SUMMARY: THIRD Week of Winter 2021! - EXTRA VEGGIES! - ANNOUNCEMENTS - 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 3 - The THIRD Week of WINTER CSA 2021!
HELLO DEAR CSA MEMBERS!
Well, the season doesn't seem to be going the way we would like! Already we have come up against some very serious problems, and we need to share them with you because it may affect your shares.
For starters, we all know about the deep freeze which occurred over the weekend. Well, we experienced a record low of -38 windchill and a record low real temperature of -25! That's just downright abnormal and something we have never seen before - and it was a full 13 degrees colder than nearby Colorado Springs! We did our absolute best to shelter and heat as many of the crops (and animals!) as possible and we were semi-successful, but in the very least this is setting us back big-time. Not only did we lose many of the crops due to the freeze (many thousands of $$ were lost), but we lost at least a week of prep due to this storm and the crops got shocked sending them back days and weeks. We had hydrants freeze and we had pipes burst...in short, our weekend was not exactly a walk in the park!
In addition to that, while harvesting yesterday, we found enormous amounts of pest damage that we did not know what there. Under the surface of MANY of our beds we discovered tunnels and approximately 40% of all of our root crops have been destroyed. We are flabbergasted at this collision of detrimental factors which have combined to severely impact the farm.
We are shaking our heads and not sure what the rest of the season looks like. We are sure we will pull out of this, but in the meantime we will continue to have smaller-sized shares for at least a few weeks. We are terrible sorry and saddened by this, but we are doing the absolutely best we can and in situations like this, we have to roll with the punches, brush ourselves off and move forward - which we will do, as always (Gam Zu L'Tovah, right? 🙂)!
Bottom Line: Your shares will continue to be limited for a few weeks due to the freeze and pest damage. We will do our best to provide a variety of different vegetables and we are sure that in a few weeks we may not have felt this bump at all. There will be no delay in delivery or harvest.
Alright everyone, that's it for now. Be sure to scroll through this e-mail and check for changes and announcements and enjoy the articles!
See below for what's coming in your bags this week, and more updates!
Enjoy your share this week and don't forget to join the fun and share your recipes and pictures in the Facebook Community Group!
EXTRA VEGGIES FOR SALE
DON'T FORGET: SNAP MEMBERS ALWAYS RECEIVE 50% OFF!!
&
As always, all prices are
"Pay-What-You-Can-Afford."
See the weekly "What's in your Bag" e-mails that get sent on Wednesdays for your "extras" list.
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 or by paying with credit card over the phone.
Ahavah Community Initiative SPOTLIGHT
Please consider making a year-end tax-deductible gift to Ahavah Community Initiative (registered 501c3) by CLICKING HERE.
Since 2018 We Have...
Donated 154 CSA memberships to families in need! - Over A value of $53,900.00 of free food - OVER1,800 weekly BAGS of veggies😮!
Facilitated the donation of 42 Double Up Food Buck Grants valued at $15,750.00 of free food!
Taught 31 full-length classes on regenerative and biological agriculture.
Attended 48 outreach events to spread regenerative agriculture education to our community including school events, speaking engagements and markets.
Have provided 27 educational tours.
Hosted 4 large public events.
Educated 5 regenerative farming interns.
In addition, Ahavah Farm (aside from ACI) has donated an additional $56,750.00 worth of free food to numerous outlets and families in our local community
We have paid ZERO dollars to salaries or to "other" overhead.
Interested in making a tax-deductible donation? 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!
DID YOU KNOW?
One of the benefits of being a CSA member is knowing that your crops are freshly harvested and should last a considerably longer time than produce purchased at the store. Not only does your support of our local farm help out with reducing your food miles and the environmental impact of our food-system logistics, it serves a very direct and real purpose for you, the member. Every bit of your CSA share (with a few storage exceptions) are harvested fresh. This means that the produce, if cared for properly, should retain it's flavor and most-importantly, it's nutrients for a very long time (considerably longer than produce bought at a grocery store). Lettuce and greens should last at least 2 weeks in your refrigerator, and microgreens at least a week, though we ourselves and some members have let us know that they will last for many multiple weeks at times! Carrots and root vegetables should be lasting for months without any problems and cabbages too!
So how should we store our vegetables? That is a great question, and I don't want to simply reinvent the wheel, so if you want a great go-bye guide on how to store your veggies properly, click here. The link leads to a PDF guide that you can print out and it breaks down nearly every crop.
Here are the most common mistakes people make when storing their veggies:
1. They stick the whole CSA paper bag with all it's contents in the fridge without taking out any produce.
2. They stick the veggies on the shelf and not in a sealed container or at least in the crisper drawer.
3. They wash the veggies as soon as they get them, then allow them to sit in the fridge wet for days.
Here the the most common reasons for produce to go bad:
1. Dehydration. When plants go limp sitting on the shelf of your refrigerator it because the moisture got wicked away and collapse the cellular structure of the vegetable and causing it to rot.
2. Too much moisture induces rot and rapid biological and fungal growth.
3. Storing vegetables at the wrong temperature can reduce shelf life.
So, when people say to us "why does my ___ go bad after 3 days?" the answer isn't always an easy one to come by. We can't guarantee that our produce is completely bug-free or that it has the perfect shape or color or that it didn't get damaged in transport etc., but two things we absolutely and unequivocally guarantee are the following: 1. That our produce is the purest produce you will find - period. 2.That it is as fresh as absolutely possible (usually harvested within 1, 2 or 3 days). So, as long as we are all utilizing the correct food guide recommendations and caring for our produce appropriately, we can be assured that it will retain the nutrients and it's freshness for a considerably long time. ENJOY!
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!!
NURSERY NEWS
The nursery is rocking it right now and Lorin and Tess are doing such an amazing job!
We have thousands of plants started and turning into beautiful little baby plants for our nursery and later for your home and garden!
DID YOU KNOW that all CSA members receive 15% off!? That's right, use code NURSERY15 to save 15% on your entire order!
PRE-ORDER TODAY AND SAVE 15%
Don't forget you can still save on all your pre-season seedling orders!
If you are planning a garden for 2021, why not save 15% on your garden seedlings and have them guaranteed to be available where and when you are?!
Pre-order all your garden seedlings today and save 15% (remember there is a lag time, so if you are wanting pre-orders for March, you must get on it right away. 6-8 weeks is the pre-order time for all seedlings)
Pre-Order all your garden seedlings for 2021 (over 70 heirloom varieties!) and have them
guaranteed to be available on your selected date in your selected location: Colorado Springs, Denver, Monument and Peyton.
Use Code NURSERY15 at checkout.
It’s never to early to plan a 2021 victory garden! Go to www.ahavahfarm.com/nursery for more information and USE CODE NURSERY15 at checkout!
ATTENTION AUTO-RENEWAL MEMBERS:
Your automatic renewal will be charged on March 1st, 2021 for the Spring 2021 season. Please make any changes or request known no-later than February 26th. If you would like to change your share size or pickup location, or if you would like to change your Market-Style / Traditional style share or for any other requests, please send them to contact@ahavahfarm.com before February 26th. Thank you.
The following are the amounts to be charged:
Large - Cost $514.95 minus 5% discount. Amount to be charged: $489.21
Medium - Cost $432.56 minus 5% discount. Amount to be charged: $410.94
Small - Cost $308.97 minus 5% discount. Amount to be charged: $293.53
If you are paying cash or with SNAP there is an additional 2.99% discount for cash payment.
INTRODUCING: A 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!
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!
BAGS! We need your bags!!!
Thank you everyone for recycling your LARGE bags with us (thank you, but we do not need the small ones, only the large ones)! 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!
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
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 😋!
Turnips - Unfortunately we lost over 40% of these roots and only have a few hundred bunches to go around. 😥. We were REALLY looking forward to these, as they are our #1 most requested item (I know, I know - it's turnips!). The taste of these turnips is unlike anything you have had before. Bite right into it and we promise you will be pleasently surprised.
Mache (aka Corn Salad) - Oh, how we love mache! It's kind of sweet like spinach, yet it has the crunch of lettuce. It's unique to the winter and we have two more weeks left of it until it's all gone. Enjoy it raw or slightly braised. Need some ideas? Click here.
Onions - Red, white and yellow storage onions. Yum!
Claytonia - Claytonia is another one of those amazing specialty greens that are ONLY available in the winter and it is super-delicious! Here is an article on this fabulous green.
Sunflower Shoots - The single most nutritious item we grow! Not only that, but they are also one of the top 3 items we provide for your CSA. Enjoy them raw for the best benefit.
Cilantro Living Herb - The aroma alone makes this amazing herb worth it's space on the windowsill. Keep cutting it for a continual harvest. You shoudl get 2 to 3 harvests from this plant, if not more! Enjoy!
Barley Grass - Similar to wheat grass, without the wheat :). Actually, barley grass is used similarly and has a similar nutritional profile, but barley grass is less bitter and actually a little more nutrient-dense than wheat grass. It's delicious and one of my favorite things to chew on regularly. Here is an article on how to use wheat grass, be free to substitute the barley grass for all these ideas.
Is that it? I think so! We may have missed an item or two, and you never know what the harvest will actually look like in the end, but that should be the most of it! Have a great week!
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
