April 3, 2024 - SPRING Season Week 1
(First SPRING CSA of the YEAR!)
What's Inside This Week?
👉Video Update with Farmer Yosef
👉Upcoming schedule of events for April
👉Season Details
👉Special Offer for our Members!
👉Must-Read Announcements
👉This Week's Article #1: "Storing Fresh produce is Simple and and Important Aspect to Eating Fresh and local!"
👉This Week's Article #2: "Why Local Food Matters!"
👉Featured Gardening Tip of the Week: "Embrace the Power of Mulch"
👉The Amazing Tomato Plant Sale! - Through April.
👉Farmer's Market Update
👉Featured Vegetable: Mustard Greens - in-depth with multiple recipes!
👉Also: Don't miss our "Around the Farm" this week, our announcements, our weekly harvest list and more!
Welcome to the spring season for 2024! Come take a walk with Farmer Yosef and hear about the coming week! 0:01 - Intro 0:30 - It's the Spring Season! 2:15 - Welcome New Members! 3:30 - Newsletter Update. 4:50 - 1st Week of CSA - What to Expect. 6:10 - Events! Tour, Homeschool Day and more! 8:00 - Farmer's market update. 9:00 - Grow Your Own with Lorin! 9:30 - Playing around on the playground! 10:00 - Yosef falling on his butt!🤣 10:30 - Outro
Dear FARMILY!
Spring is here! Spring is here! We are so super excited about this season and we hope you are too! From the way things look, it appears that the farm is ready to give you all an abundance of amazing veggies this season – loads of greens like lettuce, kale, arugula, mustard and more, as well as lot’s of yummy root vegetables like our AAAMMMMAAAZZZING turnips, beets, radishes and of course, the yummiest carrots in the world! We will also have herbs, plants, microgreens, scallions and even more variety this coming spring and your tastebuds, your culinary creations and your nutrient diversity of your diet is going to be explosive! Can you tell I’m a little excited!? 😊
Your CSA's this week are abundant with everyone getting a TON of veggies (I think we will re-name our farm Mustard Farm! LOL! Because Ya'll are getting a bunch of it this week - but for most of us, that's a fantastic thing because it is certainly one of our most-favorited greens we grow and yummy in our tummy! - see the featured recipe and in-depth look at mustard this week, down below!)!
On another note, thank you all for taking the time to watch the preseason meeting this week (if you haven’t you can find it here - and it's also included below). Also, don’t forget to take the time to look over the season details (found here). It’s a great idea to print out the season details for fast reference (although it is a lot of paper, unless you shrink it down by 50% in your printer settings), and if you don’t want to print it out, that’s ok – save the link and find it on our blog as it will stay up there and you can reference it any time.
This week we are kicking off our season with a bang over at the farm! We have an awesome Homeschool day, farmer’s market, tour, activities (including free zipline rides!) and more happening – so come on out for that, it’s going to be a blast! If you haven’t seen the farm yet, now is the time to do it!
Alright, that’s all I have for now. Please enjoy the newsletter this week! We have some new articles and even an extra article this week (a re-run of how to store your produce – important for our new members!), we also have tons of pictures, some really important schedule updates and a whole lot more. Please share it with your friends and family and be sure to send us your feedback!
Love you all, our beautiful FaRmily!!!
Farmer Yosef and Family!
WE L❤️VE OUR COMMUNITY!
DID YOU MISS THE SPRING PRESEASON MEETING? CHECK IT OUT NOW, BELOW!
🚨🚨ATTENTION COMMUNITY! PLEASE READ!🚨🚨
Dear Ahavah Community,
Since 2018 we have donated over 7,500 bags of freshly harvested vegetables to local families in need. This Winter season alone there are over 50 families who will have received over 400 bags of these vegetables, and this Spring we just approved 69 more families for an additional 690 bags!! That’s right, nearly 30% of our members are families who receive free memberships of these weekly vegetables! These are families that have been suffering with severe illness, are poverty stricken through various means and are struggling to feed their families healthy foods.
As you stand in line for your CSA, or rub elbows with those at our stand, you should know that one of every three of those very individuals are receiving a donated share. These are people with real needs and real struggles, families whom we all love and cherish and people we absolutely must continue to support.
With that said, the Spring season is upon us and our funds are running very low. With over 80 applications at the time of this writing, we are absolutely petrified that we won’t have the opportunity to support them all, and we don’t know how to say no to so many dire individuals and families, nor should we have to – but we can’t do it without you!
Although the Bring-A-Buck campaign has helped tremendously this year and so many have continued to support your neighbors and friends in our community in other ways, we are pleading with you to help us support these families who need fresh, healing vegetables with your additional donations this coming season.
If you have any ability to help, we are simply begging all of our community to pull together and donate. If every one of our members donated $25.00, this would supply all the funds required to support these members for the Spring season.
Please, from the bottom of our hearts to yours, PLEASE HELP support your community by considering an additional donation of $25.00 to help support a local family in need!
100% of every penny donated to this campaign will go STRAIGHT and only to these local community families. Please consider a donation today!
👩🌾Around the Farm This Week👩🌾
👈Here is your cute picture of the week🥰! Oh my, my precious little one, Nedira, found some turnips! She knows what to go for - they are EVERYONE's absolute favorite! The kids go after these more than they do tomatoes in the summer, they are THAT good!🥰
👇It's ladybug time! We installed the first traunche of ladybugs into the greenhouses this week! Who needs chemicals when you have these beauties to attack those aphids!?
👇Of course, all the littles got into the ladybug action! It's definitely one of the most beloved activities we do every year! Those ladybugs are so much fun! Here is Imma (mommy) helping out Nedira! (they tickle you when they crawl on your arms!)🤗
👆Josh has been with our family as a manager for 8 years now! Here he is with one of our most-amazing members and FaRmily members, Kathleen, enjoying the CSA pickup at the indoor market! Hi Kathleen, we love you👋💓!!
👈Robynne's Creations at the market this week. She is one of our most-favorite vendors and we are so happy to have her as a member of our FaRmily!
👉We planted the onions this week! it was such an awesome time! Everyone get's involved, from the little's (here) to some of our most beloved volunteers, whom we absolutely love!
👈If there is one thing that makes this place so special, it's all the little ones running around, working with us and about us! Gosh, so much cuteness happens here every single day!🥰
👉Hi Yisrael! Working hard, I see! Keep up the amazing work! It's because of YOU that the onion planting went as well as it did! So proud of you, my son!💓
👇Here's always a fun video to share. This is how we do a large percentage of our transplants. Normally it doesnt take two people to do this, but the onions went a little long and their roots stuck together causing them to bind. Therefore Aiden had the not-so-fun job of having to separate them as Yisrael pulled the tractor. Still pretty cool though, eh!?
Spring and Summer Share REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!
💥💥With a Special Offer For Summer Members (SEE BELOW👇👇!!)💥💥
...and don't miss out on our REFER A FRIEND program to earn $25.00 for both YOU & a FRIEND!
If you are looking for the freshest, purest and most nutrient-dense vegetables you can this Summer, then you don't want to miss the Ahavah Farm CSA Veggie-Share! 16 weeks of the best veggies you can find. It's going to be an AWESOME year!
Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/csa to register for our Spring & Summer season Community Supported Agriculture Veggie-Shares and get weekly bags of the freshest, most nutrient-dense vegetables available!!
✔The highest quality, 100% local, produce you can find, harvested and delivered fresh every week! ✔Pure, chemical-free, regeneratively grown produce. ✔Flexible payment options. ✔Many discounts are available - see website! ✔4 Locations for CSA pickup (Peyton, COS, DEN and Monument. ✔Door to Door delivery options available! ✔Got SNAP!? Get 50% off your CSA share automatically! ✔Every share supports families in need through donations. ✔Flexible CSA options, holds, credits and more! ✔Classes, events, tours and community opportunities.
⭐100% of everything we sell is grown and harvested and delivered by Ahavah Farm and Ahavah Farm ONLY - All produce is grown 100% on our farm in Peyton Colorado, near Colorado Springs without a single chemical, in rich, composted soil. We use biodynamic principles to grow the purest, most nutrient-dense vegetables available and deliver them to you fresh, every week!
REFERAL PROGRAM!
Refer a friend to Ahavah Farm's CSA and you BOTH will receive $25 in credit to use ANYTIME you want! Use to buy extra vegetables, or take $25 off your next CSA purchase - your credit will never expire!
New members simply send an e-mail to contact@ahavahfarm.com to let us know who referred you and you BOTH receive your $25 certificate! It's that easy!😁
Weekly Farmer's Market Update
Ahavah Community Indoor / Outdoor Farmer's Market
Every Friday from 10am to 1pm!
Last week's market was a blast! Lot's of vendors and ton's of people! The vendors are starting to pick up and so is the foot traffic as the weather starts to warmup and we head into Spring.
Those looking for incredible veggies are noticing an uptick
in varieties as well. As we move into the Spring season there will be more and more veggies available for sale and this week we are kicking it off with an AMAZING BUY-ONE-GET one sale on the best tasting, most beautiful mustard
greens you have ever had! Saute' them down for an amazing dish (something our family has been absolutely hammering at almost every meal lately! So delicious!).
The weather still seems to be on the windy-side lately which is causing us to be still indoors, which our vendors love, but once that sun starts to really shine and the Spring wind starts to calm down, rest assured the outdoor activity will start to pick up.
🥕🥬🌱Vegetables at the Farmer's Market this week
(April 5th)
(For CSA location "extras", please see below in the "Extra Vegetables section)
✅Spinach
✅Red Russian Kale
✅Radishes
✅Turnips
✅Carrots
✅Head Lettuce
✅Arugula
✅Mustard -BUY ONE GET ONE SALE!!!
✅Dried Herbs
✅Living Plants (basil, cilantro, mint, succulents and MANY more)
✅Pea Shoots
✅Sunflower Shoots
✅Radish Microgreens
✅Broccoli Microgreens
✅Barley Grass
📢FEATURED VENDOR OF THE WEEK!📢
🌱🪴🌵🌿 Ahavah Farm Nursery 🌱🪴🌵🌿
🪴Plants Plants, Lot's Of Plants!🪴
The springtime is almost upon us and the Ahavah Farm nursery is loaded with plants ready for you to place in your gardens! Whether you are a gardener or not, Ahavah Farm Nursery has you covered with house plants, water-less plants, pollinator plants, aloe plants, flowers and garden plants of all kinds!
Almost exclusively heirloom varieties, all of our plants are organically grown without chemicals or pesticides, in 100% certified organic soil. Never sprayed, always loved and right for our location, our plants are all started from seed and never imported
or brought in from an unknown grower.
We have hundreds of plants available with over a hundred different varieties to choose from.
Available all year at all of the Ahavah Community Farmer’s Market and at all of the regular CSA locations in Denver, Monument and Colorado Springs!
🍅🍅🍅TOMATO PLANT SALE!!! - Buy 3, get one free! Through the Month of April!🍅🍅🍅
ATTENTION LOCAL ARTISANS!
We are so excited about our current line-up of vendors, but we are still seeking more!
✅FREE MARKET for all vendors!
✅100% of raised funds goes to feeding LOCAL FAMILIES IN NEED!
✅PERMANENT tents! No need to bring a tent - just come and set up under ours!
✅Indoors and heated on COLD days!
✅GUARANTEED traffic of 200 people + per market!
✅FRIDAY's from 10am to 1pm
👉If you are a local vendor and are interested in attending our farmer's market, please reach out directly at manager@ahavahfarm.com and we will send you information and the vendor agreement.
An Important Article for all New Members!
"Storing Fresh produce is Simple and and Important Aspect to Eating Fresh and local!"
- By Yosef Camire
In the past I wrote an article titled, "Here's One Vital, and Unrecognized Reason Why Local is Always Better," (click here to read that article) I spoke about the degradation of the nutrients of harvested and stored produce over the course of just a few days and weeks. For instance, I referenced that green beans and other vegetables can lose up to 70% of their nutrients over the course of 1 week in a refrigerator! These statistics are not only shocking, but they speak to the level of malnutrition in our world and how spread out and inefficient our food system really is.
It's unfortunate that most people do not realize that by having a garden and eating un-washed, un-sanitized vegetables, one can get almost their entire DV of vitamin B12 - not to mention the grounding benefits, the mental wellness benefits and of course the beneficial-bacteria! This, on top of eating fresh, nutrient-rich food that hasn't been stored is one of the the best things you can do for your diet and perhaps one of the greatest things you can do for your health overall. Supporting a local farmer whom you trust is second-best (but particularly beneficial if you get your hands dirty on the farm - wink, wink, nudge, nudge 😄). For those of you planning a garden this year, we'll have the plants and the help and instruction you need, for the rest of you, read on to learn how to best store your crops in order to keep the plants alive and nutrient-dense for as long as possible.
Our CSA and market produce is always harvested ripe and delivered the same week. It is as
fresh as you can get, but it is much more fragile than store bought produce (even Organic) for multiple reasons:
The produce is harvested and delivered fresh. Within 3 to 4 days of your receiving it and eating it, it was harvested from the ground. Compare this to tomatoes harvested green and gassed on trucks to ripen them. This causes tomatoes and other vegetables to last for many days longer than produce harvested fresh and ripe.
We do not use chemicals, coatings, unnatural preservation methods or harmful packaging to prevent rot and increase storage and transport.
We do not use irradiation - a means of killing "bad" bacteria to increase storage life.
The majority of our produce is heirloom, meaning it has more nutrition and flavor, but the storage is much shorter since the over-whelming majority of crops grown in the US are bred for storage and transport - not flavor or health.
Now, with all of that said, since the produce is harvested so close to delivery, if the right steps to preserving and storing your produce are taken, your produce can last for a (kind of freakishly) long time! The key is what you do with it when you get home. For our family and many of our members, we will have lettuce and microgreens that lasts for many weeks and the root crops should last for months. In short, there is no reason for your produce to go bad before it's eaten. So copy us and your produce will last just as long and hopefully you will be able to capture and keep as many of those vital nutrients as possible!
First, the following are the main culprits of rotten produce (so our goal will be to combat these):
Rot due to too much moisture.
Rot due to too little moisture.
Temperature.
Age (we already captured this one with our fresh produce!).
Follow these "stupid-easy" instructions to store your veggies:
1. Do not wash your produce when you get home. Wash the produce when you need it. Actually, the truth is that much of the produce doesn't need to be washed at all. First of all, we use absolutely no chemicals. Second of all, they are already pre-rinsed and dried to the right moisture percentage. Unless you are concerned about Kashrut (Kosher preparation), washing of most of the produce is not purposeful (in fact, the more you wash it the more of the good biology and bacteria will all be gone - think vitamin B12 and pro-biotics).
2. As soon as you receive your produce, remove your veggies from the paper bags (and green bags), if they are wet, dry them with a paper-towel (rarely), and place your veggies in an airtight container (like a plastic bag or Tupperware) and immediately place in the fridge (33 to 40 degrees is best). A little air is not bad, it helps the produce breathe. Therefore, a plastic bag with holes or a container with holes or a vented lid is best - or occasionally burping or changing out the container will work great for extended storage also.
3. A lot of people like to wash the veggies immediately and store them in the refrigerator wet or with a paper-towel. Where this came from, I have no idea - but stop it 😊! It's nearly impossible to have good success with this method because not only are you intentionally removing the bacteria (both good and bad) it's simply too difficult to get the moisture level correct and it rarely succeeds. Remember, too much or too little moisture and your veggies will rot, and too much moisture is always worse than too little moisture. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS METHOD.
So that's it! Storing fresh veggies is a breeze and it shouldn't be something we make too complicated. Store them dry, in a sealed container in a cold 33 to 40 degree refrigerator and you should be golden! Our lettuce will last us over a month at times and many of our members report the same success. However, occasionally we do get accused of delivering "old" produce because someone either leaves their roots on an open shelf and allows them to dehydrate or they store something away wet or otherwise improperly. How to tell them they are wrong and improperly stored their produce? It's not an easy task, but hopefully this article may help at least a few 😉.
Ahavah Community Upcoming Schedule
UPCOMING EVENTS
👉April 5th @ 10am: It's our first HOMESCHOOL DAY of 2024. Bring the kids for this fun event. We will have an activity, a farm tour, and more. Plus, our FAMILY FRIENDLY! Ahavah Community INDOOR Spring Market
👉April 5th @ 10am: FAMILY FRIENDLY! Ahavah Community INDOOR / OUTDOOR Spring Market
👉April 12th @ 10am: ADULT EDUCATION! How to Grow Your Own. Part 2 of 4. w/ Lorin Mattemore. Email Beth at contact@ahavahfarm.com
👉April 19th @ 10am: FAMILY FRIENDLY! Ahavah Community INDOOR / OUTDOOR Spring Market
👉April 22nd - April 26th: Week of Passover - EXPECT changes to the CSA pickup schedule.
👉April 29TH - MAY 3RD: 2ND Week of Passover - EXPECT changes to the CSA pickup schedule.
Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/classes to learn more, to register and to see the rest of our schedule of events and classes!
🥕EXTRA VEGGIES and PLANTS FOR SALE🌻
Can't make it to the Farm for the Friday Farmer's Market? THAT'S OK! Please be sure to check out the extras table at all of our CSA pickup locations: available for all members and even NON-MEMBERS!
Simply come to any of the CSA locations on Thursday and Friday and pick up some of our beyond-organic veggies for sale!
(IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that selection is limited and the more requests and participation we receive, the more vegetables and varieties we will provide)
Food bearing plants also qualify for SNAP !!!
For Payment: Cash or Check at the drops or the balance can be sent via PayPal to contact@ahavahfarm.com or via Venmo to 719-233-7828
Availability for "EXTRA's at the CSA pickup locations this week (Week 8):
(see Farmer's Market Section, above, for market selection this week)
Please take the time to read the article above regarding our availabilty
✅Salad Mix
✅Carrots
✅Mustard Greens
✅Dried Herbs
✅Red Russian Kale
✅Turnips
✅Living Plants (basil, cilantro, mint, succulents and more)
✅Pea Shoots
✅Sunflower Shoots
✅Radish Microgreens
✅Broccoli Microgreens
✅Barley Grass
Microgreen CSA Shares Are Available! Sign Up Today and SAVE 💲💲💲!
Microgreen CSA Share: 3 Servings of Microgreens EVERY WEEK! Save 17%!!!
Love our microgreens but haven't signed up for a Microgreen CSA?
All Packaging is Compostable and Green!👉
We pride ourselves on our microgreen quality as being not only absolutely pure - grown without chemicals, fertilizers or inefficient energy (we grow with 100% solar, renewable energy!), but they are absolutely beautiful, long-lasting and delicious! We really can't rave enough!
WHAT'S IN A SHARE? In your Microgreen CSA you will receive a combination of 3 microgreens every week with the option to purchase add-ons and extras when available.
Pickup locations and times are the same as Ahavah Farm Veggie Share CSA but you do not have to be a veggie-share member to be a microgreen CSA member - these are two independent programs combined into one.
Order yours today at https://www.ahavahfarm.com/microgreen-csa
🚨Updated Member Benefits🚨
🚨Easy & Flexible Payment Plans!🚨
🥕Paypal "Pay Later" options on the website! These are no-credit check, interest-free online payment plans so you can make 4 smaller payments directly through Paypal. Ahavah Farm benefits as well by paid immediately, thereby providing the farm liquidity, while giving our members flexibility and ease of mind!
🥕We also still have FLEXIBLE and CUSTOMIZABLE offline pay plans in place if you would prefer to make payments via check. Please email us at contact@ahavahfarm.com if you would like more information on offline payment plan and to set up your payment schedule.
🚨Got SNAP? Save 50% Off Automatically!🚨
‼️🛑STOP - Please do not miss this section🛑‼️
⚠️ATTENTION MEMBERS! Please share this information with your friends and family members! ⚠️
People on SNAP NEED this information! Ahavah Farm offers 50% off all of our memberships, vegetables and market items! This is the healthiest, MOST nutrient-dense, MOST regeneratively grown produce for less than non-organic Walmart prices. EVERYONE who is on SNAP should know about this!! - PLEASE HELP GET THE WORD OUT🙏!
🥕If you receive EBT (aka SNAP) you will receive 50% off of your membership automatically!
In addition, all extra veggies sold at the market or the CSA locations and also all nursery plant starts are also 50% off when paying with SNAP!
Follow these steps to purchase your SNAP membership 👉
Signing up for a CSA share using SNAP is as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!
1.
Go to ahavahfarm.com/csa and select the size share you want.
2.
When checking out and select "CASH PAYMENT"
3.
Send us an e-mail and let us know you will be paying with SNAP. We will automatically discount your share 50% and set you up on a bi-weekly payment plan to pay with your SNAP card!
Please spread the word and let us know if you have any questions!
"Why Local Food Matters" - By James Colquhoun
Eating locally grown foods has many benefits for us as the consumer, the grower and also the community! Here are some reasons why we love putting our dollars into the local community:
Locally grown food is full of flavor. When growing locally, crops are picked at their peak times versus being harvested early in order to be shipped off.
Eating local food is also eating seasonally. This means the fruit and vegetables will be full of flavor and taste better!
Local food has more nutrients. Local produce has a shorter time between harvest and your table, therefore, less likely that the nutrient value has decreased.
Local food supports the local economy. Money spent locally will stay close to the farmers and be reinvested into more local produce.
Local food helps the environment. Purchasing local helps to maintain the farms and green space within your local community.
You will know more about the food you are consuming. You get the chance to chat with your local farmers and learn how they are growing the foods you are eating.
We love hearing when those in our community are on the same page as us, just like Tiffany Davey. Tiffany shared her story with us, and now we are sharing it with you:
Being a foodie, I firmly believe that the best ingredients come from local sources. The veg stays fresh longer, the fruits are as sweet as summer, the herbs smells are intoxicating, the eggs are golden yellow, the meats taste earthy and we can’t forget about the relationships we forge. When you have the opportunity to obtain fresh food you have the opportunity to know your farmer. You can ask them loads of questions and really get the dirt on the food you’re eating. Our farmers hold the keys to so much valuable information.
I often ask questions on how to cook an ingredient or sometimes when my own kitchen garden is having a rough go of things, I ask them what I can do to fix it. I’m always answered with honesty and heart. Living in Canada it isn’t always easy to keep it local. We have a very short growing season and lovely fruit and veg quickly turns into apples and squash. Don’t get me wrong I love root veg, however, there is only so much squash and apples one person can eat! When the farmers markets open up here in my city I jump at every opportunity to go. Planning each meal around ingredients, I know I can get there. When I’m in a new city or on a holiday you can bet that I will find a market (or three, on every day!).
Each farmer has something different with a different story to tell. These are moments you don’t want to miss. Honey taste different based on local flowers, dairy products have a different flavor from what grasses each cow is eating. The chickens are eating different bugs, and the weather is different which effects growing rates and production times. It truly is amazing to taste the difference from province to province, from city to city, and from country to country. Our farmers need our support and by buying local you are doing just that. So many big companies are chewing up our local farmers and spitting them out. I think we are hitting a point in time where people are starting to see the benefit of buying local and more and more farmers are gaining the backing and support they need. Without us buying at farmer’s markets or direct from the farm we will for certain loose them.
We have such an amazing world with people who truly put blood sweat and tears into the food we eat. I can’t imagine living in a province or city and not digging into where the local food is. I often wished I lived in a larger place so my window for local fare was bigger, but I do what I can and support where I can. As our summer comes to a close and my kitchen garden dies off, as I watch the bumbles making a last ditch effort for nectar and as I watch my local farmers market putting up the last of season signs, I’m reminded why I buy and support local.
Because nothing is as good, as local food tastes.
Founded in April of 2018, our mission is to connect people who are facing food insecurity due to financial struggles to locally-farmed, regeneratively-grown produce, and to provide education centered around healthy living and environmental consciousness. We do this by offering donated memberships to a local CSA program. Memberships include a weekly bag of produce along with discounted (often free) farm tours, classes, and events.
We want to help participate in the creation of a local food-system-economy, build on a diversity of local and regenerative food education and provide activities and children's events centered around environmentally responsible agriculture and pure, beyond-organic, local food.
"HI! Did you BRING-A-BUCK Today?!"
Oh the amazing power of community and crowdfunding!
Every week, at all of the CSA locations, we have a bin or jar that looks similar to this. As being a part of Ahavah Farm is also about being a part of a community, we ask all of our members to bring at least one dollar with them every week to help us provide a CSA membership to a family in need next season.
Don't say your dollar isn't important! The only way crowdfunding works is if we all participate. Your $1-$5 is vitally important and it is directly through this program that we raise the majority of ACI's food donation funds than any other fundraising program, and yet it is the absolute easiest for all of our members to participate!
During the Fall season, your Bring-A-Buck dollars will allow us to donate Fall CSA shares to families facing food insecurity and to offer subsidized shares to struggling families as well.
PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR BUCKS!🙏
"Embrace the Power of Mulch"
by Yosef Camire
Mulch isn't just about aesthetics - it's an absolute powerhouse for your garden's health. This week, I want to talk to you about mulch and it's benefits to your soil, for water retention, to help control weeds and more!
1. Moisture Retention: Mulch acts as a protective barrier, reducing evaporation from the soil and helping to retain moisture. This is especially beneficial during hot summer months when water is scarce, and here in Colorado we all know how fast that soil dries out! When you use mulch it is like a miracle how much it keeps the soil wet. If you haven't used mulch in your garden before, do-so, it will rock your world!
2. Weed Suppression: By smothering weed seeds and blocking out sunlight, mulch can significantly reduce the weed pressure in your garden beds. This means less time spent weeding and more time enjoying your garden - and of course, that means that your vegetables will thrive without the competition.
3. Soil Health: For me, this is the most important reason to use mulch. As mulch breaks down, it enriches the soil with essential nutrients, improving its structure and fertility. Organic mulches like shredded leaves, straw, or compost also encourage beneficial microbial activity, creating a thriving ecosystem beneath the surface, which in turn helps to feed your plants nutrients continually throughout the year.
4. Temperature Regulation: Mulch acts as a natural insulator, helping to regulate soil temperature. In cold climates, it provides a buffer against freezing temperatures, while in warmer regions, it keeps the soil cool and prevents overheating. This is a fantastic thing, however, if you want the soil to warm up sooner in the early spring, it is one negative that we have found which may hinder you. Keep this in mind!
5. Erosion Control: By reducing runoff and soil erosion, mulch helps to protect the integrity of your garden beds, preventing valuable topsoil from being washed away during heavy rains. Our first year farming here was the wettest year in our local area's history and we were one of the only farms that had a crop because everyone else was washed away, while our plants were sitting happy.
6. Natural Pest Control: Some types of mulch, such as cedar or cypress, contain natural oils and compounds that repel insects and pests, keeping your garden plants safe and healthy. However, even pine mulch and oak and other kinds of mulch will do such wonders for your plants and soil that naturally their health will be that much better and they will be so much stronger in order to naturally repel insects as it is. So, go for the mulch, it will absolutely, unequivocally be one of the most important things you can do to enhance your garden!
To make the most of mulch in your garden, aim for a thickness of 2-4 inches, ensuring adequate coverage without suffocating your plants. And remember, not all mulches are created equal – opt for organic, biodegradable options whenever possible to promote sustainability and environmental stewardship.
By harnessing the power of mulch, you can create a thriving, resilient garden that's not only beautiful to behold but also teeming with life beneath the surface. Happy gardening!
VOLUNTEERING
Our volunteers are the backbone of our organization and we couldn't do it without you...but we need more help!
We need help with so many things:
Construction Projects
Landscaping Projects
Composting Projects
Harvesting, washing and prep.
Weeding
Bag Packing
Teaching Classes
General farm cleanup
and more...got a skill you want to share? Let us know!
Volunteering is Monday through Friday 9AM to 4PM.
Please let Jessie know you are interested, she will send more information and necessary paperwork, and we will welcome you with open arms!
What's in your bags this week?
SPRING Week 1 - April 4th and 5th
Market-Style Members Selection - Week 1
Mustard, Radishes, Arugula, Dried Herbs, Red Russian Kale, Living Herbs, Turnips, Lettuce, Sunflower Shoots, Pea Shoots, Broccoli Microgreens, Radish Microgreens, Barley Grass
This Week's Harvest
As always, nothing is guaranteed. These are the items that are "in season" and are anticipated to be ready this week (which may or may not be available at the CSA).
Small = 4-6 items per week ($23.50/wk)
Medium = 7-9 items per week ($33.50/wk)
Large = 10-12 items per week ($43.50/wk)
Spinach - Truly, and without exaggeration, this spinach is the sweetest spinach you have ever tasted in your life! The best way to enjoy this spinach is raw, but if you are so inclined, it is fantastic simply cooked down, sautéed or to use in a soup.
Mustard greens- Add these leafy greens to your diet by mixing mustard greens into a chopped salad or cook it like most leafy greens. The greens are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin K, B1, B2, B6, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E! this is one of our absolute FAVORITE greens to saute' 😋 and when we do we simply add some salt and garlic and enjoy.
Arugula - Love it or hate it, it's the best arugula you've ever had. With a slight peppery taste, it is fantastic raw, but it is even better when cooked down, added to a fritatta or included amongst an array of veggies in a raw salad. We LOVE the arugula!
Radishes- Radishes are most often served raw, halved and sprinkled with salt, shaved into salads, layered over butter-smeared baguettes, or shredded into slaws. They also can be marinated with olive oil and lemon and mint for a refreshing salad, and they can be pickled with a classic vinegar-sugar-salt mix. PS. if you have never tried roasted radishes - you are missing out on a delicious treat! It's our favorite way to eat them (with a drizzle of honey, of course!😊)!
Head Lettuce - Not much to say about lettuce, except that it is wonderful and fresh and delightful and all that stuff! We love it. It's light and fluffy and delicious!
Sweet Turnips - By far, these are the most beloved vegetable we grow - I know, I know, it's a turnip...but is it really🤔!? No way is this a normal turnip! I'm telling you, if you have eaten them than you know, but if you haven't you will find out! Taste this amazingness raw - then, if you don't eat them all by the time you get home, then roasting them is our favorite way to eat them. We love to roast these turnips with garlic, or honey, or salt and pepper..but the truth? Raw...I'm telling you, the sweetness of these turnips is to die for! Our kids call them "Ground Ice Cream!"
Carrots- The best carrots around! You will be amazed by how much flavor our carrots pack. Many of our members have commented that they cannot go back to store-bought after tasting our pure, beyond organic carrots!
Red Russian Kale- Red russian kale is normally a baby green, but this week we have beautiful bunches for you. Awesome for a salad raw, or better yet saute'd with some oil and salt to season (add garlic for an amazing yuminess).
Dried Herbs - We have a mixture of dried herbs for you this week. We have dill, basil, mint and fennel.
Barley Wheat Grass - Many of our members absolutely love our barley grass and use it religiously. We hope you take the time to learn and enjoy this most amazingly nutritious green! More nutritious than wheat grass and less bitter, barley grass is used mostly for juicing. However, I, Yosef (and many of our team members) love to use ian energy and nutrition
Radish Microgreens - Next to the barley grass and the sunshoots, radish microgreens are some of the most nutritiously-dense items we grow on the farm and not only that, but during our annual survey last year, they ranked as the #1 most requested and love item we grow! They have a fantastic bite to them, last considerably long in the refrigerator and are beautiful in appearance.
Pea Shoots - One of the most desired and sought after items we provide are these pea shoots! Quite literally the best you added to any dish or salad. Our favorite way is to add them to stews and soups. A perfect topper too! Here are four fun ways to use Pea Shoots: http://blog.bostonorganics.com/4-fun-ways-to-use-pea-shootst as
Broccoli Microgreens - Last week we told you that Radish Microgreens were the #1 most loved item we grow, well, these microgreens weren't on the list then! I have a sneaking suspicion that these microgreens are the real winners!
Sunshoots - Our sunshoots are certainly some of the nicest, most high-quality sunshoots you will ever find (that actually goes for all our microgreens). They are one of the most beloved items we grow as well and a regular staple to our CSA. Here are some ideas to use your sunnies this week: https://www.martinsgardenacf.com/sunflower-shoots-recipes
Living Herbs - We have an abundance of beautiful living herbs for you. Choose from cilantro, oregano, parsley and more. Each plant counts as one serving.
Veggie of the week!
Let's talk MUSTARD GREENS! As we are all aware, mustard was one of the biggest crops that we grew and harvested this past winter and it will continue to be a shining start in our array of varieties as Spring continues on, and we will continue to have them in a lesser capacity as the rest of the year continues. For many of us (and especially those in the south) these delectable greens are one of our absolute favorite things to eat (in fact, my family just ate some for lunch - and it seems we have been sustaining off of them for a few of the past weeks lately!). However, to our surprise there are still some of our amazing members who can challenged by the mustard greens and don't know exactly what to do with them.
For us, there is one answer: SAUTE ! We love to sauté our mustard greens, as well as pretty much all of our greens and we add them to nearly every dish we eat! To do so is so simple and easy - put them in a pot, wilt them down to your desired level and eat 'em! It's literally one of the easiest things we eat, one of the most nutritious and also one of the tastiest! Sometimes when we want to kick it up a notch, we add garlic, or salt and pepper, or even a tiny bit of oil and sprinkle seaweed on them. You can add lemon, or you can make them spicy and add hot peppers. Want to make them even more extravagant? Add some cashews or almost slices to the mix - I'm tell you, there is no way to get these amazing greens wrong! In truth - this works with all our varieties of greens too - like swiss chard, kale, the arugula etc!
So, with all that said, even though getting creative might just be the best way to go with the greens, perhaps a recipe or two will do the trick. We have had various mustard recipes in the past, but I figured I would do some of the heavy lifting for you and include a link that was exhaustive in ways to use the mustard. Follow the links below to do a deep dive into how to use these amazing mustard greens! Happy Eating!
⚠ ⚠ ⚠ BAGS! We need your bags (PLEASE🙏) !!⚠ ⚠ ⚠
Thank you everyone for recycling your LARGE bags with us! When we receive your bags we immediately quarantine them for 2 weeks before reusing them to ensure they are safe of any yuckies. Thank you for bringing them and any others you may have (we need any large PAPER-ONLY grocery bags you may have) THANK YOU!