Newsletter for Week 4 of Winter CSA 2022
-----
Hello FaRmily!
It's a COOOOLD week this week! We are 🙏 hoping to have a successful week without too much crop damage with these negative temps! your CSA will be on the smaller side this week, but hey, for this type of weather, local food CANNOT be beat! Enjoy! 😀
(See below for a preview of this week's harvest).
REMINDER:👉 Every week we will be sending out this newsletter on Monday/Tuesday and every Thursday we post to the blog and to the Ahavah Community Facebook Group all the details of your bag contents, the extras available for purchase and what to expect to be available for Market-Style members.
👉Please see the weekly updates below including a word from Farmer Yosef, some educational articles, announcements, changes, interviews, highlights and more.
💲💲CURRENT MEMBERS: USE CODE "RETURNINGMEMBER" FOR 5% OFF!💲💲
📢See below for event updates, new articles and announcements!📢
⭐Enjoy your shares this month and don't forget to join the fun and share your recipes and pictures in the Facebook Community Group!⭐
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕
ARE YOU PLANNING A GARDEN IN 2022!? Pre-order your seedlings and have them when YOU are ready (you can even have them delivered!)!!
Place your Ahavah Farm Nursery orders (up to April 15th of 2022) and CURRENT MEMBERS get 10% OFF when you order before January 1st using code: NURSERY10 (All caps no spaces)
Browse our incredible selection of Organic, Heirloom varieties now at ahavahfarm.com/nursery
Questions? Email us directly at Nursery@ahavahfarm.com We can't wait to help you plan your 2022 Garden!!!!
#AhavahFarmNursery #nurserylife #garden2022 #seedlings #gardening #organic #heirloom #AhavahMeansLove
We've added 13 brand new items to our catalog this year! We now have two types of beans, sugar peas, different types of mint, calendula, echinacea, and we will even have some specific things available at the drops and at our Nursery store (when it opens) that aren't available on the website like Aloe, Golden toothed Aloe, Jade, Mother of Thousands, and Spider plants!
Yes, you read that correctly... we're working on opening a Nursery Garden Center store - OPEN IN APRIL! More announcements to come!
🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳🌻🌼🌷🌳
WORD FROM YOUR FARMER:
Hello my dear friends and FaRmily ❤! Asher and I will be at all of the CSA locations this week - we can't wait to see you! 🥰
🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅
VOLUNTEERING
Our volunteers are the backbone of our organization and we couldn't do it without them... but we need more help! We need help with so many things, things like:
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, 8:30 AM 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!
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
CLASSES & EVENTS by ACI (Ahavah Community Initiative)
Have you seen 👀 our class schedule for 2022!? It's INCREDIBLE!
We have monthly classes, events, classes for children, activities, projects and more! Please support Ahavah Community Initiative by signing up and spreading the word! Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/classes to learn more!
👉NEXT CLASS: March 4th (A full-season gardening class with 4 parts!)
🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒
🥕🍅🥒🧅🌳🌵EXTRA VEGGIES and PLANTS FOR SALE - Every Week!
Please be sure to check out the extras table, 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!
And as always, remember: SNAP PARTICIPANTS ALWAYS RECEIVE 50% OFF!! & all prices are
"Pay-What-You-Can-Afford."
For Payment: Cash or Check at the drops or the balance can be sent via PayPal to contact@ahavahfarm.com or Venmo to 719-233-7828
FOOD PRODUCING GARDEN PLANTS ALSO QUALIFY FOR SNAP AND DOUBLE-UP BENEFITS!!!
🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅🧅
DON'T MISS OUT ON SPRING & SUMMER!
Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/csa to learn more (Auto-renewal members receive 5% Off Plus if you pay by check you get an additional 3% Off!).
🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
SNAP / EBT
🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬
⚠ ⚠ ⚠ 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!
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕
REFERAL PROGRAM!
Refer a friend to Ahavah Farm's CSA OR to Ahavah Farm Nursery's microgreen CSA and you BOTH will receive $35 in credit to use ANYTIME you want! Use to buy extra vegetables, or take $35 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 $35 certificate! It's that easy!😁
🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔
DID YOU KNOW?
As 2021 and 2022 rolled around after experiencing increased bills and a tightening of our budget, our family made the risky decision to not raise our farm prices for the sake of the community.
We know how much food prices have increased in our local area and we felt that raising our prices would hurt our community at a time when pure food needs to be way MORE accessible...not less.
Anyone who owns a business, or better yet, goes to the grocery store has seen a dramatic increase in their spending. Our farm has been no exception. Our budget has increased considerably, our team is THE HIGHEST PAID for farm workers in Colorado, and we pride ourselves on being the cleanest, most organized and safest farm the inspectors have ever seen, and our family still gets paid less than our lowest paid employees (our choice).
This farm is a labor of love, it's as simple as that. It's about health, community, love and environmentalism. One thing it most certainly isn't about is profit. This may make us sound too idealistic or even portray us as poor "business-people," but we don't care! If this farm were about profit, we would have quit a long time ago. That's why we not only haven't raised our CSA prices, but we also started the 501c3 non-profit Ahavah Community Initiative in 2018 to donate as much free food as possible to families in need (over $150,000 of free food donated since 2018!). It's also why we offer pay-what-you-can-afford, payment plans, Double-Up EBT (saving all SNAP users 50% off) and more.
We are eternally grateful for our loving community and all their support of our family and farm. We hope you will continue to please pass on our mission and continue supporting us by signing up, donating to families in need and volunteering so we can keep our prices as low a possible for as long as possible - because pure food should not be a luxury.
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕
Taking Applications: ACI BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBER OPENING
ACI currently has a few board openings and we are taking applications until vacant positions are filled. If you are interested in being considered as a member of our board we would love to hear from you!
All board appointments are two year commitments with monthly board meetings, events and official activities requiring board presence. We anticipate that all board members provide a personal, anonymous, donation to ACI as well as be an active participant in serving our community.
🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗
AHAVAH COMMUNITY INITIATIVE BRING-A-BUCK!
"Hi, nice to see you! Did you bring your buck today!?"
These are the words you should hear every week when you show up at the CSA locations to get your veggies.
That's because, supporting families in need through ACI, is the MOST IMPORTANT and BEST part of being a CSA member with Ahavah Farm! Don't say your $1 isn't important! IT IS!! The Bring-A-Buck program is how ACI has sustained its food donations, so we thank you members! - EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
JOIN OUR TEAM!
We Need Social Media and Marketing HELP!
Let's be frank, our marketing and social-media presence STINKS🦨! Our team is the BEST when it comes to growing amazing vegetables in the purest and most environmentally sound way...but when it comes to marketing and social media, we need all the help we can find! To be honest, we aren't really sure where to look, either. So, we are coming to you, our community for HELP! Can you help us build our marketing and social presence? If you have the skills, we NEED you! Please learn more and apply here.
🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬🥬
NEW!! - Meet YOUR Community!
Last week was our first interview with Lorin, our awesome Nursery Manager and it was a hit - so many sent us feedback on this project - thank you! If you haven't seen last week's interview, you can do so HERE. Now, this week we have a special interview with Brian Gantz, a member, volunteer and all around good guy - one of our community's core members whom we have all grown to love and cherish to have around! We hope you enjoy this fun interview and send us your feedback!
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
Microgreen CSA Shares Are Available! Sign Up Today and SAVE 💲💲💲!
Love our microgreens but haven't signed up for a Microgreen CSA?
✔ You can sign up anytime after January 26, 2022 to recieve your weekly Microgreen CSA starting the first week of February. You can cancle anytime in 2022 too!✔
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
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕
Be a part of our ZERO-WASTE mission here at Ahavah Farm and bring us your compost! PLEASE REMEMBER - NO PLASTIC BAGS or Animal products (except egg shells). Want more information? CLICK HERE to learn about the program. Thank you everyone who has been bringing their compost! We are so excited that we can help on your personal mission to become Waste Free!
🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦🥦
CSA PICKUP LOCATIONS AND TIMES
Times are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances.
**Please be aware that it is your responsibility to check the newsletter at www.ahavahfarm.com/blog for updated information and changes.
North Colorado Springs @ Colorado Mountain Brewery
- THURSDAYS
- 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
- 1110 Interquest Parkway,
Colorado Springs, CO 80921
Go to cmbrew.com to learn more about this location.
Denver @ Jewish Community Center
NOW INSIDE! Turn left, park then use main enterance. Bring ID. Thanks.
- THURSDAYS
- 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
- 350 S. Dahlia St, Denver CO 80246
Go to www.jccdenver.org to learn more about this location.
Peyton @ Ahavah farm
NEW CSA LOCATION AT AHAVAH FARM!!
- FRIDAYS
- 1o:00 AM to 11:00 AM
- 7545 N. Log Rd., Peyton, CO 80831
ATTENTION FARM PICKUP MEMBERS! There is a new location. Please see the map above and the video to the right👉! We are so excited because this will make things easier and more streamlined for
weather interruptions and a much shorter walk! We even have introduced Handicapped Parking!
Central Colorado Springs @ Ranch Foods Direct
NOW INSIDE! Enter the bay right of the main enterance.
- FRIDAYS
- 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM (All)
- 2:31 PM to 6:00 PM (Traditional ONLY)
- 4635 Town Center Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80916
- Go to www.ranchfoodsdirect.com to learn more about this location.
🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕
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
Medium = 7-9 items per week
Large = 10-12 items per week
Celeriac Root- Celeriac is one of our FAVORITE roots to eat! We love to grill it or roast it, and we also enjoy it in stews. A very versatile, seasonal and tasty vegetable. Read more and learn how to serve and prepare it HERE.
Radishes - Our radishes are crispy and crunchy! They are not bitter like store-bought radishes and due to their incredible taste and the huge demand we get for them, they are a staple crop for the fall, winter and spring seasons. The best way to enjoy them? ROASTED! Check out this recipe (and include the other roots too!): Garlic Roasted Radishes
Lettuce- Beautiful head lettuce coming your way!
Garlic - amazing hardneck, stored and cured onions from Fall. Only a limited supply, so get it while you can!
Onions - Oh yummy yummy onions! a few more weeks of these left so enjoy them while they last!
Kale - We have redbor kale and green darkibor kale. Both delicious and both are so exciting to have this time of year! How do we prepare it? Let me count the ways! Raw, steamed, roasted, sautéed, in a soup, in a frittata, as a salad...here, just check this link out for some awesome ideas. 😀
Carrots - Of course! these are THE BEST tasting carrots on the planet...oh so sweet! What's a CSA share without carrots!?🥕🥕🥕
Dried Herbs - Basil, dill, mint and fennel (our herb room smells like heaven!😇).
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-shoots
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
That's it for this week! We love you to pieces, are incredibly grateful for each and every one of you and we are blessed to the core to be YOUR farmers!!
Yosef, Havah, Kids and Team The Camire Family
