SUMMARY: Ninth WEEK of SPRING 2021! - EXTRA VEGGIES! - FARM CREW SPOTILIGHT - NEW* - NURSERY SPOTLIGHT- ACI DONATION UPDATE AND DONATE TODAY! - DID YOU KNOW? - LOCATIONS AND TIMES - WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEK - WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT WEEK
Week 9 - The NINTH Week of SPRING CSA 2021!
Hello Dear CSA Members!
Wow have we had a fun and productive couple of weeks! Let's see, we planted 2,500 squash, melon and pumpkin plants, we prepped and planted the entire north garden, the carrot crib and more. We also gave a tour to an amazing group of about 40 kids and adults from the Mountain Song school and we had a special guest from Turtle Badger Farm, Mark Robinson, give an amazing class on composting! We also built a really cool water-buffalo (a big trailer with a 150 gallon water tank and pump) that we will be using to water our trees as we start our food-forest (more on this below!), and we started that process by transplanting about 70 trees this week - and we have thousands left to go!!
That's right, we are foresting the 40 acres of our property (though it may take some years to do so!). This will be a long transition to a permaculture farm and food forest (10+ years). We have been wanting to put in thousands of trees on our property, fruit and perennials but we just haven't had the opportunity to move forward with this project. Now is the time. My cancer is improving (and my ability to do things), last year was covid-19 and the year before was the bomb cyclone that destroyed 6 of our greenhouses - so this is the year!
Not only is it the year for trees, it's going to be the best summer season we have ever had, I can almost guarantee it! I can't tell you how much food we will have and how good we are doing! Last summer was the best summer we have ever had. This year should be even better! We have more of EVERYTHING and the team is absolutely rocking it on every-single-level! I'm so proud of this team and how hard they work and how well they do it!
This week you can expect ANOTHER gorgeous share! Garlic greens are returning this week along with chives and loads of lettuce, kale, radishes, carrots, fennel and more.
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 June 13th, 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!
EXTRA VEGGIES and PLANTS FOR SALE
Spring extras have been lacking - that's true! However, they should pick up here soon and you will have more options as our harvests improve along with the changing seasons!
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.
SUMMER SHARES STILL AVAILABLE!
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that Ahavah Farm is putting in a food forest!? We are so excited about this development as we have been planning this for YEARS! You can see exactly what that is in this nicely created infographic to the left and you can read more about it here. We are finally able to put into place some of our dreams of making this farm a more permanent and MORE environmentally supportive farm (more on that next week!).
So, we started the project by building a big water-buffalo (a big trailer with a 150 gallon water tank and a pump). We also purchased a bunch of slow-drip bucket spouts to fill up so we can get the trees established, using the water-buffalo, throughout the property. Finally, we were able to plant about 75 trees over the last few days and we will be putting in 1,000's more over the coming weeks, months and years.
A project of this scope will take many thousands of dollars, a ton of ingenuity and a lot of effort. However, in the end, our farm, our community and our planet, will be much better off for it. We will be slowly transitioning away from annual agriculture and crops to more permanent fruits, nutz, herbs and vegetables that are of a more permanent (permaculture) variety. For instance, we will be installing asparagus, strawberries, mint and chives, apples, plums, paw-paws, blackberries and raspberries and more. The benefits, as you can see from the above picture are numerous and very worth the effort our family will be making and we are so excited about this process.
If you are interested in being a part of this project, we would love any help we can get and any donations for / of trees and shrubs and fruit bushes etc. would be more than welcome - we would be very grateful! Please reach out to Bekka at contact@ahavahfarm.com if you are interested in volunteering or donating to this project!
🔦 Ahavah Community Initiative SPOTLIGHT 🔦
We LOVE serving our community!
It's true! We strive to put on as many events and classes as we have the bandwidth to do. Classes include kids education classes (like Tracy's Storytime class every month) and project classes for children (like Asher's "Build a Herb Box" class and the upcoming blacksmithing 101 class!). We also do in-depth, professional level classes (like last week's Nursery Management class, and our Biological Agriculture 101 class). We also really enjoy putting on educational tours and events and sometimes we even have school groups (like the one pictured here from Mountain Song School) and kids camps come and stay on the farm or we go and visit your school or event (like Yosef did last month for a Girl Scout group). In short, education is a key component to Ahavah Community Initiative and it isn't slowing down!
👉👉This week we put on two classes: We had a special guest, Mark Robinson from Turtle Badger Farm, come to the farm to teach our students how to make, manage and apply compost. What a great class it was! Also, pictured above is the Mountain Song School group that came out today. It was a blast to have this many kiddo's come out today and learn about climate change, environmental stewardship and they learned all about the how, what, why we grow the way we do and they got to plant a sunflower and take it home!
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!
Oh the amazing power of community and crowdfunding!
Every week, at all of the CSA locations, we have a bin or jar that looks like this. We ask all of our members to bring just $1 with them every week to help support their fellow-members and community.
Bring $1 every week and be a part of supporting, directly, families in need.
Don't say your $1 isn't important! 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!!
🔦 The Farm Crew Spotlight🔦
Unfortunately, I was unable to get a farm-crew spotlight for this week. Next week I will spotlight Holly!
Photo above from left to right: Havah, Ovadya, Aiden, Eliana, Israel, Joe, Asher, Yosef, Shane, Caleb (no longer here), R. Shapiro, Tess, Josh and Lorin. Not pictured: Esther, Evan, Charles, Holly and Bekka.
NURSERY NEWS
There are still lots and lots of plants being brought to the CSA locations every week!
That's right - everything from tomato plants to lettuce and kale (and more) seedlings will be available - best part?
ALL CSA MEMBERS STILL 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!
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)
12pm to 1pm (Drive Thru / Market Style)
Denver @ JCC (350 S. Dahlia St.):
3pm to 4pm (Drive thru / Market Style)
FRIDAYS:
Colorado Springs @ Ranch Foods Direct (4635 Town Center Dr.):
1pm to 2:00pm (Drive Thru / Market Style)
2:00pm 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- Absolutely amazing kale! The best we have ever had, you really can't beat this variety of Blue Curled kale. An heirloom variety that is super sweet and delicious! (don't forget to massage it - no really!).
Baby Fennel - We love our fennel! It's one of those items that not everyone is familiar with, but if you love black licorice, it's amazing raw. If you don't like the flavor of anise, than try grilling it or sauté' it with garlic, salt and pepper. it's delicious and will change it's flavor. Here is an article with some ideas on how to use your fennel: https://www.loveandlemons.com/what-is-fennel/
Red Fire and Green Muir Lettuce - A beautiful red and green lettuce with big, fluffy leaves.
Swiss Chard - Gorgeous swiss chard this week! WOW! big and beautiful! Here's a fun article: Why Swiss Chard is the sweetest and Sexiest of the Greens.
Turnips- One of the most desired 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.
Chives - Oh, these chives are amazing! A perfect combination of onion and garlic for an amazing flavor!
Living Plant - You will have the choice of Oregano, Chives, Mint, Kale, Tomato, Basil, Mustard or Marigolds (and more).
Radishes - Only the best tasting and incredibly beautiful radishes ever! Roasting. Hands down is the best way to eat these! I literally cannot get enough of these roasted radishes 😋
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.
Carrots - There really is nothing quite like our beautiful and incredibly tasty carrots!
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
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