April 10, 2024 - SPRING Season Week 2
What's Inside This Week?
👉Video Update and walk around with Farmer Yosef
👉*NEW FEATURE* - Monthly Giveaway!
👉*NEW FEATURE* - CSA Tip of the Week
👉Upcoming schedule of events for April
👉*NEW FEATURE* - Event Day Recap
👉Special Offer for our Summer Members!
👉Must-Read Announcements
👉This Week's Article "No Tractors, No Way!"
👉Featured Gardening Tip of the Week: "How To Naturally Encourage Beneficial Insects in Your Garden."
👉Featured Vendor of the Week: "Rohi Ranch Goat Milk Soap"
👉Farmer's Market Update
👉Featured Vegetable: Ground Icecream - AKA Japanese Sweet Turnips
👉Also: Don't miss our "Around the Farm" this week, our announcements, our weekly harvest list and more!
There's always so much to talk about on our weekly walk arounds and some very important updates for members! 0:01 - Intro 1:10 - Homeschool Day recap and more. 4:00 - CSA recap and looking forward. 7:20 - Weather update. 9:05 - IMPORTANT announcement for members! 12:00 - Tomato plant sale. 13:20 - Summer will be here quick - sign up today! 14:20 - Love ya'll!
Dear FARMILY!
Shalom! to our beautiful friends and family and thank you so much for taking the time to read our newsletter this week! I, as always, hope that you are doing wonderfully and are having a good spring so far.
For our members this week, I hope you have been enjoying the first week of Spring season and are looking forward to more yummy veggies! The first week of CSA started out beautifully and the value was almost ridiculous, it was so high! If there is one way we like to start out a season, it's like that🤩! This week will surely not disappoint as we have yet another beautiful bounty of veggies ready for you (though a tad smaller)! The highlights in this week's share will be lettuce, turnips (aka, "the Ice Cream of the Ground"😋), arugula, spinach and pea shoots. Of course we will also have some more items in this week's share too - and you can see the rest down below in this newsletter under the section "What's In Your Bag This Week?." It's going to be another great week!
Though I must say, this weather stinks! The weather has been horrific this Spring with temperatures, almost every single night, into the teens and last week we even were still in the single digits! The cold is really slowing the growth of the crops and putting a wrinkle in our plans😤! That's ok though because we will just have to work that much harder to iron them out and fear not, because once that sun decides to warm things up around here we will be off to the races and won't look back! With that said, the harvest may (or may not) be a little on the smaller side if these temps continue!
A lot of stuff is starting to happen on the farm, as last week was our first homeschool day (which was AWESOME!!) and this week is the second of Lorin's four-part gardening class, then we have a girl scout troop coming out the next week and then Passover (with schedule changes - see below)😅 - it's gonna be a busy month! Keep an eye out for our announcements.
Also, in this week's newsletter I am introducing two new section's: "CSA Tip of the Week" and "Monthly Giveaway." Take a look below to see those new sections and don't forget to read our articles this week, our new gardening tip of the week and of course this week's harvest, announcements and everyone's favorite "Around the Farm" section! Please share this newsletter with your friends and family - it would mean the world to me! Thank you so much and have an absolutely blessed week!
We love you all, our beautiful FaRmily!!!
Farmer Yosef and Family!
WE L❤️VE OUR COMMUNITY!
🚨🚨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👩🌾
👈My little farmers🥰! They planted a beautiful bed of fresh mint this week in one of our raised beds. We don't have many raised beds on the farm, but the ones we do are usually used for perennial plants that come back every year and plants that tend to spread and we want to limit their domination - like mint.🌿
👉This week we had the honor of hosting the Pikes peak Public Library for our special Storytime activity. Alison is such an awesome person and she is so fantastic with the kids! Thank you so much for coming out, we LOVE having you here!
👈This week we had TONS of kids out at the farm for our Homeschool Day! It was such an awesome blast to have all these wonderful kiddos come out (see more about this event with more pics below!)
👉Whenever I (Yosef) do my rounds on the farm I am usually trailed by at least one little one, but lately it's been these two cute-things! Here they are running their fingers in the dirt to check the shoulders of the carrots to see if they are ready. Great helpers and even better company!🥰
👈Just check out the microgreens this week! WOWZERS! Did you know that 1oz of broccoli microgreens is equivalent to 3lbs of broccoli!? They are not only the tastiest thing we grow, they are also the highest in nutrition...and value!
👉Havah took the little ones out to inspect the bees yesterday. Here is a picture of Ovadya putting on his bee suit and getting ready for the action!
👈The farmer's market was very busy this week! Don't miss this great opportunity to support some awesome local vendors every Friday from 10a to 1p (see more below).
👉Chodesh Tov FaRmily! This is the head of the Hebrew month of Nissan, and it is a great opportunity to celebrate and break bread with our team to let them know how important they are to us! Did you know that Havah is a downright INCREDIBLE, BEYOND-WORDS cook!? Like, for real, she is the best cook I know...gosh, our family is blessed to be cared for by this amazing woman!
👇When I did my (Yosef) rounds this week I caught the microgreen house overflowing with amazing goodness and though I would take a second to capture a video to share with you! you can see how we have to grow these in a controlled environment because they are so sensitive. It is a difficult and skilled task that takes a lot of training and practice to get them like this, but our staff - headed up by our microgreen master, Charles - does the best job ever!
ARE YOU SIGNED UP FOR SUMMER YET!?
Please don't wait until the last minute to sign up. The sooner you sign up, the better the farm can prepare!
💥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!
🌞TELL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY AND YOU BOTH GET $25🌞
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!
The market's are continuing to be so much fun week after week! Especially after all the events that we had this past week, with homeschool day, the story-time and the tour, the markets sure have been abuzz with lots of people.
We are still struggling a bit with getting more vendors, so if you know anyone interested in a FREE market, please let us know! The biggest hurdle is the time, so we are being told. It's difficult to find vendors during the 10a to 1p timeslot, but the more people get involved, the more activities we continue to host and the more customers continue to come in, the more vendors we will have. It's really that simple.
Speaking of activities, we are currently in the market for more individuals who are interested in putting on classes and activities for kids on Fridays. Whether you are available for one Friday, or every Friday, we need you! In exchange for your time, we would love to offer you free vegetables too! So if you are good with kids and love serving your community and are looking for a great volunteering opportunity (or you just are looking forward to getting some good veggies), let us know and contact Beth at manager@ahavahfarm.com and let us know how you can help and we would be delighted to plug you in!
🥕🥬🌱Vegetables at the Farmer's Market this week
(April 10th)
(For CSA location "extras", please see below in the "Extra Vegetables section)
✅Radishes
✅Turnips
✅Carrots
✅Salad mix
✅Arugula
✅Mustard
✅Dried Herbs
✅Living Plants (basil, cilantro, mint, succulents and MANY more)
✅Pea Shoots
✅Sunflower Shoots
✅Radish Microgreens
✅Broccoli Microgreens
✅Barley Grass
EVENT DAY RECAP!
This week we had the most amazing Homeschool Day! So many wonderful kids came out to join us for a tour of the farm, some planting projects, an amazing storytime with the Pikes Peak Library, to play on our awesome playground, feed the animals and of course everyone's favorite...the zipline rides!! It was such a blast to have everyone here - check out the pictures from this awesome events and don't miss out on our next one - MAY 10th from 10a to 1pm!
*NEW* - April Monthly Give-Away!
Every month we will be having a monthly give-away for our members and non-members. Here is this week's MONTHLY GIVE-AWAY!
Give us a review on Google and get $5.00!
It would mean the world to us if you would give us your feedback on Google Reviews! you wouldn't believe how important having positive reviews on Google helps our business reach others. For taking the time to do a review for our business, we will give you a credit for $5.00 to be used at any of our CSA booth's, the Ahavah Farm Nursery or at the Ahavah Farmer's Market. Simply click on the link below to do a review, then send an e-mail to contact@ahavahfarm.com to confirm it. That's it! Thank you so much, it means the world!🙏
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
*When at our drop locations or the farmer's market show us your review and we will happily apply your credit!
📢FEATURED VENDOR OF THE WEEK!📢
Rohi Ranch Goat milk Soap
Come and experience some of the most beautiful soaps you can find and support one of our amazing vendors, Rohi Ranch Goat Milk Soap! Made from 100% all natural ingredients including olive oil, shea butter and goat milk along with natural oils and fragrances, Rohi Ranch's soap is incredible in appearance, texture and in their aroma. Their selection doesn't
stop there, however, they also offer other body care products and even a broad assortment of delicious teas!
Run by beautiful people with amazing hearts, we have thoroughly enjoyed having them at our market and getting to know them week after week. Come on down and support them every Friday and tell them we sent you! This local small business has a very bright and exciting future and you can be a part of it with your support!
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.
"No Tractors, No Way!"
By Yosef Camire
Yes, that's right. Say "NO" to tractors around your food! Why? How else will we feed ourselves without those big shiny (or in many cases not-so-shiny) tractors? The answer is simple and so is the explanation.
I get asked all the time why we do not use tractors, and what is our "beef" with them. There are multiple issues that I have with the tractor, the least of the reasons may shock you, and it is probably what you are all thinking: The greenhouse gas emissions.
Although tractors do emit enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, that is not the reason I am so adamantly against them - though it is definitely a good reason, it is the smallest of them all. Here are the 7 main reasons we do not use tractors on our crops or our fields (references for all these statements can be found at the end of the article for your own research):
1. Tractors compact the soil.
2. Tractors emit particulates all over your food and soil.
3. Tractors release heavy metals.
4. Tractors leak fuel and oils.
5. Tractors encourage a lack of land-use efficiency.
6. Tractors encourage the use of herbicides.
7. Tractors emit greenhouse gases - lots of them.
1. Tractors compact the soil.
If you have been following me or our farm for a while now, you should be well aware of the problem with tilling our soil and the damage it has created to our environment and soil web. You are also probably aware that one of the most detrimental things to soil is compaction and the lack of oxygen - not allowing the microbes and bacteria to breathe or room for roots to grow. Whenever we use a tractor we are compacting the soil, causing major amounts of compaction and therefore destroying the microflora in that area. We are also encouraging the need for tilling as a cyclical part of our ecosystem, which is clearly not a good thing.
2. Tractors emit particulates all over your food and soil.
This one is so obvious, yet no one thinks about it. Everyone thinks that tractor emissions simply turn into a gas and go up into the atmosphere. Some gases that come from the tractor do, but not all. There are over 40 toxic air particulates that come from the exhaust of these engines. Many (most) of these particulates are heavier than air and when they get released from the tailpipe of the tractor - where do you think they go? That's right, on your food! Not only is it going right onto your food, it is going in a way that acts like a foliar spray, right onto the leaves so it can't even be filtered out by the soil, it just gets absorbed right away into the plant...isn't that lovely? So yea, next time you pick up that "Organic" lettuce at the store, you can think about all the toxins you might be ingesting.
3. Tractors release heavy metals.
Everyone knows about the numerous studies that have been done concerning the dangers of brake dust in our cities and in our air. Brakes, especially on older tractors and vehicles, contain major heavy metals - like asbestos. Every time the brake is pressed, dust is created and that dust...yes, goes right into your food! This is such a big issue that there are actual lawsuits over this because it is a major cause of diseases like mesothelioma!
4. Tractors leak.
Have you EVER seen a tractor that doesn't leak? Especially the older ones? Ever worked on a tractor? What happens when you go underneath one of these tractors is that you will find that it is black and covered with oil, grease and other fluids. Well, my friends, the absolute truth is, that vehicles, tractors, and especially the older tractors, leak - a lot! There is no regulation for this, and all those "Organic" or "Beyond-Organic" farms that are going along with those older tractors (even new ones too!) are most likely spreading these chemicals on your food. Simply Google "Tractor Engine Leaking Oil" and you will get 530,000 results. Don't tell me "MY tractor doesn't leak!" Ya, right.
5. Tractors encourage a lack of land-use efficiency.
This is a broad topic and one that a whole book could be written about. However, the idea is an easy one to convey: Tractor agriculture requires a large amount of space - duh! On our farm we produce over 70,000 LBS per acre pf mixed vegetables without a tractor. We use almost every square inch that we can, outside of the pathways. For example: In a 30inch bed, we can grow 6 rows of carrots. With a tractor, we can typically grow 1 to 3 at most.
6. Tractors encourage the use of herbicides.
It's common sense, but it's also eye opening if you think about it. Think about how a tractor cultivates crops: It drags a tine down the middle of the row. What about the weeds that are directly competing and up against that onion? Well, the only way to get rid of these weeds is through the use of chemical herbicides for most farmers. Yes, there are organic herbicides that can be used - but a herbicide is a herbicide and it kills the soil-food-web, regardless of how you want to shape the argument.
You can also pull the weeds by hand, and many organic and small farms do this, so it is not the rule. However, the purpose of tractors is to minimize labor and to be able to grow on a larger space, as mentioned above. When this happens and it is time to cultivate the crops and remove weeds, if we do it by hand it is nearly impossible to do because the tractor encouraged such a large growing area that to walk it and weed by hand is an incredible task. However, if the farm is set up to utilize hand-labor and to make efficiency of every square foot, weeding all of a sudden become a much smaller task and much easier to manage.
7. Tractors emit greenhouse gases - lots of them.
Compared to other forms of greenhouse gases produced by agriculture, like methane from animals or GHG's from synthetic fertilizers etc. (65%), tractor use is small in comparison. However, with agricultural emissions anticipated to increase 15% or more by 2030, why is it ok to say "the tractor and transportation of our agricultural products are only 35% of the total GHG's that agriculture produces, so it's ok!" It's not ok. We need to take measures in every area to reduce our need for fossil fuels, and it can start with the tractor and our means of delivery - i.e. supporting local!
Now, you may have read all of this and thought to yourself: "That's great, Yosef, but how else are we going to feed the world?" The answer is simple in that the overwhelming number of farms in the world do not use tractors at all. There are currently about 2 million tractors in the world today, but there are 570 million farms in the world. That means that 3/10ths of one percent, or .0035 of the worlds farms have tractors - so you can simply answer that question for yourself. When the majority of our food comes from the "Major" farms, imagine what a world would look like if we returned to a local-standard, one that celebrates local, small, beyond-organic and regenerative farms? It is a many-year process, but we have to start somewhere, and I am glad that we have this amazing community around us who cherish these ideals.
References:
Ahavah Community Upcoming Schedule
UPCOMING EVENTS
👉April 12th @ 10am: ADULT EDUCATION! How to Grow Your Own. Part 2 of 4. w/ Lorin Mattemore.