I will drop off some eggs for you. The egg share program has been great. It helps a lot to know how many eggs we need each week and how many laying hens we need to plan for every year. Once the new hens start laying consistently we will offer the other hens as SOUP CHICKENS!
EGG SHARE PRICES: per Quarter/12 weeks
½ Share = 1 doz. Every other week = $18 (+ $2 delivery fee)
Full Share = 1 doz. Every week = $36 (+ $4 delivery fee)
1 ½ Share = 1 doz. one week, 2 doz. the next = $54 (+ $4 delivery fee)
2 Full Shares = 1 doz. Every week = $72 (+ $4 delivery fee)
Freshly Frozen Chickens available daily @ $2.50/lb. The next batch is getting close to 4 lbs, which is when we cut them into halves, quarters, and pieces. We add $1 to the total cost of the cut chicken to pay for processing and packaging. Place your orders today for your freshly cut and vacuum sealed chicken. The TURKEYS are looking fabulous. We only have a few that are unspoken for so place your order today. We have decided to charge $2.75/lb this year. I need all orders in by the middle of October for planning purposes. Thanks!
Thank You Everyone:
There are so many people I have been thinking about lately. Thank you to our customers. Whether you receive a box every week, purchase only what you need, or support us with education about our different crops, we are so thankful. This great community that is being formed is such a blessing. I say this daily, “the world is changing and we have to change with it, not fight it.” The prices in the grocery store keep rising and we keep paying, when in reality, for the small cost of seeds and lots of hard work, we can have free food right in our back yards. Plus with the continuing rise of cancer, it just seems simple to cut out those boxed foods we are accustomed to eating and put healthy fresh foods into our bodies. Remember our body is the temple our souls live in on this earth, lets take care of it.
A big thanks goes out to the business owners and customers at the Eagle Plaza (in Sauk). Seeing your smiling faces every Wednesday keeps me going. Salons for You is a great place to go for body maintenance along with energy rejuvenation. The ladies there are true “healers”. Ancient Healing is also the place to go when you need some good energy and healing. The wide range of professional healing and products is just what you need to help you on your “life’s path”.
Now that school is starting we are losing some of our best workers. My cousins have been working their butts off this summer in the fields. I think that really builds character when you choose to work for the health of others instead of spending the summer being a kid. My grandma (Nana) has also been a big help this year and we wouldn’t know what to do without her. We are truly making this a family business!
Since this is our first year with the box program we’ve found ourselves coming up short on produce a few times. Thank you to our neighboring farms, families and friends who have committed their gardens to organic practices to help us fill our orders. I’ve said it before, “I can’t change the world but I can change a community.”. This is only our 2nd year and it looks like the community is already changing for the good.
There’s lots of you out there to thank, so I just want you to know I think about you and thank you all deeply for your support and smiles.
YOUR GARDENS:
I would love to hear about your gardening experiences this year. I think it would be nice to have a “YOUR GARDEN” section in the newsletter each month to share with everyone. I know we have a lot to teach each other. Send me an e-mail anytime!
Well, we have a couple months left of the season and some days it takes a lot of energy to make it through the day, but it’s all worth it when I hear Lucy say, “I want to be a farmer like you mom when I grow up!” I am pretty sure I said the same thing to my dad when I was her age!
Please feel free to share this with your family, friends and neighbors. We hope you have a great September!
Jamie