SUMMARY: FIFTH WEEK of SUMMER 2021! - FALL REGISTRATION - FARM FEST! - VOLUNTEERING and PICNIC - EXTRA VEGGIES! - FARM CREW SPOTILIGHT - NEW* - NURSERY SPOTLIGHT- ACI DONATION UPDATE AND DONATE TODAY! - DID YOU KNOW?-NEW*- LOCATIONS AND TIMES - WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEK - WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT WEEK
Week 5 - The FIFTH Week of SUMMER CSA 2021!
(Want to skim this e-mail, but get the most benefit? All NEW and UPDATED sections will be titled in "RED")
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Opening Remarks
Hello Dear CSA Members!
The weeks are flying by and the veggies have been BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING lately! Well, we have another amazing share for you this week, but more importantly, we are SOOOOO excited for this coming Sunday!!! This coming Sunday (July 25th from 4p to 9p) is the Summer Farm Fest and we have put in soooo much work to make this event something special! We have 20+/- vendors, food trucks (kosher and vegan food options too!), games, raffles, a bonfire, s'mores, live music and an open house where you can see the farm, meet friends and hang out and have a blast! We have over 400 people who have expressed interest in coming so far and we are expecting roughly 300 to 500 people to show up and have fun (more info below).
In addition to that, we have an absolutely AMAAAAZING CSA share for you this week! The tomatoes are in and so are the cucumbers and the squash are increasing. We have 22 varieties including carrots, beets, scallions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and more coming to you this week and there will be lot's for sale too (so bring your friends!!)!
Enjoy your CSA share this week and we will see you on July 25th, here at Ahavah Farm from 4pm to 9pm for the Summer Farm Festival!
See below for event updates, new articles and announcements!
Enjoy your share this week and don't forget to join the fun and share your recipes and pictures in the Facebook Community Group!
Volunteering
Our next Open-House volunteer day is not until Sunday, August 8th, but that doesn't mean you can't come before then!
We need volunteers all the time! Weeding, planting, cleaning, harvesting, bagging and so much more.
Want to volunteer? Simply e-mail our amazing Administrator, Bekka at aci@ahavahcommunity.org to get more information and to sign up!
VOLUNTEER DAY AND PICNIC
👉 Sponsored by Auto Search USA (https://springsautosearch.com/)👈
EXTRA VEGGIES and PLANTS FOR SALE
More and more items will be for sale as we progress through the season. Remember:
DON'T FORGET: SNAP MEMBERS ALWAYS RECEIVE 50% OFF!!
&
As always, all prices are
"Pay-What-You-Can-Afford."
👀GARDEN PLANTS ALSO QUALIFY FOR SNAP AND 2x DOUBLE-UP BENEFITS!!!👀
For Payment: Cash or Check at the drops or the balance can be sent via PayPal to contact@ahavahfarm.com or via Venmo to Ahavah Farm, LLC or by paying with credit card over the phone.
FALL REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!
CSA 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?
This here is what we call an "Ahavah Farm 'Community' Bouquet." Eliana and I, Yosef, make one of these beautiful bouquets every single week, and it reminds us of the importance of our community, and we share this with our children...
When you come to Peyton CO, you quickly realize that it is a high desert, and it's not exactly the most beautiful and abudant landscape. But the beauty is there if you look, it just takes a "community," let me explain.
Each "flower" in these bouquets are classified as "weeds" and if you take just one of them alone, they are not so special and pretty. However, when we combine the "weeds" together we get a wildflower bouquet that is stunning.
In the same way, we as individuals may not feel "beautiful" on our own, and we may not feel like we have a lot to contribute, but we all have a beauty and a "gift" to add to the world, we all just need to find that sweet spot, amongst our community-members.
When we come together towards a common goal, we can create something absolutely gorgeous, just like these flowers, and we can all contribute to creating a beautiful world and to making a difference.
I see Ahavah farm, and our community in this light. Each of us on our own has come together and contributed in some small way to making this community and this farm to be what it is.
Without you, without each and every one of us, this community, this farm and this whole organization would not be what it is today.
I, and my family, are so grateful for each and every one of the individuals who contribute on a daily basis to making this community and our world a better place.
Thank you.
2021 Summer Farm Festival & FaRmily Reunion
This year we decided to go big for our Summer farm Festival! put on by Ahavah Community Initiative, our Board Members, volunteers and employees have been busy planning this amazing event! We will have loads of vendors, food🍔, live music🎶, games, raffles, a big bonfire🔥, s'mores and more. Come meet your community!! Join us, July 25th from 4pm to 9p for the Ahavah Community Initiative Summer Farm Festival 2021! See you here!
You Are Invited!
Where: Ahavah Farm, 7545 Log Rd, Peyton Colorado
When: Sunday, July 25th from 4p to 9p
What: An awesome good time!
What to bring: Sunscreen, an appetite, a chair, friends!
🔦 Ahavah Community Initiative SPOTLIGHT 🔦
Whether it is tours, kids classes, major events, educational outreach, donations or adult classes, our mission is to SERVE.
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 and more. 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.
Ahavah Community Initiative is a one-of-a-kind, very special non-profit organization that serves our community in a unique and wholesome way. We believe in this mission so much that all board members (including the Camire family) donate personally to it. Do you believe in this organization too? Please, if you do, consider donating if you have the ability...
Interested in making a tax-deductible donation to ACI? Ahavah Community Initiative is registered as a 501c3 with the State of Colorado as a non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible.
Want to get involved with either ACI or as a volunteer on the farm? E-mail us to let us know. We are always looking for volunteers and we would love for you to join the party!
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 for the week. That's because, supporting ACI, and therefore families in need, is the MOST IMPORTANT and BEST part of being a CSA member with Ahavah Farm! ACI does some amazing things, and you can be a MAJOR part of that simply by bringing your buck every week. We thank you! 🙏
Bring $1 every week and be a part of supporting, directly, families in need.
Don't say your $1 isn't important! IT IS!! The only way crowdfunding works is if we all participate. Therefore, your $1 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!
Everyone can afford to Bring-A-Buck and if we ALL bring $1, the impact can be enormous - to the tune of feeding 1 family for an entire season for every single week we all participate!!!! WOW!!
Thank you members! The last few weeks of Bring-A-Buck have been great! Thank you so much for your donations! - EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!
NURSERY NEWS
Are you familiar with companion planting? Companion planting is a technique that has been used since.... well basically forever!
Companion planting is a method where you plant things that go well together, or they do something for each other. For instance, we plant marigolds and basil with tomatoes... the basil levels out the nitrogen content of the soil for the tomato and the Marigold offers pest control.
No space for a garden? Don't worry! We have got you covered with our BRAND NEW all-in-one options!!!
Get your garden companions of choice potted up with companions and an already sustaining eco-system! Just give them water, light, and love! No need to ever transplant these babies, just let them grow right from your container!
We will continue to be bringing living herbs and we will be increasing our house plants too. keep an eye out for Fall planting seedlings - like Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, greens, cabbages etc. We will have them and more available every week as we get closer to fall.
👉ALL CSA MEMBERS STILL (ALWAYS!) RECEIVE 15% off!👈
Microgreen CSA Share!
Love our microgreens!? Than this selection is for you! Receive 3 types of microgreens every week of the year and save 17% every single week!
✔SIGN UP ANYTIME AND START YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AT ANY TIME OF YEAR! AND CANCEL AT ANYTIME TOO!✔
Our microgreens are fresh and will last - unlike anything you can find in the store. 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, they are THAT good! (Packaged in a 100% plant-based, commercially compostable container)
WHAT'S IN A SHARE? In your share you will receive a combination of 3 microgreens every week with the option to purchase add-ons and extras when available. Every week we will be growing a mixture of microgreens and you will receive 3 selections of the following: Sunflower Shoots, Pea Shoots, Radish, Kale, Kohlrabi, Basil, Cilantro, Lettuce, Brocolli and more.
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.
Go to https://www.ahavahfarm.com/microgreen-csa to learn more and to sign up!
COMPOST
Be a part of our ZERO-WASTE mission here at Ahavah Farm and bring us your compost! PLEASE REMEMBER - NO PLASTIC BAGS. 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 mission to become Waste Free!
CSA PICKUP LOCATIONS AND TIMES
NOTATE TIMES: Times are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please be aware that it is your responsibility to check Facebook and this blog on ahavahfarm.com for updated information and changes.
THURSDAYS:
COS North / Monument @ Beasts and Brews (7 Spectrum Loop, Ste. 140) (THIS WILL BE CHANGING SOON!!!)
11:30pm to 12:30pm (Drive Thru / Market Style)
Denver @ JCC (350 S. Dahlia St.):
3pm to 4:30pm (Drive thru / Market Style)
FRIDAYS:
Colorado Springs @ Ranch Foods Direct (4635 Town Center Dr.):
1:30pm to 3:00pm (Drive Thru / Market Style)
3:00pm to 6pm (Inside store - 🚨TRADITIONAL SHARE MEMBERS ONLY!!)
Peyton @ Ahavah Farm (7545 Log Rd.):
10am to 11am (Drive Thru / Market Style)
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
Kale- Our kale is one of the most amazing things we grow. Highly sought after, it was our kale that gave us our reputation 7 years ago and it's the kale that continues to be a CSA winner week after week. (don't forget to massage it - no really!).
Carrots - our carrots are sweet all year round!
Leek - You've enjoyed the leek greens, now it's time to enjoy the leeks! WOW! These leeks are beautiful and oh-so-tender!
Swiss Chard - those that know how to utilize these greens swear that they are their absolutely favorite! For those that don't, here is an article to help you discover this AMAZING green! Swiss Chard Masterclass
Scallions - Tall green onions. Use the whole thing.
Peas - Amazing snap peas. the best heirloom variety we have grown for years. They are super-sweet.
Chives - Similar to green onions, but with a garlicky flavor unique to chives.
Cabbages - Some of the most amazing cabbage on the planet - we have coppenhagen market and red acre. We harvest 20 to 30 of these a week. They are available, but in limited quantity.
Cabbage Leaf Rolls - A favorite of so many, including our family. Where else will you get HUGE cabbage leaves to make stuffed cabbages? OH MY GOSH...stuffed cabbage!!!!! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/stuffed-cabbage-recipe-1920701
Cucumbers
Squash
Tomatoes - Oh yes! The tomatoes are fully in now and they are fruiting like crazy! We have enough for all members to receive tomatoes for the next 10+ weeks!
Basil- Delicious and amazing! This basil is the BEST for pesto - and let me tell ya, we eat lot's of pesto!!
Beets - OH-MY-GOSH! These are the hugest beets and sooooo delicious! NUMO! Here is an article on how to prepare beets four different ways.
Red Fire and Green Muir Lettuce - A beautiful red and green lettuce with big, fluffy leaves.
Celeriac Greens - These greens are similar to celery, but a slightly more bitter. We grow for the roots mostly, but these greens are great too. Enjoy them in stews or tuna salad. Anything where celery is needed as an ingredient, this celeriac can also be used.
Turnips- One of the most requested of all the things we grow are turnips. Now, for you newbies, I know you are thinking that sounds crazy...but until you try these amazing, mouth-watering turnips, you won't believe it!!!
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.
Garlic Greens - Garlic greens are amazing! Use them the same way you would use scallions - but with garlic! Add to any dish needing garlic - as a topper, in a salad, in a soup etc. Highly requested and unique.
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
